2016–17 National League 2 South

2016–17 National League 2 South
Countries	England
Date	September 2016 – May 2017
Champions	Bishop's Stortford (1st title)
Runners-up	Old Elthamians (also promoted)
Relegated	Exmouth, Barnes
Matches played	240
Attendance	91,074 (average 379 per match)
Highest attendance	1,664 Bishop's Stortford v Barnes 29 April 2017
Lowest attendance	45 Barnes v Worthing Raiders 17 December 2016
Top point scorer	(Bishop's Stortford) 323
Top try scorer	(Old Elthamians) 36
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 National League 2 South was the eighth season (30th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. New teams to the division include Henley Hawks and Cinderford (both relegated from National League 1) while Exmouth (champions) and Barnstaple were promoted from National League 3 South West along with London Irish Wild Geese who won National League 3 London & SE.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The league system is 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions are promoted to National League 1 while the second-placed team play-off against the second-placed team from National League 2 North (at the home ground of the club with the superior league record) for the final promotion place.

At the end of the season Bishop's Stortford were crowned champions on 22 April 2017 after beating Exmouth 60-7 away - reaching the highest level in the clubs' history.^[6] It was a worthy reward for Bishop's Stortford who finished 3rd the previous season and lost the playoff the season before that. A further highlight for Bishop's Stortford was the club record attendance of 1,664 that attending Silver Leys for the final league match of the season - a figure that was also the highest in National League 2 South that year.^[7] Although Bishop's Stortford's won the league with a game to spare it had been a very close battle for promotion as they faced strong competition from Chinnor and Old Elthamians up until the penultimate game. Chinnor had looked likely champions during the first half of the season but in the end missed out on promotion altogether, as despite finishing dead level on points with Old Elthamians they had one less win than the Kent side.

As runners up Old Elthamians would have to head north for their promotion playoff as the 2016–17 National League 2 North second placed side, Sale, had finished with more 2 more league points (124 to 122). On 6 May 2017 Old Elthamians beat Sale 19-14 at Heywood Road to clinch promotion to join Bishop's Stortford in the 2017–18 National League 1 - and just like the Hertfordshire side it would the highest level Old Elthamians had ever reached in the club's history.^[8]

The liquidation of London Welsh in January 2017, and their expulsion from the RFU Championship, meant that there were only 5 teams instead of the usual 6 relegated from National League 2 South and National League 2 North this season - meaning that one league would have 3 teams going down and the other having just 2 depending on league points gained.^[9] Newly promoted Exmouth were the first team to be relegated on 8 April 2017 when they lost 20-36 away to Clifton, way adrift of the teams above them.^[10] The other spots were much more keenly contested with 4 teams facing possible relegation on the last day of the season in what was one of the most exciting relegation battles for years. In the end it was Barnes who went down - a final round try bonus point defeat not enough despite tying them with relegation rivals, Barnstaple, who had a superior win record. Any other season Barnstaple would have gone down as they finished in 14th place but they ended up having more than the equivalent side Harrogate had in the 2016–17 National League 2 North - 51 points to 47 - condemning the Yorkshire side to the drop instead. The final league table shows how close this season was at both ends of the table. Only 5 points separate the top 3 sides, while just 3 points separate 12th placed Worthing Raiders from 15th placed Barnes.^[11] Exmouth would fall down to National League 3 South West while Barnes would drop to National League 3 London & SE.

Other points to consider for the season was that despite falling attendances in leagues such as the RFU Championship, National League 2 South actually recorded an increase in overall attendances - up to 91,074 (or 379 per game) from 88,674 (369 per game) the previous year. This was helped by record club attendances for both Bishop's Stortford and Chinnor (both over 1,500), while promoted side Barnstaple also did well. Redruth, who struggled towards the end of the season, were once again the best supported side in the division, averaging over 800 supporters per game. This was despite losing the Cornish derby with Launceston who were relegated the previous season.

Structure[]

The league consists of sixteen teams with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis to make a total of thirty matches each. There is one automatic promotion place, one play-off place and three relegation places. The champions are promoted to the 2017–18 National League 1 and the runners-up play the second-placed team in the 2016–17 National League 2 North with the winner being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either National League 3 London & SE or National League 3 South West depending on the geographical location of the team (in some cases teams may join the Midlands regional leagues).

