2015–16 RFU Championship
The 2015–16 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the seventh season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. This is the third year of the competition's sponsorship with Greene King Brewery, which runs until 2017. The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also compete in the British and Irish Cup, along with clubs from Ireland and Wales. Some matches in the RFU Championship are broadcast on Sky Sports.
| 2015–16 RFU Championship | |
|---|---|
| Countries | England Jersey |
| Date | 4 September 2015 – May 2016 |
| Champions | Bristol |
| Runners-up | Doncaster Knights |
| Relegated | Moseley |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Attendance | 298,010 (average 2,159 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 16,084 Bristol Rugby v Doncaster Knights on 25 May 2016 |
| Lowest attendance | 310 Ealing Trailfinders v Nottingham Rugby on 28 November 2015 |
| Tries scored | 848 (average 6.1 per match) |
| Top point scorer | Gavin Henson Bristol 193 points |
| Top try scorer | Paul Grant Nottingham Rugby 19 tries |
Moseley are relegated into the 2016–17 National League 1 after finishing bottom of the table. After seven years of trying for promotion (five of which they actually topped the league stage including during this season), Bristol finally did it. In front of a divisional and club record crowd of 16,084, Bristol managed to gain promotion to the Aviva Premiership despite losing 32-34 to away side (and league stage runners up), Doncaster Knights, due to an emphatic first leg victory, to go up 60 - 47 on aggregate.