South West Rugby League

The South West Rugby League (SWRL) also known as the South West Men's League is a rugby league competition for teams in the South West of England. It was formerly part of the Rugby League Conference.

South West Rugby League
Founded2003
Country England
Number of teams5
Level on pyramid5
Promotion toConference League South
Domestic cup(s)Challenge Cup Harry Jepson Trophy
Current championsCornish Rebels
2015 South West Rugby League season

The SWRL is a semi-autonomous league with a five-member committee under an Rugby Football League (RFL) appointed chairman. The SWRL has five member clubs from Devon and Cornwall.

History
See also: History of the Rugby League Conference

The Rugby League Conference was founded in 1997 as the Southern Conference, a 10-team pilot league for teams in the South of England and the English Midlands.

The conference made the leap from 30 to 52 teams in 2003 and a South West Division appeared for the first time. It disappeared in 2004 as South West teams took part in the Western Division and Cardiff Demons joined the newly created Welsh Division.

The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the English Midlands clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, this left the West Midlands division with too few teams to run, resulting in a merged West Midlands and South West Division.

After a campaign by the RFL to form new clubs in the South West, a new South West division was created in 2007 for teams from the West Country. By 2010, there were enough teams to have a South West conference split into two pools.

For the 2011 season, there was a new RLC West of England alongside the RLC South West. The initial idea was that the two leagues would compete side by side with play-offs at the end of the season to decide an overall South West champion. In 2011, Gloucestershire Warriors defeated Somerset Vikings in the Championship play-off. In 2012, the intended play-off match was cancelled as the majority of the Devon Sharks team, the South West Champions, were unable to break off from the start of the rugby union season to fulfill the fixture.

The South Western Rugby League was formed in February 2013 to organise and administer the South West Men's League following the switch of the majority of community clubs in England to a summer season and the ending of the Rugby League Conference in 2011.

Rugby League Conference Pyramid
See also: British rugby league system

This is officially the highest tier 4 league that South West clubs can play in.

2019 South West Men's League
Club Founded Location RLC Honours
Cornish Rebels2013Redruth, CornwallRLC South West: 2014, 2015, 2017
Devon Sharks2006Torquay, DevonRLC South West: 2009, 2012, 2013, 2019
Exeter Centurions2007Exeter, Devon2016, Folded in 2017
North Devon Raiders2009Barnstaple, DevonName Change 2018: Tarka Storm
Plymouth Titans2007Saltash, DevonRLC South West: 2007, 2011, Name Change: Saltash Essayons 2018 
 Teignbridge Trojans]] [2017 [ Newton Abbot]

South West Cup

The South West cup is a knock-out competition played for by members of the South West Division. It was originally known as the Devon Cup.

  • 2006: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup)
  • 2007: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup)
  • 2008: Plymouth Titans (as Devon Cup)
  • 2009: East Devon Eagles
  • 2010: Devon Sharks
  • 2011: Plymouth Titans
  • 2012: Exeter Centurions
  • 2013: Cornish Rebels
  • 2014: Cornish Rebels
  • 2015: Exeter Centurions

South West Nines

The South West Nines is a rugby league nines competition. It is competed for by RLC South West and RLC West of England teams and local student rugby league sides.

  • 2007 Plymouth Titans
  • 2008 Exeter University
  • 2009 Exeter University
  • 2010 Exeter University
  • 2011 Exeter University
  • 2012 Plymouth Titans
  • 2013 Exeter University
  • 2014 Cornish Rebels
  • 2015 Cornish Rebels

County Challenge

In 2010, a ″one–off″ match was played between Devon and Cornwall with Devon winning 44–20.[1] The match was featured on the BBC national news and was widely covered by the rugby league press. It is now competed for annually and known as the Martin Roddy MBE Trophy.

  • 2010 Devon
  • 2011 Devon
  • 2012 Cornwall
  • 2013 Cornwall
  • 2015 Devon

South West County Championship Festival

The first South West County Championship took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2011 at Aretians RFC in Bristol. The 2012 Event took place at Bridgwater RFC in Somerset.

  • 2011 Hampshire
  • 2012 Hampshire

Participating teams by season

South West League
  • 2003: Bristol Sonics, Cardiff Demons, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Worcestershire Saints
  • 2005: Bristol Sonics, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Plymouth, Somerset Vikings, Thames Valley
  • 2007: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings 'A'
  • 2008: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings
  • 2009: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants
  • 2010: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, South Somerset Warriors
  • 2011: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, (South Somerset Warriors withdrew mid-season)
  • 2012: Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, Exmouth Saints (replacements for East Devon Eagles; failed to complete the season), North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans
  • 2013: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings A
  • 2014: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans
  • 2015: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans

West of England League
  • 2011: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Swindon St George, Wiltshire Wyverns
  • 2012: Bristol Sonics 'A', Gloucestershire Warriors 'A', Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Wiltshire Wyverns failed to start the season)
  • 2013: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George
  • 2014: Bristol Sonics 'A', Cheltenham Old Patesians, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers 'A', Somerset Vikings, Swindon St George (Oxford Cavaliers 'A' failed to complete the season)

Winners
See also: Rugby League Conference trophy winners

South West League

West of England League
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References
  1. "Devon face rivals Cornwall in historic match". BBC. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
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