:2021–22 WRU Championship

{{more citations needed|date=May 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox rugby union season

| name = 2021–22 Admiral Championship

| image =

| countries = {{flag|Wales}}

| date = 13 November 2021 - 7 May 2022

| champions = Bargoed

| relegated =

| matches = 79 (out of a scheduled 91)

| prevseason = 2019–20

| nextseason = 2022–23

}}

The 2021–22 WRU Championship (or Admiral Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the WRU Championship, the second tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. The league expanded to a 14 team format, up from 12 in previous seasons. The league was won by Bargoed for the second time; the first being the 2014–15 season.

The season was truncated and not all fixtures fulfilled. Ultimately, this had no bearing on the title as Bargoed could not be mathematically caught.

The large amount of cancelled fixtures caused friction from some clubs within the league, the most vocal being Pontypool, who called for the entire WRU Community Game Board to resign.{{cite web | url=http://pontypoolrugby.co.uk/news-article/429/Pontypool-RFC-s-2021-2022-season-concludes-prematurely | title=Pontypool RFC's 2021-2022 season concludes prematurely | Pontypool RFC }}

Structure

For 2021-22, instead of a traditional league, each team played each other team on a home or away basis for a total of 13 games. League points were awarded as such – 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Teams could also earn an additional bonus point by scoring four or more tries in a match and/or losing by less than seven points. The club with the most points after 13 games were declared the winners, although not all clubs completed their full 13 matches. As the previous two seasons were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no promotion or relegation this year.

Teams

As the previous seasons (2019–20 & 2020–21) were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, no teams were promoted or relegated from any league. Therefore, the same 14 teams that competed the previous season will compete again this season.

{{location map+ |Wales |float= |width=500 |caption= Locations of the 2021–22 WRU Championship teams with colour markers to represent the region they belong to:

Orange = Dragons

Blue = Cardiff Rugby

Black = Ospreys

Red = Scarlets

|places=

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.70 |long=-3.03 |label_size=90|label=Pontypool|position=right|mark=orange pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.69 |long=-3.23 |label_size=90|label=Bargoed|position=right|mark=orange pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.62 |long=-3.12 |label_size=90|label=Cross Keys|position=right|mark=orange pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.80 |long=-4.74 |label_size=90|label=Narberth|position=right|mark=Red pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.51 |long=-3.16 |label_size=90|label=Cardiff Met|position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.47 |long=-3.24 |label_size=90|label=Glamorgan Wanderers|position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.57 |long=-3.75 |label_size=90|label=Tata Steel|position=left|mark=Black pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.76 |long=-3.79 |label_size=90|label=Ystalyfera|position=top|mark=Black pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.59 |long=-3.20 |label_size=90|label=Bedwas|position=left|mark=orange pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.66 |long=-3.81 |label_size=90|label=Neath|position=left|mark=Black pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.56 |long=-3.36 |label_size=90|label=Beddau|position=left|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.64 |long=-3.46 |label_size=90|label=Ystrad Rhondda|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.61 |long=-3.66 |label_size=90|label=Maesteg Quins|position=top|mark=Black pog.svg}}

{{location map~ |Wales |lat=51.70 |long=-3.87 |label_size=90|label=Trebanos|position=left|mark=Black pog.svg}}

}}

class="wikitable sortable"
| Club

!| Stadium

!| Capacity

!| Area

Bargoed

| Bargoed Park

| style="text-align:left;" |1,500

| Bargoed, Caerphilly

Beddau

| Mount Pleasant Park

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Bedwas

| Bridge Field

| style="text-align:left;" |2,000

| Bedwas, Caerphilly

Cardiff Metropolitan University

| Cyncoed Campus

| style="text-align:left;" |1,620

| Cyncoed, Cardiff

Cross Keys

| Pandy Park

| style="text-align:left;" |3,000

| Crosskeys, Caerphilly

Glamorgan Wanderers

| Memorial Ground

| style="text-align:left;" |3,000

| Ely, Cardiff

Maesteg Quins

| South Parade Playing Fields

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Maesteg, Bridgend County Borough

Narberth

| Lewis Lloyd Ground

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Narberth, Pembrokeshire

Neath

| The Gnoll

| style="text-align:left;" |6,000

| Neath, Neath Port Talbot

Pontypool

| Pontypool Park

| style="text-align:left;" |8,800

| Pontypool, Torfaen

Tata Steel

| Tata Sports and Social Club

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot

Trebanos

| Trebanos Park

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Trebanos, Neath Port Talbot

Ystalyfera

| Ynysdarren Park

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Ystalyfera, Neath Port Talbot

