2017–18 RFU Intermediate Cup

The 2017–18 RFU Intermediate Cup is the 22nd version of the RFU Intermediate Cup (9th using the name RFU Intermediate Cup) national competition for clubs at level 7 of the English rugby union system. The cup consists of 91 clubs divided into four regions. The winners of each region then advance to the national semi-finals with the final being held at Twickenham Stadium in London at the end of the season, along with the RFU Intermediate Cup and RFU Junior Vase finals.

2017–18 RFU Intermediate Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England
Tournament format(s)	knockout
Date	2 September 2017 – 6 May 2018
Tournament statistics
Teams	95
Final
Venue	Twickenham Stadium
Champions	Camberley (1st title)
Runners-up	Droitwich
← 2016–17 (Previous) (Next) 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 champions were London & South East winners, Camberley, who thrashed Midlands winners, Droitwich, 63–14 in the Twickenham final. It was Camberley's first ever intermediate cup title, but the 7th won by London & South East based clubs, tying them with the northern region who also had 7 victories.

London & South East Intermediate Cup

The London & South East Intermediate Cup involves a knock-out competition with 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round, semi-finals and final. The winners of the London & South East Intermediate Cup then go on to the national Intermediate Cup semi-finals where they face the winners of the South West Intermediate Cup. There are 25 teams involved in the London & South East Intermediate Cup, all of which are 1st XV sides, coming from the following unions and level 7 leagues.

Union(s)	League(s) / Level	Participants
Eastern Counties	London 2 North East (7)	2
Essex	London 2 North East (7)	5
	London 2 South East (7)	1
Hampshire	London 3 South West	2
Kent	London 2 South East	3
Middlesex	London 3 North West	4
	London 2 South East	1
Surrey	London 3 South West	4[a 1]
Sussex	London 2 South East	3

Round 1

Byes: Barking (L2SE), Camberley (L2SW), Chelmsford (L2NE), Chiswick (L2NW), Dover (L2SE), Gosport & Fareham (L2SW) and Hampstead (L2NW)

Date	Home	Score	Away
14/10/2017[1]	Charlton Park (L2SE)	30–12	Old Reigatian (L2SW)
	Farnham (L2SW)	36–33	Beckenham (L2SE)
	Hammersmith & Fulham (L2NW)	18–48	Rochford Hundred (L2NE)
	Haywards Heath (L2SE)	12–37	London Exiles (L2SW)
	Horsham (L2SE)	HWO	Eastleigh (L2SW)
	Norwich (L2NE)	HWO	Harlow (L2NE)
	Old Cooperians (L2NE)	HWO	Cantabrigian (L2NE)
	Twickenham (L2SW)	28–14	Hove (L2SE)
	Woodford (L2NE)	45–5	Harrow (L2NW)

Round 2

Date	Home	Score	Away
18/11/2017[2]	Charlton Park (L2SE)	HWO	Twickenham (L2SW)
	Chelmsford (L2NE)	0–48	Woodford (L2NE)
	Dover (L2SE)	7–43	Camberley (L2SW)
	Gosport & Fareham (L2SW)	29–31	Farnham (L2SW)
	Hampstead (L2NW)	AWO	Rochford Hundred (L2NE)
	London Exiles (L2SW)	37–27	Horsham (L2SE)
	Norwich (L2NE)	18–10	Chiswick (L2NW)
	Old Cooperians (L2NE)	35–24	Barking (L2NE)

Round 3

Date	Home	Score	Away
20/01/2018[3]	Camberley (L2SW)	HWO	Woodford (L2NE)
	Charlton Park (L2SE)	17–14	Farnham (L2SW)
	Old Cooperians (L2NE)	12–24	Norwich (L2NE)
	Rochford Hundred (L2NE)	38–0	London Exiles (L2SW)

Semi-finals

Date	Home	Score	Away
24/02/2018[4]	Camberley (L2SW)	47–8	Rochford Hundred (L2NE)
	Norwich (L2NE)	24–32	Charlton Park (L2SE)

Final

The winners of the London & South East Intermediate Cup final would advance to the national semi-finals.

