| 2013–14 Aviva Premiership | |
| Champions: | Northampton Saints (1st title) |
| Runnersup: | Saracens |
| Relegated: | Worcester Warriors |
| Matches: | 135 |
| Top Point Scorer: | George Ford (Bath) (250 points) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Vereniki Goneva (Leicester) (12 tries) |
| Website: | www.premiershiprugby.com |
| Prevseason: | 2012–13 |
| Nextseason: | 2014–15 |
The 2013–14 Aviva Premiership was the 27th season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the fourth one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were Leicester Tigers, who had claimed their tenth title after defeating Northampton Saints in the 2013 final. Newcastle Falcons had been promoted as champions from the 2012–13 RFU Championship at the first attempt.
This season was also the first season to be broadcast exclusively by BT Sport.
Northampton Saints won their first title after defeating Saracens in the final at Twickenham after having finished second in the regular season table. Worcester Warriors were relegated after being unable to win their penultimate game of the season. It was the second time that Worcester have been relegated from the top flight since the leagues began and the first time since the 2009–10 Premiership Rugby season.
As usual, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, the tenth instance since its inception in 2004.
Twelve teams compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and Newcastle Falcons who were promoted from the 2012–13 RFU Championship after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced London Welsh who were relegated after one year in the top flight.
| Club | Director of Rugby/ Head Coach | Captain | Kit Supplier | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | Tri Distribution | The Recreation Ground | align=center | 12,300 | Bath | |||
| Exeter Chiefs | Samurai | Sandy Park | align=center | 10,744 | Exeter | |||
| Gloucester | KooGa | Kingsholm Stadium | align=center | 16,500 | Gloucester | |||
| Harlequins | O'Neills | Twickenham Stoop | align=center | 14,816 | Twickenham, Greater London | |||
| Leicester Tigers | [1] | Canterbury | Welford Road | align=center | 24,000 | Leicester | ||
| London Irish | [2] | ISC | Madejski Stadium | align=center | 24,250 | Reading | ||
| London Wasps | Adams Park | align=center | 10,516 | High Wycombe | ||||
| Newcastle Falcons | Orion | Kingston Park | align=center | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne | |||
| Northampton Saints | BURRDA | Franklin's Gardens | align=center | 13,591 | Northampton | |||
| Sale Sharks | [3] | Samurai | AJ Bell Stadium | align=center | 12,000 | Salford, Greater Manchester | ||
| Saracens | Nike | Allianz Park | align=center | 10,000 | Hendon, Greater London | |||
| Worcester Warriors | KooGa | Sixways Stadium | align=center | 12,068 | Worcester |
The 2013 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 1 August 2013 at Kingsholm, continued on 2 August at Franklin's Gardens and 3 August at Allianz Park. The finals was on 9 August 2013 at The Recreation Ground. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy.[4] Gloucester 7s won the Series Final, beating Leicester Tigers 7s 24 – 17 and with it qualification to the inaugural World Club 7s at Twickenham.[5]
Premiership Rugby announced the fixture list on 4 July 2013.[6] As with previous seasons, Round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham. Fixtures as per Premiership Rugby Match Centre .
All games in Round 22 kicked off at 15:15 on 10 May 2014, so as to not give any team a potential advantage with regards to knowing how to achieve a play-off berth, European Rugby Champions Cup place, or safety from relegation.
As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at Twickenham on 31 May 2014.
The final was contested at Twickenham between the winners of the two semi-finals. For the first time, the final went to extra time as the teams finished the regulation 80 minutes at 14 all.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.
Source:[8]
| Rank | Player | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 250 | ||
| 2 | 245 | ||
| 3 | 194 | ||
| 4 | 191 | ||
| 5 | 157 | ||
| 6 | 147 | ||
| 7 | 143 | ||
| 8 | 133 | ||
| 9 | 122 | ||
| 10 | 114 | ||
Source:[9]
| Rank | Player | Club | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | ||
| 2 | 11 | ||
| 3 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 8 | ||
| Sale Sharks | |||
| Harlequins | |||
| London Irish | |||
| 8 | 7 | ||
| 9 | 8 players tied | 6 | |
The following received Player of the Month awards during the 2013–14 season, as selected by a panel of media commentators, in addition to monthly public polls.
| width=70 | Month | width=120 | Nationality | width=200 | Player | width=100 | Position | width=80 | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September |  Namibia | Jacques Burger | Flanker | Saracens | |||||
| October |  United States | Samu Manoa | Lock | Northampton | |||||
| November | England | George Ford | Fly-Half | Bath | |||||
| December | England | Nick Easter | Number 8 | Harlequins | |||||
| January | England | Dylan Hartley | Hooker | Northampton | |||||
| February |  Fiji | Vereniki Goneva | Wing | Leicester | |||||
| March | England | Danny Cipriani | Fly-Half | Sale | |||||
| April | England | Chris Ashton | Wing | Saracens | |||||