2023–24 División de Honor de Rugby

2023–24 División de Honor
Countries Spain
Date1 October 2023
ChampionsValladolid RAC
Runners-upAparejadores Rugby
PromotedCR La Vila
RelegatedBelenos RC

The 2023–24 División de Honor is the 57th season of the División de Honor, the top flight of Spanish domestic rugby union.

Valladolid won its seventh title in eight years, its thirteenth overall, defeating local rivals El Salvador in the final.

Competition format

The season took place between October and May.

Points were awarded as follows:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 1 bonus point for a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match
  • 1 bonus point for a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer

Each team played twelve games - one game against each opponent. Then the league divided into two groups: the top six teams progressed to Group A and the remaining six teams progressed to Group B. The teams played the other members of their groups once more.

Eight teams progressed through to the playoffs, meaning the top two teams from Group B qualified along with the six teams from Group A.[1]

Promotion and relegation

The second-tier División de Honor B is made up of three regional groups. The top eight teams across the three groups play off; the champion is promoted to División de Honor, at the expense of the team which finishes last in the División de Honor.

The runner-up plays a further playoff against the team which finishes 11th in the top flight.

Teams

Gernika RT and La Vila were relegated while Alcobendas were promoted.

Team Stadium Capacity Location
Alcobendas Las Terrazas 2,000 Alcobendas, Madrid
2023–24 División de Honor de Rugby is located in Spain
Alcobendas
Alcobendas
Valladolid
Valladolid
El Salvador

El Salvador
Santboiana
Santboiana
Aparejadores
Aparejadores
Ordizia
Ordizia
Barcelona
Barcelona
Cisneros
Cisneros
Ciencias
Ciencias
Abelles
Abelles
Belenos
Belenos
Pozuelo
Pozuelo
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Current División de Honor teams
Aparejadores San Amaro 1,000 Burgos, Castile and León
Ciencias Instalaciones Deportivas La Cartuja 3,000 Seville, Andalusia
Complutense Cisneros Estadio Complutense 12,400 Madrid, Madrid
El Salvador Pepe Rojo 5,000 Valladolid, Castile and León
FC Barcelona La Teixonera 500 Barcelona, Catalonia
Belenos RC Estadio Yago Lamela 1,163 Avilés, Asturias
Les Abelles Polideportivo de Quatre Carreres 500 Valencia, Valencia
Ordizia Altamira 2,000 Ordizia, Basque Country
Pozuelo Valle de las Cañas 500 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid
Santboiana Baldiri Aleu 3,500 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Catalonia
Valladolid Pepe Rojo 5,000 Valladolid, Castile and León

Results and standings

First phase

Aparejadores set the pace in the first phase of the season, winning ten games out of eleven and scoring more than 40 points on six occasions.

ALC APA BEL CIE CIS ELS FCB LES ORD POZ SAN VAL
Alcobendas — 44–38 43–34 28–29 29–30 31–23
Aparejadores 48–26 — 66–13 40–26 26–8 52–24 32–10
Belenos RC 23–26 — 45–28 30–20 32–36 0–31
Ciencias 22–28 25–20 — 31–14 25–25 29–19 14–19
Complutense Cisneros 41–21 14–22 — 16–21 32–39 24–3
El Salvador 33–5 — 30–10 50–20 17–17 0–27
FC Barcelona 17–45 40–37 26–38 39–15 — 17–22 13–30
Les Abelles 0–21 32–28 0–22 38–15 — 43–28 14–24
Ordizia 34–35 19–38 10–15 — 44–38 18–28
Pozuelo 5–45 34–0 12–57 22–42 7–26 — 13–24
Santboiana 10–19 16–15 34–19 45–42 30–13 —
Valladolid 7–0 24–31 31–10 47–8 34–0 43–20 —

The first phase concluded in January 2024, with five of the six teams which qualified for Group A being the same as 2022-23.

