British and Irish Cup
| British and Irish Cup | |
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Current season or competition:: 2016–17 British and Irish Cup
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Competition logo
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| Sport | Rugby union |
| Instituted | 2009 |
| Inaugural season | 2009–10 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Nations |
 England Ireland Scotland (until 2014) Wales
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| Holders |
London Welsh (2015–16)
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| Most titles |
Leinster A (2 titles)
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The British and Irish Cup is an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 season and the eight competition takes place in the 2016–17 season.
A total of twenty-four teams from England (twelve), Ireland (three), Scotland (three) and Wales (six) competed in the inaugural competition. This remained the case for the first three seasons, though the format has varied slightly in each season. For the 2012–13 season, the competition was expanded to thirty-two teams; England (twelve), Ireland (four), Scotland (four), and Wales (twelve) and for the first time, pool stage games were played on a "home and away" basis. For the 2013–14 season the number of teams competing was reduced to twenty-four, with the Welsh entrants reduced from twelve to four, and the following season the competition was reduced to twenty teams with the withdrawal of the Scottish clubs.
As of the 2015-16 season, Welsh teams will be represented by regional Premiership Select sides from the four Welsh regions
The inaugural competition was contested by 24 teams:
The teams were divided into four pools of six, playing over five weekends during the Autumn International and Six Nations windows, with semi-finals on 24 and 25 April and the final on 16 May.
Each team played each of the other five teams in its pool once (home or away). Two English teams (Cornish Pirates and Doncaster) and two Irish teams (Munster A and Ulster Ravens) topped their respective pools leading to an all-English semi-final and an all-Irish semi-final. Cornish Pirates defeated Munster A in the inaugural final.
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