Date	Home	Score	Away
17/03/2018[5]	Charlton Park (L2SE)	12–33[6]	Camberley (L2SW)

Midlands Intermediate Cup

The Midlands Intermediate Cup is a direct knockout cup with a 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final The winner of the final goes forward to the National Intermediate Cup semi-finals where they face the winners of the Northern section.^[7] The competition involves 41 clubs from the following unions and level 7 leagues:

Union(s)	League(s) / Level	Participants
Cheshire	Midlands 2 West (North) (7)	1[a 2]
East Midlands	Midlands 2 East (South) (7)	4
Leicestershire	Midlands 2 East (North) (7)	2
	Midlands 2 East (South) (7)	3
North Midlands	Midlands 2 West (North) (7)	6
	Midlands 2 West (South) (7)	3
Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	Midlands 2 East (North) (7)	9
Staffordshire	Midlands 2 West (North) (7)	4[a 3]
Warwickshire	Midlands 2 West (North) (7)	1
	Midlands 2 West (South) (7)	6
	Midlands 2 East (South) (7)	2

Round 1

Byes: 23 teams received a bye into the second round

Date	Home	Score	Away
16/09/2017[8]	Stamford (M2ES)	AWO	Lincoln (M2EN)
	Ashbourne (M2EN)	38–40	Whitchurch (M2WN)
	Kenilworth (M2WS)	14–22	Olney (M2ES)
	Ludlow (M2WN)	31–19	Evesham (M2WS)
	Matlock (M2EN)	29–14	Tamworth (M2WN)
	Newcastle (Staffs) (M2WN)	10–25	Dronfield (M2EN)
	Oakham (M2ES)	20–27	Newark (M2EN)
	Old Saltleians (M2WN)	HWO	Southam (M2WS)
	Silhillians (M2WS)	15–12	Cleobury Mortimer (M2WN)

Round 2

Date	Home	Score	Away
07/10/2017[9]	Bakewell Mannerians (M2EN)	AWO	Crewe & Nantwich (M2WN)
	Droitwich (M2WS)	36–8	Walsall (M2WN)
	Dronfield (M2EN)	17–25	Leek (M2WN)
	Earlsdon (M2WS)	5–3	Veseyans (M2WN)
	Leamington (M2WS)	20–27	Long Buckby (M2ES)
	Lincoln (M2EN)	HWO	Belgrave (M2ES)
	Market Harborough (M2ES)	AWO	Southwell (M2EN)
	Newark (M2EN)	HWO	Stewarts & Lloyds (M2ES)
	Nottingham Casuals (M2EN)	26–18	Old Saltleians (M2WN)
	Old Laurentians (M2ES)	17–3	Loughborough (M2EN)
	Old Yardleians (M2WS)	7–22	Kidderminster Carolians (M2WN)
	Olney (M2ES)	21–13	Berkswell & Balsall (M2WS)
	Pinley (M2ES)	AWO	Coalville (M2EN)
	Silhillians (M2WS)	26–36	Ludlow (M2WN)
	West Bridgford (M2EN)	24–15	Spartans (M2WN)
	Whitchurch (M2WN)	HWO	Matlock (M2EN)

Round 3

Date	Home	Score	Away
28/10/2017[10]	Coalville (M2EN)	46–19	Olney (M2ES)
	Crewe & Nantwich (M2WN)	27–26	West Bridgford (M2EN)
	Kidderminster Carolians (M2WN)	12–27	Earlsdon (M2WS)
	Leek (M2WN)	39–17	Lincoln (M2EN)
	Long Buckby (M2ES)	13–15	Southwell (M2EN)
	Ludlow (M2WN)	AWO	Droitwich (M2WS)
	Newark (M2EN)	43–10	Old Laurentians (M2ES)
	Whitchurch (M2WN)	39–14	Nottingham Casuals (M2EN)

Quarter-finals

Date	Home	Score	Away
18/11/2017[11]	Coalville (M2EN)	12–57	Whitchurch (M2WN)
	Droitwich (M2WS)	34–10	Crewe & Nantwich (M2WN)
	Earlsdon (M2WS)	16–8	Newark (M2EN)[a 4]
	Southwell (M2EN)	14–46	Leek (M2WN)

Semi-finals

Date	Home	Score	Away
20/01/2017[13]	Leek (M2WN)	12–17	Droitwich (M2WS)
	Whitchurch (M2WN)	39–5	Newark (M2EN)

Final

The winners of the Midlands Intermediate Cup would advance to the National Intermediate Cup semi-finals.

