Scottish Rugby Premier Post-Split Fixtures Announced

Scottish Rugby announced the fixtures for the mid-season Premier league split today. Introduced because of a shared desire to improve the standard and intensity of Scotland’s club game, the mid-season split sees  Scotland’s two Premier 1 and 2 divisions divided into three groups of eight (Premier A, B and C).As well as the Premier 1 title, the top eight teams in Premier A will compete for the three British & Irish cup qualification places for the 2011/12 cross border competition, the middle eight (Premier B) will compete for the right to play in Premier 1 next season, with the top four finishers earning that right. The highest placed Premier 2 team will be crowned as Premier 2 champions.CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD POST SPLIT FIXTURESScottish Rugby announced the fixtures for the mid-season Premier league split today.Introduced because of a shared desire to improve the standard and intensity of Scotland’s club game, the mid-season split sees  Scotland’s two Premier 1 and 2 divisions divided into three groups of eight (Premier A, B and C).As well as the Premier 1 title, the top eight teams in Premier A will compete for the three British & Irish cup qualification places for the 2011/12 cross border competition, the middle eight (Premier B) will compete for the right to play in Premier 1 next season, with the top four finishers earning that right. The highest placed Premier 2 team will be crowned as Premier 2 champions.Finally, the bottom eight (Premier C) will compete to avoid relegation, with the two bottom-placed teams dropping into Premier 3.Colin Thomson, Scottish Rugby’s head of community rugby, said: “Scottish Rugby and Scotland’s Premier clubs shared the need to improve the standard and intensity of Scotland’s club game and to create a competition structure that would complement the successful introduction of the British & Irish Cup.”The widespread opinion of players, coaches and officials is that the first half of the season has been a resounding success. Each of the first 11 matches are crucial to a team’s placement in the split which challenged the players week in week out and saw both Premier 1 and 2 go right to the wire as clubs vied for position.”We now look forward to yet another step up in competitive intensity as the teams prepare to mount their challenge for championships, a chance to play in the British & Irish Cup, one of the four slots available to play in Premier 1 next season or indeed to avoid relegation.”Head coach of Premier Cup champions Ayr, Kenny Murray, agreed: “The new league format has brought excitement and anticipation to Premier 1 with every game having significant importance for the teams. Ayr rugby club welcomes this and hopes that it will continue in the future.”The seven games after the split will provide a cup final feel to every game and will no doubt make for some great contests.”Saturday 6 November is a scheduled Cup weekend to allow clubs to plan ahead, which means that the league action will reconvene on Saturday 13 November.SCOTTISH PREMIER POST SPLIT FIXTURESThe championship committee and the forums of the Premier 1 and 2 clubs acknowledged that the priority of the post-split draw was to ensure, where possible, that all teams play nine home games and nine away.CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD POST SPLIT FIXTURESPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 1Ayr v DundeeGlasgow Hawks v BoroughmuirMelrose v Heriot’sCurrie v HawickPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 2Ayr v Glasgow HawksCurrie v MelroseDundee v BoroughmuirHeriot’s v HawickPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 3Melrose v AyrGlasgow Hawks v CurrieBoroughmuir v Heriot’sDundee v HawickPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 4Ayr v CurrieGlasgow Hawks v MelroseHeriot’s v DundeeHawick v BoroughmuirPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 5Ayr v BoroughmuirDundee v Glasgow HawksCurrie v Heriot’sMelrose v HawickPREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 6Hawick v Glasgow Hawks *Heriot’s v Hawks *Boroughmuir v MelroseCurrie v Dundee *PREMIER A (TOP EIGHT), ROUND 7Heriot’s v AyrMelrose v Dundee *Boroughmuir v CurrieGlasgow Hawks v HawickPREMIER B (MIDDLE EIGHT), GAME 1Aberdeen Grammar v Stirling CountyEdinburgh Accies v SelkirkWatsonians v GalaPeebles v West of ScotlandPREMIER C (BOTTOM EIGHT), GAME 1Falkirk v Hillhead/JordanhillStewart’s Melville v Jed-ForestKelso v BiggarGHA v Kirkcaldy* Fixtures reversed to even up gamesThe full fixture list can be found on www.scottishrugby.orgClubs in Premier A (top eight) retain their points from the first half of the season. The top three finishers when the group is complete qualify for the 2011/2012 British & Irish Cup and the top team will be crowned as Premier 1 league champions. The bottom four finishers will compete in Premier 1 next season.* All of the professional players drafted by the bottom four finishers in Premier 1 (i.e. those now in the middle eight) will be redistributed to the top eight teams (the order of the draft remains). Clubs in Premier B (middle eight) will compete for the right to play in Premier 1 next season. As this league combines teams from two different leagues, all league points will return to zero and the drafted pro players from the participating Premier 1 clubs will be redistributed among the top eight clubs. The top four finishers from this group shall compete in Premier 1 next season and the highest placed Premier 2 team will be crowned as Premier 2 champions. The bottom four finishers of the middle eight will compete in Premier 2 next season. Clubs in Premier C (bottom eight) will compete to avoid relegation from Premier 2. All teams will retain their points from the first half of the season and the bottom two finishers will be relegated to Premier 3.