Relegation Confirmed for Championship

Mark Smith wrote:

The “Newcastle to take voluntary relegation” story is a pack of lies.

Happy to clarify that one. Not a shred of truth in it.

What if voluntary was omitted? I. E the other clubs threw Falcons to the Wolves?

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Remember Wakefield RFC

Breakdown wrote:

Apparently, draws do not count. Regulation 106 has been set aside by the Championship so after matches won, the next decider will be points difference, on which the Scots are clearly ahead.

After getting over my aversion to the word 'apparently', I checked this out. And yes it's true, according to the copy of the regs I've just found from last summer. Must have missed it, or noticed it and forgotten. This is 3.1 (b)

In the case of equality of league points, positions in the table shall be determined firstly by the number of wins achieved in the Championship and then on the basis of match points differential in the Championship. A Club with a larger number of wins shall be placed higher than a Club with the same number of league points but fewer wins. If Clubs have equal league points and equal number of wins then a Club with a larger difference between match points “for” and match points “against” shall be placed higher in the Championship than a Club with a smaller difference between match points “for” and match points “against”. Should two Clubs have the same number of league points, the same wins and the same match points difference, the Club having scored more match points “for” shall be placed higher in the Championship than the Club having the lesser number of match points “for”. If this still does not establish the positions then the Clubs involved shall be ranked according to the number of matches won, excluding the first league match of the season. If necessary, this process shall be extended to exclude the second match, third match and so on until the final positions are established.

As pointed out, this could affect the battle for 11th/12th. It could also affect 1st/2nd, should the Reds pick up 2pts on Saturday and Ealing get 4, or if there's a 3/5 'split' - Ealing would win the tie-breaker. I might be a dribbling wreck if this happens!