The 2014–15 National League 2 South is the sixth season (28th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competitions since the professionalised format of the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

was introduced. New teams to the division include Worthing Raiders (relegated from

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

and

Old Elthamians Old Elthamians Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Chislehurst in SE London-Kent. Due to financial difficulties they withdrew from National League One, the third tier of English club rugby, in August, 2021. Upon retur ...

(both promoted from

National League 3 London & SE Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

) and

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995 ...

(promoted from

National League 3 South West Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...

). 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 would go straight up into

while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

(at the home ground of the club with the superior league record) for the final promotion place. During the course of the season the two league derby games between the Launceston and

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...

would also double up as the Cornish Super Cup with Launceston being the defending 2013–14 champions. Redruth won over two razor edge contests to take the 2014–15 Cornish Super Cup 29 – 28 on aggregate.

Henley Hawks Henley Hawks is a rugby union club based in Henley-on-Thames and is one of the leading rugby clubs in the Thames Valley. The first team play in the fourth tier of the English league system; National League 2 East. History Henley RFC was fo ...

finished the season as champions and booked themselves an immediate return to National League 1 for the 2015–16 season by securing the league title and promotion on 28 March 2015, beating Shelford 66 – 17 at Dry Leas. While Henley gained promotion early, the battle for second spot (and the chance to go up via the play-off) went right to the last day of the season with three teams looking to go up —

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

and Taunton Titans. In the end, all three teams had bonus point victories but Bishop's Stortford's slender two point lead at the start of play meant they would finish as league runners–up. With only three victories all season Dings Crusaders were the first team to be relegated, followed some time later by Shelford with the third relegation spot much more keenly contested. A dramatic last day saw

competing against Southend Saxons to avoid the drop. Lydney won their game with the maximum 5 points they needed but Southend managed to get a losing bonus point in their game and stayed up thanks to a better win record. Dings and Lydney would drop to

while Shelford would drop to

. League runners up Bishop's Stortford would go into a playoff against the runners up of the

2014–15 National League 2 North The 2014–15 National League 2 North is the sixth season (28th overall) of the National League 2 North, fourth tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, second division was i ...

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

, with Ampthill getting home advantage due to their better league record. It was the second time in a row that Ampthill were in the playoffs after somewhat ironically finishing second in National League 2 South the previous season. Bishop's Stortford lost a close game at Dillingham Park 10-19, with Ampthill gaining promotion to

for the 2015-16 season. In terms of attendances, National League 2 South had a total of 94,033 fans turning up for games across the season - up 14,405 from the previous season. This was helped by good regular crowds at Launceston and

with 1,000+ attendances in the matches between the two Cornish sides while the two

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

- Shelford derby games attracted the biggest crowds of the 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

2015–16 National League 1 The 2015–16 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 is the seventh season of the third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Championship was intro ...

and the runners-up play the second-placed team in the

with the winner being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either

depending on the geographical location of the team (in some cases teams may join the Midlands regional leagues).

Participating teams

Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the

2013–14 National League 2 South The 2013–14 National League 2 South was the fifth season (27th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. The league system wa ...

season; Henley Hawks and Worthing Raiders were relegated from

, Dorking (champions) and Old Elthamians (play-offs) were promoted from

, Lydney were promoted from

and Ampthill were transferred back to

to ensure that both leagues were suitably balanced with the same number of teams.

Final league table

Results

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

*Postponed due to waterlogged pitch. Game to be replayed on 28 February 2015. ----

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

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Round 19

*Postponed after a referee's assessment due to wet weather conditions rendering pitch unplayable. Game to be replayed on 28 February 2015. ----

Round 20

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Round 21

*Postponed due to snow. Game to be replayed on 28 February 2015. ----

Round 22

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Round 23

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Round 24

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Rounds 10, 19 & 21 (rescheduled matches)

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Round 25

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Round 26

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Round 27

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Round 28

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Round 29

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Round 30

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Promotion play-off

Each season, the runners-up in the National League 2 South and National League 2 North participate in a play-off for promotion into National Division 1. Ampthill were runners-up in the North and because they had a better record than the South runners-up, Bishop's Stortford they hosted the play-off match.

Total season attendances

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).

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 58 pts 63 - 5 Henley Hawks at home to Dings Crusaders on 6 December 2014 ;Largest away win — 40 pts 54 – 14 Bishop's Stortford away to Shelford on 14 February 2015 ;Most points scored — 66 pts 66 - 17 Henley Hawks at home to Shelford on 28 March 2015 ;Most tries in a match — 12 Henley Hawks at home to Shelford on 28 March 2015 ;Most conversions in a match — 7 (x4) Worthing Raiders at home to Lydney on 24 January 2015
Bishop's Stortford away to Shelford on 14 February 2015
Henley Hawks at home to Shelford on 28 March 2015
Dorking away to Shelford on 11 April 2015 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 Launceston away to Dings Crusaders on 27 September 2014 ;Most drop goals in a match — 2 Taunton Titans away to Worthing Raiders on 4 October 2014

Player

;Most points in a match — 27 Charles Foley for Clifton away to Shelford on 17 January 2015 ;Most tries in a match — 4 (x3) Ruben Haile for Chinnor at home to Southend Saxons on 11 October 2014
Joe Collingham for Cambridge away to Southend Saxons on 9 November 2014

Lloyd Owen Richard Marcus Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is an English actor. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, he is known for portraying Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. i ...

for Henley Hawks at home to Dings Crusaders on 6 December 2014 ;Most conversions in a match — 7 (x2) Matthew McLean for Worthing Raiders at home to Lydney on 24 January 2015
James Combden for Henley Hawks at home to Shelford on 28 March 2015 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 Kieron Lewitt for Launceston away to Dings Crusaders on 27 September 2014 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 N/A - multiple players

Attendances

;Highest — 1,687 Cambridge against Shelford on 10 January 2014 ;Lowest — 75 Clifton against Southend on 15 November 2014 ;Highest Average Attendance — 780 Redruth ;Lowest Average Attendance — 180 Clifton

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:National2 2014–15 2014–15 in English rugby union leagues

Structure

Participating teams

Final league table

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Rounds 10, 19 & 21 (rescheduled matches)

Round 25

Round 26

Round 27

Round 28

Round 29

Round 30

Promotion play-off

Total season attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References

External links