Swansea had to beat Neath with a bonus point but also depended upon Aberavon leaving their game with Carmarthen Quins empty-handed to push ahead of the Wizards.
The All Whites kept their part of the bargain by taking maximum points in their 26-0 win over their local rivals at St Helen’s thanks to tries from Liam Gadd, Matthew Davies and Paul John, as well as a penalty try. But Aberavon’s Stef Andrews, Jon Phillips, Matthew Jenkins, Lee Evans and skipper Ian Moore all crossed to grab two bonus points and secure their Premiership status despite a 37-31 defeat to Quins.
Next season will be the first time in Swansea’s 140-year history that they will play outside the top flight of Welsh club rugby but chairman Phil Llewellyn is confident of bouncing straight back from the Championship.
“I can assure you that we won’t stay down more than the one season and we will come back and be as strong as ever,” said Llewellyn. “Aberavon deserved to stay up and we deserved to go down. It’s the situation the club finds itself in but we are big enough to come back up.”
Quins’ victory secured second place and a home tie in the play-offs against Cross Keys, who finished their regular campaign on a low, beaten 21-6 at Bridgend. The winner of this tie will face table-toppers Pontypridd for the right to be crowned Principality Premiership Champions.
Elsewhere, Llandovery cemented their fourth position after they overcame Newport 44-27 courtesy of braces from Phil Day, Craig Woodhall, and Sam Soul. Ian Brookes also crossed to finish the Drovers’ season on a high.
Cardiff also ended positively with a 46-23 win in front of their home fans at the Arms Park, although that was still not enough to finish above opponents Bedwas, in sixth place.