Date	Home	Score	Away
17/03/2018[14]	Whitchurch (M2WN)	7–19[15]	Droitwich (M2WS)

Northern Intermediate Cup

Unlike the other regional competitions, the Northern Intermediate Cup starts with a mini-league stage, in which the eligible clubs are placed in 2 regional pools of 3 teams each. The winners of each pool then face each other in the Northern Intermediate Cup final, with the winner advancing to the National Intermediate Cup semi-finals, where they will face the winners of the Midlands section. There are 6 teams (1st XV only) involved in the Northern Intermediate Cup representing the following unions and level 7 leagues:

Union(s)	League(s) / Level	Participants
Durham County	Durham/Northumberland 1 (7)	1
Cheshire	Lancs/Cheshire Division 1 (7)	1
Cumbria	North Lancashire/Cumbria (7)	1
Lancashire	North Lancashire/Cumbria (7)	1[a 5]
Northumberland	Durham/Northumberland 1 (7)	1
Yorkshire	Yorkshire 1 (7)	1

Pool 1 (West)

Pool 1[17]
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Points
1	Bowdon (LC1)	2	2	0	0	68	46	22	4
2	De La Salle (NLC)	2	1	0	1	59	53	6	2
3	Aspatria (NLC)	2	0	0	2	24	52	-2	0
2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.[18]

Date	Home	Score	Away
14/10/2017	De La Salle (NLC)	25–12	Aspatria (NLC)
18/11/2017	Bowdon (LC1)	41–34	De La Salle (NLC)
10/02/2018	Aspatria (NLC)	12–27	Bowdon (LC1)

Pool 2 (East)

Pool 2[19]
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Points
1	York (Y1)	2	2	0	0	179	12	167	4
2	Gateshead (DN1)	2	1	0	1	5	81	-76	2
3	Medicals (DN1)	2	0	0	2	7	98	-91	0
2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.[18]

Date	Home	Score	Away
14/10/2017	York (Y1)	98–7	Medicals (DN1)
18/11/2017	Medicals (DN1)	AWO	Gateshead (DN1)
17/02/2018	Gateshead (DN1)	5–81	York (Y1)

Final

The winners of the Pool 1 (West) and Pool 2 (East) would meet in the Northern Intermediate Cup final. The winners of this final would then advanced to the National Intermediate Cup semi-finals.

Date	Home	Score	Away
24/02/2018[20]	York (Y1)	25–11[21]	Bowdon (LC1)

South West Intermediate Cup

The South West Intermediate Cup consist of three stages, with representatives from the different unions joining at different points. The Dorset & Wilts and Gloucestershire clubs first play in county based knock-out tournaments, with the winners advancing to either the Southern Counties or South West Counties area semi-finals, where they join the other south-west representatives. The winners of each area final then meet in the South West Intermediate Cup final to determine who goes through to the national semi-finals, where they face the winners of the London and South East section.

The South West Intermediate Cup involves 19 clubs (1st XV only) from the following unions and level 7 leagues:

Union(s)	League(s) / Level	Participants
Berkshire	Southern Counties North (7)	1
Buckinghamshire	Southern Counties North (7)	1
Cornwall	Tribute Western Counties West (7)	1
Devon	Tribute Western Counties West (7)	1
Dorset & Wilts	Southern Counties South (7)	7
Gloucestershire	Tribute Western Counties North (7)	6
Oxfordshire (7)	Southern Counties North (7)	1
Somerset	Tribute Western Counties North (7)	1

Stage 1 (Dorset & Wilts)

9 clubs were involved in the Dorset & Wilts RFU Intermediate Cup qualification. The winners would advanced to the Southern Counties semi-finals.

First round
Date	Home	Score	Away
23/09/2017[22]	North Dorset (SCS)	26–20	Trowbridge (SCS)
Quarter-finals
23/09/2017[23]	Corsham (SCS)	36–22	Marlborough (SCS)
	Devizes (SCS)	HWO	Blandford (SCS)
	Swanage & Wareham (SCS)	24–26	Sherborne (SCS)
14/10/2017	North Dorset	HWO	Swindon College Old Boys (SCS)
Semi-finals
18/11/2017[24]	Devizes	12–30	Sherborne (SCS)
	North Dorset	22–10	Corsham (SCS)
Final
02/12/2017[25]	North Dorset	17–20	Sherborne (SCS)

Stage 1 (Gloucestershire)

7 teams were involved in the Gloucestershire RFU Intermediate Cup qualification tournament. The winners of the competition would go through to the South West Counties final.

