Champion Braves kick off at home to Bath

EXETER Braves will begin the defence of their Aviva A League title at home to Bath on Monday 12 September.

The Braves lifted the A League title for the first time last May beating Northampton Wand 55-25 in a pulsating Final at Sandy Park.

Kai Horstmann’s try double capped a memorable 24 hours at Sandy Park as Exeter Braves emerged victorious. Two days before Exeter Chiefs had beaten Wasps to set up an Aviva Premiership Rugby Final against Saracens.

“The Aviva A League is a crucial part of the player development programme within the Premiership Rugby clubs, particularly for the young English players emerging from the Under20s set-up,” said Mike Hynard, Premiership Rugby’s head of academies and development.

“The standard gets better every year and with England’s success at the U20 Championship we will see a number of those players combine some senior duty with a leading role in the Aviva A League.”

In a change to this year’s format Wasps have moved into the Northern Conference with Gloucester Rugby taking their place in the Southern Conference.

London Irish will not be competing in this year’s competition so it will be contested by 12 teams in the 2016-17 season.

The semi-finals will be played on 24 April with the Aviva A League Final a week later on 1 May.