2011–12 British and Irish Cup
| 2011–12 British and Irish Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament details | |||
| Countries |
 England Ireland Scotland Wales
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| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and knockout | ||
| Date | September 2011 - April 2012 | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Teams | 24 | ||
| Matches played | 55 | ||
| Attendance | 48,328 (879 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 271 (4.93 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) |
Noel Reid (Leinster A) (80 points) |
||
| Top try scorer(s) |
Kristian Baller (Cross Keys) (6 tries) |
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| Final | |||
| Venue | Musgrave Park, Cork | ||
| Attendance | 2,500 | ||
| Champions |
Munster A (1st title) |
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| Runner-up |
Cross Keys
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The 2011–12 British and Irish Cup was the 3rd season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Wednesday 21 September 2011 and the final was held on Friday 27 April 2012.
Defending champions Bristol had a very poor campaign and were unable to make it out of the pool stages. Munster A lifted the cup, comfortably defeating Cross Keys 31–12 in the final. They became the first Irish side to claim the title, and the third different side to win in the competition's three-year history.
The allocation of teams is as follows:
The pool stage saw a change in format and consisted of six pools of four teams playing cross-pool matches, giving each team two home and two away matches. Matches between English teams were played mid-week. Pool matches took place from 21 September to 18 December. The top team from each pool qualified for the quarter-finals, together with the two runners–up with the best records.
The six pool winners and the two best runners up proceeded to the knock out stages. The best four qualifiers (pool winners) had home advantage in the quarter finals.
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