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The London Double Header began in 2004 and typically opens the season of Premiership Rugby (currently known as the Gallagher Premiership due to sponsorship), the top rugby union league in England.

Two games are played consecutively at Twickenham Stadium, originally involving the 'big four' London origin teams of the Premiership, Harlequins, London Irish, Wasps (London Wasps until the 2014–15 season) and Saracens. Harlequins were relegated from the premiership at the end of the 2004–05 season and thus for the 2005–06 season Leeds Tykes (now known as Yorkshire Carnegie) were included instead. The same applied to London Irish in 2016 who were replaced. The matches form part of the regular season fixtures, with one team nominated as the home side for each match. Since 2008 (2016 being an exception) and the inception of The Big Game, Harlequins only compete in the double header as an away side in order to reduce the number of home games they play away from the Stoop.

Since 2015 and Wasps' relocation to Coventry, the direction of the series has changed. Two London teams (normally London Irish and Saracens) act as the hosts with the away team being any of the other 10 Premiership Rugby teams. In 2016 Harlequins hosted due to London Irish's relegation from the premiership. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the series would feature a newly promoted team. The Double Header would not take place in 2018 due to redevelopment works at Twickenham Stadium.

At other times of year Twickenham is also used for regular season Premiership fixtures, such as The Big Game hosted by Harlequins at Christmas time, The Clash hosted by Bath and the Premiership Final in late May.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

FB 15 Peter Hewat WG 14 Topsy Ojo CE 13 Delon Armitage CE 12 Seilala Mapusua WG 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau FH 10 Mike Catt  65' SH 9 Paul Hodgson  72' N8 8 Chris Hala'ufia 16' to 26'  78' FL 7 Steffon Armitage FL 6 Richard Thorpe LK 5 Gary Johnson LK 4 Nick Kennedy PR 3 Faan Rautenbach  60' HK 2 Danie Coetzee  60' PR 1 Alex Corbisiero}  48' Substitutes: PR 16 Dan Murphy  48' HK 17 David Paice  60' HK 18 James Buckland  60' FL 19 Jon Fisher  78' WG 20 Adam Thompstone SH 21 Peter Richards  72' FH 22 Eoghan Hickey  65' Coach:

FB 15 Mark van Gisbergen  67' WG 14 Paul Sackey CE 13 Dominic Waldouck CE 12 Josh Lewsey  41' WG 11 Tom Voyce FH 10 Riki Flutey SH 9 Eoin Reddan N8 8 James Haskell  67' FL 7 Tom Rees FL 6 Joe Worsley LK 5 Richard Birkett  53' LK 4 Simon Shaw PR 3 Pat Barnard  53' HK 2 Raphael Ibanez  67' PR 1 Tim Payne Substitutes: HK 16 Rob Webber  67' PR 17 Phil Vickery  53' LK 18 Tom Palmer  53' N8 19 John Hart  67' SH 20 Joe Simpson FH 21 Jeremy Staunton  41' CE 22 Lachlan Mitchell  67' Coach:

2009

FB 15 Alex Goode WG 14 Noah Cato CE 13 Kameli Ratuvou CE 12 Brad Barritt WG 11 Chris Wyles FH 10 Glen Jackson  73' SH 9 Neil de Kock  69' N8 8 Ernst Joubert 59' to 69' FL 7 Andy Saull FL 6 Wikus van Heerden  53'  63'  78' LK 5 Hugh Vyvyan  60' LK 4 Steve Borthwick PR 3 Carlos Nieto HK2 Schalk Brits 53' to 63' PR 1 Rhys Gill  63' Substitutes: HK 16 Fabio Ongaro  53'  63' PR 17 Tom Mercey  63' PR 18 Richard Skuse LK 19 Mouritz Botha  60' N8 20 Michael Owen  78' SH 21 Justin Marshall  69' FH 22 Derick Hougaard  73' WG 23 Richard Haughton Coach:

FB 15 Delon Armitage 53' to 63' WG 14 Adam Thompstone CE 13 Elvis Seveali'i  41' CE 12 Seilala Mapusua WG 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Paul Hodgson N8 8 Chris Hala'ufia  51' FL 7 Steffon Armitage FL 6 Declan Danaher  8'  13' LK 5 Andy Perry  51' LK 4 Nick Kennedy PR 3 Paulică Ion  51' HK2 Danie Coetzee  51' PR 1 Clarke Dermody  69' Substitutes: PR 16 Dan Murphy  69' HK 17 James Buckland  51' PR 18 Faan Rautenbach  51' LK 19 Bob Casey  51' FL 20 George Stowers  8'  13'  51' FB 21 Peter Hewat SH 22 Peter Richards  41' SH 23 Alfredo Lalanne Coach:

Scorers:

• Tries: Jackson, Saull


• Conversions: Jackson


• Pens: Jackson 2

Scorers:

• Try: Stowers


• Pens: Lamb 2, D Armitage


• Man of the Match: Glen Jackson
  

London Wasps 26 – 15 Harlequins

• • Half Time: 16 – 15

Teams:

• Wasps: Mark Van Gisbergen, Tom Varndell, Ben Jacobs, Steve Kefu, David Lemi, Danny Cipriani, Joe Simpson, Tim Payne, Rob Webber, Gabriel Bocca, George Skivington, Richard Birkett, John Hart, Serge Betsen (capt), Dan Ward-Smith

Replacements: Joe Ward, Ben Broster, Tom French, Dan Leo, Hugo Ellis, Warren Fury, Dave Walder, Lachlan Mitchell.

Scorers:

• Tries: Varndell 2


• Conversions: Van Gisbergen


• Penalties: Van Gisbergen 3


• Harlequins: Ugo Monye, David Strettle, Gonzalo Tiesi, Jordan Turner-Hall (YC), Gonzalo Camacho, Nick Evans, Danny Care, Ceri Jones, Gary Botha, Mark Lambert, James Percival, George Robson (RC),^[1] Chris Robshaw, Will Skinner (capt), Nick Easter

Replacements: Tani Fuga, Aston Croall, John Andress, Jim Evans, Tom Guest, Steve So'oialo, Rory Clegg, George Lowe.

Scorers:

• Tries: Monye, Camacho


• Conversions: Evans


• Penalties: Evans

Key:

• YC = Yellow Card


• RC = Red Card


• Man of the Match: Serge Betsen
  

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

The 2015 London Double Header was moved from its traditional Round 1 position, to Round 5, in order to accommodate the 2015 Rugby World Cup knock-out stage matches being played at Twickenham Stadium. It was also the first time since 2005 that Saracens, Harlequins, London Irish and Wasps have not all taken part in the event. Harlequins chose not to take part due to the proximity of The Big Game 8 and were therefore replaced by Worcester Warriors. There had been suggestions that Wasps would not take part, following their move to the Ricoh Arena, however they were announced as one of the away teams for the event at the fixture launch on 3 July 2015.

2016

The 2016 London Double Header returned to its traditional Round 1 position. London Irish were relegated from the Premiership and therefore would not take part. Home teams were confirmed on 28 June, with away teams confirmed at fixture launch on 7 July.

2017

The 2017 London Double Header would take place in its traditional Round 1 position. London Irish return after being promoted back into the Premiership. Home teams were confirmed on 22 June, with the away teams confirmed at the Premiership fixture launch on 7 July.^[2]

References

External links

• Official site