Last round: All the permutations
As we approach the final round of the Premiership, on Saturday 5 May, with all matches kicking off at 14.00 (13.00 GMT), to ensure the integrity of the competition there are a number of scenarios.
1. Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and Saracens are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals of Aviva Premiership Rugby.
2. The sides finishing first and second in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table will be awarded home ties in the semi-finals on 12 May. The side finishing first will host the side finishing fourth and the side finishing second will host the side finishing third.
3. Those semifinals will kick off at 14.45 and 17.15 on 12 May and will be announced at 18.00 on Saturday 5 May with the relevant television stations.
4. The fourth semi-final place is between Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs. The Saints currently lead the Chiefs by one point, and one win.
5. Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, Saracens, Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs are guaranteed a place in next season's Heineken Cup. There will only be six Aviva Premiership Rugby teams in next year's Heineken Cup.
6. The sixth and final Heineken Cup qualifier will be decided on 5 May. Should Sale Sharks get one point against Harlequins on that day or Bath Rugby fail to get a five-match point win at Leicester Tigers then the Sharks will finish sixth and be in the Heineken Cup for 2012-13.
7. At the bottom if Newcastle Falcons win 5-0 in match points or 5-1 or 4-0 and by 24 clear points they will finish 11th and London Wasps 12th.
8. It would be incorrect to say at this stage that the team finishing 12th is relegated. Relegation can only be confirmed after the RFU Championship Final second leg on 30 May, once the winner of the that Final is known. We expect to make a joint announcement with the RFU over eligibility for promotion to Aviva Premiership Rugby before the first leg of that RFU Championship Final play-off.
League Rules
In the case of equality at any stage of the Season, positions at that stage of the season shall be determined firstly by the number of wins achieved and then on the basis of match points differential. A Club with a larger number of wins shall be placed higher than a Club with the same number of league points but fewer wins.
If Clubs have equal league points and equal number of wins then a Club with a larger difference between match points "for" and match points "against" shall be placed higher in the Premiership League than a Club with a smaller difference between match points "for" and match points "against".
Should two Clubs have the same number of league points and the same match points difference, the Club having scored more match points "for" shall be placed higher in the Premiership League than the Club having the lesser number of match points "for".
If the above does not establish different Premiership League positions then the Club in the higher position shall be the Club that has achieved the higher aggregate match points scored by it in the same season against the other Club.
If this still does not establish the position then the Club who has won the most matches, excluding its first Premiership League match of the season, then its second Premiership League match and so on, until it can be established which the higher placed Club is.