2011–12 Aviva Premiership
Countries	England
Date	3 September 2011 – 26 May 2012
Champions	Harlequins (1st title)
Runners-up	Leicester Tigers
Relegated	Newcastle Falcons
Matches played	135
Attendance	1,755,073 (average 13,001 per match)
Tries scored	488 (average 3.6 per match)
Top point scorer	Tom Homer ( London Irish) (278 points)
Top try scorer	Rob Miller ( Sale) (10 tries)
Official website
www.premiershiprugby.com
←  2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Aviva Premiership was the 25th season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the second one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their first title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the 2011 final. Worcester Warriors had been promoted as champions from the 2010–11 RFU Championship at the first attempt.

Summary

Harlequins won their first title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the final at Twickenham having also topped the regular season table. Newcastle Falcons were relegated on the last day of the season. It was the second time that Newcastle have been relegated from the top flight since the leagues began and the first time since the 1993–94 Premiership Rugby season.

As usual, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, the eighth instance since its inception in 2004.

Rule changes

This season saw the first major change in the Premiership's salary cap, which at the time stood at £4 million per team. In what is now a permanent feature of the cap system, academy credits were introduced. Each team receives a £30,000 credit for every home-grown player in their senior squad, with a maximum of eight such credits. In addition, a standard provision of the cap system that applies only in seasons that run up against the Rugby World Cup provided each team with a credit of £30,000 for each senior squad player that participated in the World Cup. ^[1]

Teams

Twelve teams compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and Worcester Warriors who were promoted from the 2010–11 RFU Championship after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced Leeds Carnege who were relegated after two years in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

Club	Director of Rugby/Head Coach	Captain	Kit Supplier	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Ian McGeechan	Stuart Hooper	Puma	The Recreation Ground	12,300	Bath
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Tommy Hayes	Samurai Sportswear	Sandy Park	10,744	Exeter
Gloucester	Vacant	Luke Narraway	KooGa	Kingsholm Stadium	16,500	Gloucester
Harlequins	Conor O'Shea	Chris Robshaw	O'Neills	Twickenham Stoop [a]	14,600	Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester Tigers	Richard Cockerill	Geordan Murphy	Cotton Traders	Welford Road	24,000	Leicester
London Irish	Toby Booth	Clarke Dermody	ISC	Madejski Stadium [b]	24,250	Reading
London Wasps	Dai Young	Marco Wentzel	Canterbury	Adams Park	10,516	High Wycombe
Newcastle Falcons	Peter Russell	James Hudson	Orion	Kingston Park	10,200	Newcastle upon Tyne
Northampton Saints	Jim Mallinder	Dylan Hartley	BURRDA	Franklin's Gardens	13,591	Northampton
Sale Sharks	Bryan Redpath	Sam Tuitupou	Cotton Traders	Edgeley Park	10,852	Stockport, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Mark McCall	Steve Borthwick	Nike	Vicarage Road [c]	19,920	Watford
Worcester Warriors	Richard Hill	Shaun Perry	Cotton Traders	Sixways Stadium	12,068	Worcester

Pre-season

The 2011 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 15 July 2011 at The Recreation Ground, continued on 22 July at Franklin's Gardens and 29 July at Edgeley Park. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy. The finals were held on 5 August 2011 at The Stoop and the Series was won by Newcastle Falcons. ^[2]