First round[a 6]
Date	Home	Score	Away
02/09/2017[26]	Old Bristolians (WCN)	24–21	Avonmouth Old Boys (WCN)
09/09/2017[26]	Stroud (WCN)	13–43	Chosen Hill Former Pupils (WCN)
16/09/2017	Old Richians (WCN)	20–56	Coney Hill (WCN)
Semi-finals
30/09/2017[27]	Chosen Hill Former Pupils (WCN)	40–26	Old Bristolians (WCN)
14/10/2017[27]	Coney Hill (WCN)	HWO	Cheltenham (WCN)
Final
02/12/2017[28]	Chosen Hill Former Pupils (WCN)	13–14	Coney Hill (WCN)

Stage 2 (Southern Counties)

The winners of the Dorset & Wilts Intermediate Cup would join representatives from the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire unions in the Southern Counties knock-out stage. The winners would advance to play the South West Counties winners in the south-west regional final.

Semi-finals
Date	Home	Score	Away
10/02/2018[29]	Wallingford (SCN)	7–26	Beaconsfield (SCN)
	Windsor (SCN)	12–3	Sherborne (SCS)
Final
24/02/2018[30]	Beaconsfield (SCN)	8–17	Windsor (SCN)

Stage 2 (South West Counties)

The winners of the Gloucestershire Intermediate Cup would meet the representatives from the Somerset RFU in the semi-final, while the representatives from the Cornwall RFU would face the representatives from the Devon RFU. The winners would advance to play the Southern Counties winners in the south-west regional final.

Semi-finals
Date	Home	Score	Away
10/02/2018[31]	Coney Hill (WCN)	HWO	Chew Valley (WCN)
	St Austell (WCW)	HWO	Devonport Services (WCW)
Final
24/02/2018[32]	Coney Hill (WCN)	65–17	St Austell (WCW)

Stage 3 (South West final)

The winners of the Southern Counties and South West Counties final would meet in the south-west regional final. The winners of this final would then advanced to the national semi-finals.

Date	Home	Score	Away
17/03/2018[33]	Windsor (SCN)	19–34[34]	Coney Hill (WCN)

National Senior Vase

4 teams qualified from the regional vase competitions:

• London & South East Intermediate Cup winners – Camberley (L2SW)
• Midlands Intermediate Cup winners – Droitwich (M2WS)
• Northern Intermediate Cup winners – York (Y1)
• South West Intermediate Cup winners – Coney Hill (WCN)

The Midlands winners would face the North winners in the first semi-final, while the London & South East winners would face the South-West winners in the other, with the winners of each semi-final meeting in the Twickenham final. Home advantage in the semi-finals will be decided by a draw.^[35]

Semi-finals

Date	Home	Score	Away
31/03/2018[36]	Coney Hill (WCN)	17–20[37]	Camberley (L2SW)
	Droitwich (M2WS)	24–22[38]	York (Y1)

Final

6 May 2018 15:00

Camberley (L2SW)	63–14	Droitwich (M2WS)
	Report

Twickenham Stadium, London

^[39][40]

Notes

1. One of the Surrey clubs, London Exiles, are members of both the Middlesex and Surrey unions but play in Surrey county cup competitions.
2. Crewe & Nantwich are a member of the Cheshire RFU but play in the Midlands regional leagues.
3. One of the Staffordshire clubs, Walsall, are joint members of both the Staffordshire and North Midlands unions but play in Staffordshire county cup competitions.
4. Despite initially losing their second round game against Earlsdon, Newark were reinstated back into the Midlands Intermediate Cup after Earlsdon were later disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.^[12]
5. Although the breakaway of 19 Lancashire RFU clubs at the start of the 2017–18 season affected Lancashire clubs' participation in the Senior and Junior Vases, they were still able to send a representative to the 2017–18 RFU Intermediate Cup.^[16]
6. Cheltenham received a bye through to the semi-finals.

See also

• 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup
• 2017–18 British and Irish Cup
• 2017–18 RFU Senior Vase
• 2017–18 RFU Junior Vase
• English rugby union system
• List of English rugby union teams
• Rugby union in England