AIB League: Promotion/Relegation/Round Robin Updates
With just four rounds of matches left in the regulation phase of this season’s AIB League, IrishRugby.ie takes a look the promotion and relegation scenarios and the Round Robin series for junior clubs.
PROMOTION AND RELEGATION IN THE 2006/07 AIB LEAGUE:
DIVISION ONE (Sixteen clubs) –
The bottom two clubs will be automatically relegated. There will be sixteen clubs in the top flight in the 2007/08 season.
DIVISION TWO (Sixteen clubs) –
The top two clubs, at the completion of the league programme, will be automatically promoted into Division One for next season. The bottom two teams will be automatically relegated.
There will be sixteen clubs in the second tier in 2007/08.
DIVISION THREE (Sixteen clubs) –
The top two clubs, at the completion of the league programme, will be automatically promoted in Division Two for the 2007/08 campaign.
The club that finishes bottom of Division Three will be automatically relegated and replaced by the winner of the Round Robin competition for Branch Qualifying League winners.
The that finishes second from bottom in Division Three will play off with the club that finishes as runner-up in the Round Robin for a place in the third division next season.
There will be sixteen clubs in Division Three next term.
2006/07 ROUND ROBIN SERIES:
Fixtures –
Saturday, March 24: Munster team v Naas, Ulster team v Monivea
Saturday, March 31: Naas v Ulster team, Monivea v Munster team
Saturday, April 7: Naas v Monivea, Munster team v Ulster team
Saturday, April 21: Play-off between the club that finishes as runner-up in the Round Robin series v the club that finishes second from bottom in Division Three
Teams to have qualified for Round Robin Series –
Connacht: Monivea (winners of the Coen Holdings Connacht Junior League Division 1 title)
Leinster: Naas (winners of the RE/MAX Leinster League Division 1 title)
Munster: No team has qualified yet (Cobh Pirates are top of the Munster Junior League Division 1 having completed their programme, but Crosshaven, with two games in hand, could still pip them)
Ulster: No team has qualified yet (City of Armagh can qualify by beating Dromore on Friday and lifting the Kukri Ulster Qualifying League Section 1 title)
– With thanks to Irish rugby statistician Des Daly –