Ystrad Rhondda

| Gelligaled Park

| style="text-align:left;" |unknown

| Ystrad, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Standings

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=Rugby

| title = 2021–22 Admiral National Championship Table

| team1 = BAR | name_BAR = Bargoed

| team2 = NEA | name_NEA = Neath

| team3 = PON | name_PON = Pontypool

| team4 = BDW | name_BDW = Bedwas

| team5 = NAR | name_NAR = Narberth

| team6 = CMU | name_CMU = Cardiff Metropolitan University

| team7 = CKE | name_CKE = Cross Keys

| team8 = MQU | name_MQU = Maesteg Quins

| team9 = YRH | name_YRH = Ystrad Rhondda

| team10 = GWA | name_GWA = Glamorgan Wanderers

| team11 = TRE | name_TRE = Trebanos

| team12 = TAT | name_TAT = Tata Steel

| team13 = YST | name_YST = Ystalyfera

| team14 = BDD | name_BDD = Beddau

| win_BAR = 12 | draw_BAR = 0 | loss_BAR = 1| pf_BAR = 368 | pa_BAR = 158 | tf_BAR = 51 | ta_BAR = 19 | tb_BAR = 8 | lb_BAR = 0

| win_NEA = 11 | draw_NEA = 0 | loss_NEA = 2| pf_NEA = 382 | pa_NEA = 246 | tf_NEA = 51 | ta_NEA = 26 | tb_NEA = 7 | lb_NEA = 2

| win_PON = 9 | draw_PON = 0 | loss_PON = 2| pf_PON = 441 | pa_PON = 100 | tf_PON = 61 | ta_PON = 11 | tb_PON = 9 | lb_PON = 1

| win_BDW = 9 | draw_BDW = 0 | loss_BDW = 3| pf_BDW = 290 | pa_BDW = 234 | tf_BDW = 39 | ta_BDW = 29 | tb_BDW = 4 | lb_BDW = 1

| win_NAR = 7 | draw_NAR = 0 | loss_NAR = 5| pf_NAR = 307 | pa_NAR = 214 | tf_NAR = 37 | ta_NAR = 27 | tb_NAR = 4 | lb_NAR = 3

| win_CMU = 7 | draw_CMU = 0 | loss_CMU = 6| pf_CMU = 355 | pa_CMU = 297 | tf_CMU = 48 | ta_CMU = 42 | tb_CMU = 4 | lb_CMU = 2

| win_CKE = 5 | draw_CKE = 0 | loss_CKE = 6| pf_CKE = 196 | pa_CKE = 224 | tf_CKE = 27 | ta_CKE = 27 | tb_CKE = 2 | lb_CKE = 4

| win_MQU = 5 | draw_MQU = 0 | loss_MQU = 7| pf_MQU = 223 | pa_MQU = 265 | tf_MQU = 26 | ta_MQU = 38 | tb_MQU = 2 | lb_MQU = 3

| win_YRH = 4 | draw_YRH = 0 | loss_YRH = 6| pf_YRH = 136 | pa_YRH = 219 | tf_YRH = 20 | ta_YRH = 29 | tb_YRH = 2 | lb_YRH = 1

| win_GWA = 4 | draw_GWA = 0 | loss_GWA = 8| pf_GWA = 212 | pa_GWA = 384 | tf_GWA = 27 | ta_GWA = 55 | tb_GWA = 1 | lb_GWA = 1

| win_TRE = 3 | draw_TRE = 0 | loss_TRE = 7| pf_TRE = 150 | pa_TRE = 250 | tf_TRE = 18 | ta_TRE = 36 | tb_TRE = 0 | lb_TRE = 1

| win_TAT = 1 | draw_TAT = 0 | loss_TAT = 11| pf_TAT = 199 | pa_TAT = 433 | tf_TAT = 21 | ta_TAT = 61 | tb_TAT = 2 | lb_TAT = 2

| win_YST = 1 | draw_YST = 0 | loss_YST = 7| pf_YST = 126 | pa_YST = 199 | tf_YST = 15 | ta_YST = 26 | tb_YST = 1 | lb_YST = 2

| win_BDD = 1 | draw_BDD = 0 | loss_BDD = 8| pf_BDD = 90 | pa_BDD = 252 | tf_BDD = 12 | ta_BDD = 27 | tb_BDD = 1 | lb_BDD = 0

| col_C = green2| result1 = C

| status_BAR = C

| class_rules = If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Ratio between points for:points against

| update = 7 May 2022

| source = {{cite web | url=http://www.allwalessport.co.uk/rugby-union.aspx?cid=9903 | title=Admiral National Championship | publisher= allwalessport}}

}}

References

{{Reflist}}