Table

2011–12 Premiership Rugby Table view talk
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Tries for	Tries against	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Harlequins (CH)	22	17	1	4	526	389	+137	53	33	4	1	75
2	Leicester Tigers (RU)	22	15	1	6	647	475	+172	70	45	9	3	74
3	Saracens (SF)	22	16	1	5	489	350	+139	35	29	3	4	73
4	Northampton Saints (SF)	22	14	0	8	539	374	+165	51	31	5	4	65
5	Exeter Chiefs	22	12	0	10	436	421	+15	39	38	3	8	59
6	Sale Sharks	22	10	0	12	453	538	–85	42	26	2	7	49
7	London Irish	22	8	1	13	514	516	–2	46	43	3	9	46
8	Bath	22	9	0	13	365	412	–47	32	39	2	6	44
9	Gloucester	22	8	1	13	456	507	–51	42	47	1	9	44
10	Worcester Warriors	22	7	1	14	322	448	–126	23	46	0	6	36
11	London Wasps	22	6	0	16	363	502	–139	30	45	1	8	33
12	Newcastle Falcons (R)	22	6	2	14	351	529	–178	25	56	0	4	32
Green background (rows 1 to 4) indicate teams that qualify for the play-offs, which also earn a space in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) indicates teams outside the play-off places, but which also earn a place in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, based on their position in the table. Plain background (rows 7 to 11) indicates teams that earn a place in 2012–13 European Challenge Cup. Pink background (row 12) indicates team that is relegated to the 2012–13 RFU Championship. (Q) Qualified for play-offs. Source: Premiership Rugby — Updated: 8 May 2012
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at Twickenham on 26 May 2012.

Bracket

	Semi-finals					Final
	1	Harlequins	25
	4	Northampton Saints	23
						1	Harlequins	30
						2	Leicester Tigers	23
	2	Leicester Tigers	24
	3	Saracens	15

Semi-finals

Team details

FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Sam Smith FH 10 Nick Evans SH 9 Karl Dickson N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw ( c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomás Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest SH 21 Richard Bolt FH 22 Rory Clegg CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea FB 15 Ben Foden RW 14 Chris Ashton OC 13 George Pisi IC 12 James Downey LW 11 Paul Diggin FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Lee Dickson ( c) N8 8 Roger Wilson OF 7 Phil Dowson BF 6 James Craig RL 5 Christian Day LL 4 Mark Sorenson TP 3 Brian Mujati HK 2 Andy Long LP 1 Soane Tongaʻuiha Replacements: HK 16 Ross McMillan PR 17 Alex Waller PR 18 Paul Doran-Jones FL 19 Ben Nutley FL 20 Teimana Harrison SH 21 Martin Roberts FH 22 Stephen Myler CE 23 Tom May Coach: Jim Mallinder

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Team details

FB 15 Geordan Murphy ( c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 George Ford SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington TP 3 Dan Cole HK 2 George Chuter LP 1 Marcos Ayerza Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni LK 19 Graham Kitchener FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees WG 23 Scott Hamilton Coach: Richard Cockerill FB 15 Alex Goode RW 14 David Strettle OC 13 Owen Farrell IC 12 Brad Barritt LW 11 Chris Wyles FH 10 Charlie Hodgson SH 9 Neil de Kock N8 8 Ernst Joubert OF 7 Will Fraser BF 6 Jackson Wray RL 5 Mouritz Botha LL 4 Steve Borthwick ( c) TP 3 Matt Stevens HK 2 Schalk Brits LP 1 Rhys Gill Replacements: HK 16 Jamie George PR 17 John Smit PR 18 Carlos Nieto LK 19 Hugh Vyvyan LK 20 George Kruis SH 21 Richard Wigglesworth CE 22 Adam Powell WG 23 James Short Coach: Mark McCall

Final

Team details

Harlequins Leicester Tigers FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Ugo Monye FH 10 Nick Evans  76' SH 9 Danny Care N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw ( c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu  72' RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomás Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest  72' SH 21 Karl Dickson FH 22 Rory Clegg  76' CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea FB 15 Geordan Murphy ( c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla  73' OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 George Ford  73' SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom 38 OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington  73' TP 3 Dan Cole  55' HK 2 George Chuter  61' LP 1 Marcos Ayerza  73' Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs  61' PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola  73' PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni  55' LK 19 Graham Kitchener  73' FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees  73' WG 23 Scott Hamilton  73' Coach: Richard Cockerill

Leading scorers

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

References

External links

• 2011–12 English Premiership Full Results