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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 sixth competition took place in the 2014–15 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 this season the competition has been reduced to twenty teams with the withdrawal of the Scottish clubs. Five different clubs have won the competition to date: Cornish Pirates, Bristol and Worcester Warriors from England, and Munster A and Leinster A from Ireland. Leinster A beat Leeds Carnegie 44 – 17 in the 2013–14 final and retained the cup they won in the previous season – the first team to win the cup for a second time. Worcester Warriors are the current holders after they beat Doncaster Knights 35 – 5 in the latest final on 3 April 2015. There have been six different runners-up: Munster A from Ireland, Bedford Blues, Newcastle Falcons, Leeds Carnegie and Doncaster Knights from England, and Cross Keys from Wales. Ayr are the only rugby club from Scotland to reach the quarter-finals stage. As of the 2015-16 season, Welsh teams will be represented by regional Premiership Select sides from the four Welsh regions〔http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/33524500〕 ==Finals== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British and Irish Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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