Team P W D L F A +/- TF TA +/- BP Los Pts
1 Aparejadores 11 10 0 1 441 207 234 61 22 39 8 1 49
2 Valladolid 11 10 0 1 315 114 201 39 9 30 6 1 47
3 Ciencias 11 6 1 4 316 237 79 39 26 13 2 4 32
4 Alcobendas 11 6 0 5 288 283 5 35 39 -4 0 3 28
5 Santboiana 11 6 1 4 280 290 -10 29 31 -2 1 0 28
6 El Salvador 11 5 1 5 264 256 8 33 31 2 2 0 24
7 Complutense Cisneros 11 4 0 7 270 275 -5 30 37 -7 1 2 19
8 FC Barcelona 11 4 0 7 285 377 -92 39 46 -7 1 2 19
9 Ordizia 11 4 0 7 266 338 -78 19 36 -17 0 2 18
10 Les Abelles 11 4 1 6 197 267 -70 27 33 -6 0 0 16
11 Belenos RC 11 3 0 8 240 373 -133 30 51 -21 0 4 16
12 Pozuelo 11 2 0 9 190 335 -145 20 40 -20 1 0 9
Qualified for Group A
Qualified for Group B

Second phase

Group A

Team P W D L F A +/- TF TA +/- Bon Los Pts
1 Aparejadores 16 14 0 2 551 302 249 73 30 43 8 2 66
2 Valladolid 15 12 0 3 400 205 195 51 20 31 6 2 56
3 Ciencias 15 9 1 5 435 283 152 55 31 24 4 5 47
4 El Salvador 16 8 1 7 372 337 35 46 42 4 4 1 39
5 Alcobendas 16 7 0 9 367 395 -28 43 53 -10 0 5 34
6 Santboiana 16 7 1 8 338 424 -86 38 54 -16 1 2 33

Group B

Team P W D L F A +/- TF TA +/- Bon Los Pts
1 Complutense Cisneros 16 8 0 8 444 393 51 52 52 0 2 3 37
2 Les Abelles 16 7 1 8 304 377 -73 39 45 -6 0 2 30
3 Ordizia 16 6 0 10 392 453 -61 42 52 -10 1 4 29
4 Pozuelo 16 6 0 10 334 451 -117 35 54 -19 1 1 26
5 FC Barcelona 16 5 0 11 393 510 -117 50 61 -11 1 5 26
6 Belenos RC 16 4 0 12 348 548 -200 44 74 -30 0 5 21
Qualified for playoff quarterfinals
Relegation playoff
Relegation to División de Honor B


Playoffs

The season climaxed with three extremely close games in the semifinals and final, with Valladolid prevailing over local rivals El Salvador to win their second consecutive title.

Quarter finals Semifinals Final
         
1 Castile and León Aparejadores 53
8 Valencian Community Les Abelles 7
Castile and León Aparejadores 16
Castile and León El Salvador 12
4 Castile and León El Salvador 36
5 Community of Madrid Alcobendas 17
Castile and León El Salvador 19
Castile and León Valladolid 20
2 Castile and León Valladolid 30
7 Community of Madrid Complutense 21
Castile and León Valladolid 14
Andalusia Ciencias 10
3 Andalusia Ciencias 37
6 Catalonia Saintboiana 15

Relegation playoff

The relegation playoff was played over two legs by Barcelona, the team finishing 11th in División de Honor, and Ingenieros Industriales Las Rozas, the losing team from the División de Honor B promotion playoff final. Barcelona won the game 34-3, retaining their place in the División de Honor for the 2024–25 season.

Relegation Playoff

2 May 2024
Catalonia Barcelona34-3Community of Madrid Las Rozas

Copa del Rey

The Copa del Rey returned to its 2021-22 format; the twelve teams were divided into four groups of three and their league results counted towards the qualification for the cup.

Group A: Les Abelles, Pozuelo, Valladolid
Group B: Alcobendas, Barcelona, Aparejadores
Group C: Real Ciencias, Santboiana, Pasek Belenos
Group D: Ordizia, Complutense Cisnerosm El Salvador

Semifinals

The winner of each group proceeded to the semifinals of the cup, which were one-legged ties.

11 February 2024
Castile and León El Salvador6-15Castile and León Valladolid
11 February 2024
Castile and León Aparejadores32-17Catalonia Santboiana

Final

The final was a rematch of the 2023 final, but was won this time by Aparejadores, who denied Valladolid a second consecutive double.

4 May 2024
Castile and León Valladolid19-20Castile and León Aparejadores

References

  1. ^ "La División de Honor de rugby arrancará con 13 equipos y cambio de formato". sport.es (in Spanish). 28 September 2022.