RFU Championship [SEP] inception
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship from 2013–14, is the second tier of the English rugby union league system and was founded in September 1987. The twelve-side league was known as National Division One and in 2009 changed from semi-professional clubs to fully professional. The 2018 champions were Bristol Bears as they won the league. They won automatic promotion to Premiership Rugby.
Originally the league required an end-of-season round of two-legged play-
club cup competition in England behind the Premiership Rugby Cup, RFU Championship Cup and RFU Intermediate Cup.
History.
The Senior Vase was introduced by the RFU during the 2006–07 season, and was competed for by English level 8 clubs. The original competition sponsors were EDF Energy, who had just taken over the sponsorship of national cup competitions from previous sponsors Powergen, although since the 2009–10 season there has been no sponsor. At the time of its inception it was the fourth most important competition in English rugby union behind the