Aviva Premiership

The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby unionfootball clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system employing relegation to and promotion from the RFU Championship, known as National Division One before the 2009–10 season. Clubs competing in the Aviva Premiership qualify for Europe's two club competitions, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. The current champions are Saracens.Worcester Warriors returned to the top flight at their first opportunity after defeating Cornish Pirates in the RFU Championship Final on 18 May 2011, while Leeds Carnegie returned to the second tier after two seasons in the Premiership.