2016–17 British and Irish Cup
The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh are the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against Yorkshire Carnegie 10–33 at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds on 10 April 2016. There have been six different winners and six different losing finalists in the seven seasons of its existence. The format of the competition is similar to last season with Scottish clubs not competing. For the second consecutive season the four Welsh teams are the reserve sides of the teams competing in the Pro12 competition instead of clubs from the Welsh Premier Division.
Competition format
The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of five pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the three best runners-up, progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists are ranked, with top four teams having home advantage. The four winning quarter-finalists progress to the semi-final draw. Most of the matches are played on the same weekends as the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. First round matches began on 14 October 2016 and the final was held on the 21 April 2017.Participating teams and locations
The allocation of teams is as follows:- – twelve clubs from RFU Championship
- – four Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- – four Welsh regions represented by Premiership Select teams.
| Club | Country | League | Stadium | Capacity | Area |
| Bedford Blues |  England | RFU Championship | Goldington Road | 6,000 | Bedford |
| Cardiff Blues Premiership Select |  Wales | N/A | Cardiff Arms Park Sardis Road The Wern | 12,125 7,861 4,500 | Cardiff Pontypridd Merthyr Tydfil |
| Connacht Eagles |  Ireland | Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship | Galway Sportsgrounds Dubarry Park | 9,500 10,000 | Galway Athlone |
| Cornish Pirates | England | RFU Championship | Mennaye Field | 4,000 | Penzance |
| Doncaster Knights | England | RFU Championship | Castle Park | 5,000 | Doncaster |
| Ealing Trailfinders | England | RFU Championship | Trailfinders Sports Ground | 3,020 | West Ealing, London |
| Jersey Reds |  England | RFU Championship | St. Peter | 4,000 | Saint Peter |
| Leinster A | Ireland | Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship | Donnybrook Stadium | 6,000 | Dublin |
| London Irish | England | RFU Championship | Madejski Stadium | 7,579 | Reading, Berkshire |
| London Scottish | England | RFU Championship | Richmond Athletic Ground | 4,500 | Richmond, London |
| London Welsh | England | RFU Championship | Old Deer Park | 5,850 | Richmond, London |
| Munster A | Ireland | Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship | Towns Park The Showgrounds Old Chapel Irish Independent Park CIT Stadium | 400 1,000 N/A 8,200 1,100 | Midleton Ennis Bandon Cork Cork |
| Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select | Wales | N/A | Pandy Park CCB Centre | 3,000 1,000 | Crosskeys Ystrad Mynach |
| Nottingham Rugby | England | RFU Championship | Lady Bay Sports Ground | 3,000 | Nottingham |
| Ospreys Premiership Select | Wales | N/A | The Gnoll Talbot Athletic Ground Llynfi Road | 5,000 3,000 N/A | Neath Port Talbot Maesteg |
| Richmond | England | RFU Championship | Richmond Athletic Ground | 4,500 | Richmond, London |
| Rotherham Titans | England | RFU Championship | Clifton Lane | 2,500 | Rotherham |
| Scarlets Premiership Select | Wales | N/A | Church Bank Playing Fields Carmarthen Park Parc y Scarlets | 3,000 3,000 14,870 | Llandovery Carmarthen Llanelli |
| Ulster A | Ireland | Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship | Shaw's Bridge Eaton Park Kingspan Stadium | 1,300 1,000 18,196 | Belfast Ballymena Belfast |
| Yorkshire Carnegie | England | RFU Championship | Sandhill Lane Stadium Moor Lane Silver Royd | N/A N/A 1,950 | Selby Pontefract Scalby |
Pool stages
Pool 1
Round 1
----Round 2
----Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 5
----Round 6
- Postponed from 21 January due to frozen pitch.
Pool 2
Round 1
- London Welsh expelled from the competition
Round 2
- London Welsh expelled from the competition.
- Match postponed due to the death of Munster Rugby's head coach Anthony Foley and played on 7 January 2016.
Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 2 (rescheduled game)
- Match postponed from 22 October 2016.
Round 5
----Round 6
Pool 3
Round 1
----Round 2
----Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 5
----Round 6
Pool 4
Round 1
----Round 2
----Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 5
----Round 6
Pool 5
Round 1
----Round 2
----Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 5
----Round 6
Knock-out stage
The eight qualifiers were seeded according to performance in the pool stage. The four top seeds hosted the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 format. If two teams qualified from the same group they could not be drawn together despite the seeding, therefore, Jersey Reds did not play against Ulster A. The quarter-finals were held over the weekend of 10/11/12 March 2017, the semi-finals were held over the weekend of 31 March and 1 & 2 April 2017 and the final was played on 21/22/23 April 2017.Teams are ranked by:
| Seed | Pool winners | Pts | Wins | Pts diff |
| 1 |  London Irish | 25 | 5 | 57 |
| 2 |  Jersey Reds | 23 | 5 | 87 |
| 3 | Ealing Trailfinders | 23 | 4 | 71 |
| 4 |  Scarlets Premiership Select | 22 | 4 | 49 |
| 5 | Munster A | 19 | 4 | 66 |
| Seed | Pool Runners–up | Pts | Wins | Pts diff |
| 6 | Cornish Pirates | 20 | 4 | 89 |
| 7 | Ulster A | 20 | 4 | 29 |
| 8 | Yorkshire Carnegie | 20 | 4 | 26 |
| 9 | Leinster A | 16 | 3 | 123 |
| 10 | Rotherham Titans | 5 | 1 | −25 |
Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 23 January 2017, with the matches to be played on the weekend of 10–13 March 2017.----
Semi-finals
----Final
Attendances
Individual statistics
- Points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes.
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Season records
Team
;Largest home win — 77 points84 – 7 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Largest away win — 49 points
68 – 19 Leinster A away to Richmond on 15 October 2016
;Most points scored — 84 points
84 – 7 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Most tries in a match — 12
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 10
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 5
Rotherham Titans at home to Doncaster Knights on 15 October 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
Richmond away to Leinster on 20 January 2017
Player
;Most points in a match — 26Rory Clegg for Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Most tries in a match — 4
Rob O'Donnell for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Bedford Blues on 23 October 2016
;Most conversions in a match — 10
Rory Clegg for Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 5
Lloyd Evans for Rotherham Titans at home to Doncaster Knights on 15 October 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
Freddy Gabbitass for Richmond away to Leinster on 20 January 2017
Attendances
;Highest — 4,813Ulster A at home to London Scottish on 13 January 2017
;Lowest — 200
Ulster A at home to Jersey Reds on 14 October 2016
Connacht Eagles at home to Cornish Pirates on 16 October 2016
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 22 October 2016
;Highest Average Attendance — 2,180
;Lowest Average Attendance — 283 Scarlets Premiership Select)