2003–04 National Division Three South

2003-04 National Division Three South
Countries
Champions	Blackheath
Runners-up	Launceston (also promoted)
Relegated	Old Colfeians, Basingstoke
Attendance	N/A[a 1]
Top point scorer	Derek Coates (Blackheath) 368 points
Top try scorer	Gert De Kock (Westcombe Park) 19 tries
← 2002-03 2004-05 →

The 2003–04 National Division Three South was the fourth season (17th overall) of the fourth division (south) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three South. New teams to the division included Launceston who were relegated from the 2002–03 National Division Two while promoted clubs included Southend (champions) and Haywards Heath (playoffs) coming up from London Division 1 and Dings Crusaders as champions of South West Division 1.^[1][2][3] The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw with the league champions going straight up into National Division Two and the runners up playing a playoff against the runners up from National Division Three North for the final promotion place.

The season saw an incredibly tight title race between Blackheath and Launceston. Both sides would finish dead level on 44 points each but Blackheath finished as champions thanks to a better for and against record.^[4] Launceston would join the London side in the 2004–05 National Division Two, making an instant return by defeating 2003–04 National Division Three North runners up Halifax in their promotion playoff in what was a very tight game played at the Yorkshire-based club.^[5][6] At the other end of the table the relegation battle was much less close with Old Colfeians and Basingstoke being the two sides to be relegated.^[4] Both Old Colfeians and Basingstoke would be demoted to London Division 1 for the next season.^[7]

Participating teams and locations[]

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Barking		1,000	Becontree, Dagenham, London
Basingstoke		2,500 (250 seats)	Basingstoke, Hampshire
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Blackheath, London
Dings Crusaders		1,500	Lockleaze, Bristol
Haywards Heath	Whitemans Green		Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
Launceston		3,000	Launceston, Cornwall
North Walsham		1,200	Scottow, North Walsham, Norfolk
Old Colfeians			Lee, London
Old Patesians			Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Redruth		3,500 (580 seats)	Redruth, Cornwall
Southend			Southend, Essex
Tabard			Radlett, Hertfordshire
Westcombe Park		3,200	Orpington, London
Weston-super-Mare		6,000	Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

Final league table[]

2003–04 National Division Three South Table
Position	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points Diff	Points
1	Blackheath (C)	26	22	0	4	839	350	489	44
2	Launceston (P)	26	22	0	4	832	371	461	44
3	North Walsham	26	19	0	7	674	435	239	38
4	Redruth	26	16	0	10	581	473	108	32
5	Barking	26	15	0	11	648	522	126	30
6	Southend	26	13	0	13	702	703	-1	26
7	Old Patesians	26	13	0	13	614	659	-45	26
8	Weston-super-Mare	26	12	0	14	555	570	-15	24
9	Westcombe Park	26	11	1	14	639	584	55	23
10	Haywards Heath	26	10	0	16	491	578	-87	20
11	Tabard	26	10	0	16	537	676	-139	20
12	Dings Crusaders	26	8	1	17	386	624	-238	17
13	Basingstoke (R)	26	6	0	20	456	940	-484	12
14	Old Colfeians (R)	26	4	0	22	469	938	-469	8
Reference Rugby Statbunker: Updated 17-04-2004

Results[]

Round 1[]

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Round 2[]

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Round 3[]

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Round 4[]

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 February 2004.

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Round 5[]

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Round 6[]

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Round 7[]

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Round 8[]

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Round 9[]

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Round 10[]

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Round 11[]

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Round 12[]

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Round 13[]

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Round 14[]

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Round 15[]

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Round 16[]

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Round 17[]

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Round 18[]

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 February 2004.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 6 March 2004.

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Round 19[]

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Round 20[]

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Rounds 4 & 18 (rescheduled games)[]

• Game rescheduled from 18 October 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 31 January 2004.

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Round 21[]

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 6 March 2004.

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Rounds 18 & 21 (rescheduled games)[]

• Game rescheduled from 28 February 2004.

• Game rescheduled from 31 January 2004.

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Round 22[]

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Round 23[]

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 27 March 2004.

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Round 23 (rescheduled game)[]

• Game rescheduled from 20 March 2004.

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Round 24[]

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Round 25[]

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Round 26[]

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Promotion play-off[]

The league runners up of National Division Three South and North would meet in a playoff game for promotion to National Division Two. Halifax were the northern divisions runners up and as they had a superior league record than southern runners-up, Launceston, they hosted the play-off match.

^[5]

Total season attendances[]

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Barking	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Basingstoke	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Blackheath	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Dings Crusaders	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Haywards Heath	0	0	0	0	0
Launceston	0	0	0	0	0	0%
North Walsham	1	450	450	450	450	38%
Old Colfeians	0	0	0	0	0
Old Patesians	0	0	0	0	0
Redruth	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Southend	0	0	0	0	0
Tabard	0	0	0	0	0
Westcombe Park	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Weston-super-Mare	1	300	300	300	300	3%

Individual statistics[]

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Season records[]

See also[]

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References[]

External links[]

• NCA Rugby