Participating teams and locations[]

Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the 2015–16 National League 2 South season; Henley Hawks and Cinderford were relegated from the 2015–16 National League 1 while London Irish Wild Geese were promoted as champions of National League 3 London & SE and Exmouth (champions) and Barnstaple (playoffs) from National League 3 South West. This season would also see Old Elthamians move from the 500 capacity Queen Mary Sports Ground in Chiselhurst to College Meadow in Eltham.^[12][13]

League table[]

2016–17 National League 2 South Table · · discuss
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Bishop's Stortford (C)	30	25	0	5	1053	549	504	25	4	129
2	Old Elthamians (P)	30	25	0	5	1071	533	538	19	3	122
3	Chinnor	30	24	2	4	1111	546	565	21	1	122
4	Taunton Titans	30	19	3	8	901	735	166	19	4	105
5	Redruth	30	19	1	10	824	609	215	18	5	101
6	Redingensians Rams	30	16	1	13	756	618	138	12	9	87
7	Cinderford	30	16	2	12	746	725	21	16	5	84[b 1]
8	Canterbury	30	15	0	15	720	732	−12	11	7	78
9	Henley Hawks	30	13	1	16	775	840	−65	14	7	75
10	Clifton	30	14	0	16	683	843	−160	11	4	71
11	Bury St Edmunds	30	11	1	18	675	818	−143	11	7	64
12	Worthing Raiders	30	9	0	21	657	938	−281	9	8	53
13	London Irish Wild Geese	30	8	0	22	664	960	−296	14	6	52
14	Barnstaple	30	9	1	20	532	886	−354	6	7	51
15	Barnes (R)	30	6	3	21	599	817	−218	12	9	51
16	Exmouth (R)	30	3	1	26	554	1172	−618	9	6	29
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 29 April 2017 Source: "National League 2 South". NCA Rugby.

Notes

Results[]

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Round 1[]

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Round 2[]

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Round 3[]

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Round 4[]

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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[]

^[28]

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Round 15[]

^[29]

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Round 16[]

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Round 17[]

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Round 18[]

^[32]

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Round 19[]

• Postponed as Canterbury RFC felt that the pitch was unplayable due to recent cold weather. Game rescheduled to 25 February 2017.^[33]

• Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game rescheduled to 25 February 2017.^[34]

• Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game rescheduled to 25 February 2017.^[35]

^[36]

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Round 20[]

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Round 21[]

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Round 22[]

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Round 23[]

^[40]

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Round 19 (rescheduled games)[]

• Game rescheduled from 21 January 2017.

• Game rescheduled from 21 January 2017.

• Game rescheduled from 21 January 2017.

^[41]

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Round 24[]

^[42]

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Round 25[]

^[43]

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Round 26[]

^[44]

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Round 27[]

^[45]

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Round 28[]

• Exmouth are relegated.^[10]

^[46]

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Round 29[]

• Bishop's Stortford are champions.^[6]

^[47]

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Round 30[]

• Barnes are relegated.^[11]

^[11]

Promotion play-off[]

Each season, the runners-up in the National League 2 North and National League 2 South participate in a play-off for promotion to National Division 1. Sale were runners-up in the 2016–17 National League 2 North and because they had a better record than the 2016–17 National League 2 South runners-up, Old Elthamians, they hosted the play-off match.

Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points
Sale	30	26	0	4	997	487	510	18	2	124
Old Elthamians (P)	30	25	0	5	1071	533	538	19	3	122

^[8]

Attendances[]

• Does not include promotion play-off.

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Barnes	15	2,336	156	275	45	31%
Barnstaple	15	8,765	584	790	350	29%
Bishop's Stortford	15	8,379	559	1,664	275	35%
Bury St Edmunds	15	5,777	385	752	201	13%
Canterbury	15	4,320	288	423	187	27%
Chinnor	15	8,385	559	1,580	241	28%
Cinderford	15	3,530	235	320	170	9%
Clifton	15	2,258	151	213	78	6%
Exmouth	15	3,600	240	368	150	19%
Henley Hawks	15	5,460	364	845	215	12%
London Irish Wild Geese	15	3,174	212	455	95	11%
Old Elthamians	15	5,968	398	854	163	22%
Redingensians Rams	15	3,598	240	429	96	19%
Redruth	15	11,280	752	870	620	21%
Taunton Titans	15	6,865	458	689	300	23%
Worthing Raiders	15	7,379	492	750	330	33%

^[48]

Individual statistics[]

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included). Does not include promotion playoff.

Season records[]

See also[]

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References[]

External links[]

• NCA Rugby