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 eleven 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.
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 CapacityLocation AlcobendasLas Terrazas2,000Alcobendas, MadridAparejadoresSan Amaro1,000Burgos, Castile and LeónCienciasInstalaciones Deportivas La Cartuja3,000Seville, AndalusiaComplutense Cisneros Estadio Complutense 12,400Madrid, MadridEl SalvadorPepe Rojo5,000Valladolid, Castile and LeónFC BarcelonaLa Teixonera500Barcelona, CataloniaBelenos RCEstadio Yago Lamela 1,163Avilés, AsturiasLes AbellesPolideportivo de Quatre Carreres500Valencia, Valencia OrdiziaAltamira2,000Ordizia, Basque CountryPozueloValle de las Cañas500Pozuelo de Alarcón, MadridSantboianaBaldiri Aleu3,500Sant Boi de Llobregat, CataloniaValladolidPepe Rojo5,000Valladolid, 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. ALCAPABELCIECISELSFCBLESORDPOZSANVALAlcobendas—44–3843–3428–2929–3031–23Aparejadores48–26—66–1340–2626–852–2432–10Belenos RC23–26—45–2830–2032–360–31Ciencias22–2825–20—31–1425–2529–1914–19Complutense Cisneros41–2114–22—16–2132–3924–3El Salvador33–5—30–1050–2017–170–27FC Barcelona17–4540–3726–3839–15—17–2213–30Les Abelles0–2132–280–2238–15—43–2814–24Ordizia34–3519–3810–15—44–3818–28Pozuelo5–4534–012–5722–427–26—13–24Santboiana10–1916–1534–1945–4230–13—Valladolid7–024–3131–1047–834–043–20—The first phase concluded in January 2024, with five of the six teams which qualified for Group A being the same as 2022-23. TeamPWDL1Aparejadores11 10 0 1 44120723461223981492Valladolid11 10 0 1 3151142013993061473Ciencias11 6 1 4 3162377939261324324Alcobendas11 6 0 5 288283 53539 -403285Santboiana11 6 1 4 280290 -102931 -210286El Salvador11 5 1 5 264256 83331 220247Complutense Cisneros11 4 0 7 270275 -53037 -712198FC Barcelona11 4 0 7 285377 -923946 -712199Ordizia11 4 0 7 266338 -781936 -17021810Les Abelles11 4 1 6 197267 -702733 -6001611Belenos RC11 3 0 8 240373 -1333051 -21041612Pozuelo11 2 0 9 190335 -1452040 -20109
Qualified for Group A Qualified for Group B Second phase Valladolid's final game was cancelled when their opponents, Ciencia, announced they would not take part. Ciencia's players refused to play after not being paid by the club, which in turned blamed its sponsor and the local council for reneging on promised payments.
Group A TeamPWDL+/-1Aparejadores16 14 0 2 55130224973304382662Valladolid15 12 0 3 40020519551203162563Ciencias15 9 1 5 43528315255312445474El Salvador16 8 1 7 372337 354642 441395Alcobendas16 7 0 9 367395 -284353 -1005346Santboiana16 7 1 8 338424 -863854 -161233 Group B TeamPWDL+/-1Complutense Cisneros16 8 0 8 444393 515252 023372Les Abelles16 7 1 8 304377 -733945 -602303Ordizia16 6 0 10 392453 -614252 -1014294Pozuelo16 6 0 10 334451 -1173554 -1911265FC Barcelona16 5 0 11 393510 -1175061 -1115266Belenos RC16 4 0 12 348548 -2004474 -300521
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.
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
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey returned to its 2021-22 format; the twelve teams were divided into four groups of three. The league matches between these teams also counted as cup matches, and the winner of each group qualified for the semifinals.
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.
Final The final was a rematch of the 2023 final, but was won this time by Aparejadores, who denied Valladolid a second consecutive double.
References
External links Official site