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 Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England cons ...

, since the professionalised format of the second tier

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

was introduced; and is the twenty-ninth season since league rugby began in 1987.

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

are the current champions and will play in the Green King IPA Championship next season.

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 ...

Cinderford Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census. The town came into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of Cind ...

and

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...

are relegated. Henley and Cinderford to

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

and Wharfedale to

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 ...

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

went into administration on 8 April 2016 and an interim licence to run the club ended on 6 May 2016. Albion were deducted 30 points by the RFU and dropped from 5th place to 8th. The club have submitted a business case and await a decision by the RFU on 18 May. If the RFU reject the plan Albion could be relegated to the bottom of the league structure i.e.

Devon League 2 Devon League 2 (also known as Devon League 2 for sponsorship reasons) was an English level ten rugby union league for clubs based in Devon; with one exception (St Columba and Torpoint RFC is based in Torpoint, Cornwall and have always played in ...

. If that happens Wharfedale will not be relegated and subsequently other teams down through the league structure could be reprieved.

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 promotion place and three relegation places. The champions are promoted to the Greene King IPA Championship and the bottom three teams are relegated to either

depending on the geographical location of the team.

Participating teams and locations

Twelve of the sixteen teams participated in last season's competition. The 2014–15 champions

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

are promoted to the

2015–16 RFU Championship The 2015–16 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the seventh season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the R ...

and are replaced by

who were relegated from the

2014–15 RFU Championship The 2014–15 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the sixth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugb ...

after spending thirteen seasons in the league above. The three teams relegated last season, are

Old Albanian Albanian (endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe a ...

, (to the

2015–16 National League 2 South The 2015–16 National League 2 South is the seventh season (29th overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. There was talk of this ...

), and

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

and

Tynedale __NOTOC__ Tynedale is an area and former local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 Census. Its main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. The ...

, (both to the

2015–16 National League 2 North The 2015–16 National League 2 North is the seventh season (29th overall) of the fourth tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. There was talk of this being th ...

). The promoted teams are

and

Hull Ionians Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...

champions of the

2014–15 National League 2 South The 2014–15 National League 2 South is the sixth season (28th 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 divisio ...

and

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 ...

respectively, and

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 ...

who won the promotion play-off against

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 ...

League table

Fixtures

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

*Postponed due to bad weather and waterlogged pitch. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016. *Postponed due to bad weather and waterlogged pitch. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016. ----

Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

* Game rescheduled to 12 March 2016 * Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016 ----

Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 22

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Round 23

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Postponed matches (1)

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Round 24

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Postponed matches (2)

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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

*Blackheath's last ever first team game at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackheath ...

Attendances

Individual statistics

* Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances is placed first (if they have the same number of games, then the less minutes played will rank first). Also 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 — 59 pts 71 – 12 Hartpury College at home to Blaydon on 23 January 2016 ;Largest away win — 46 pts 46 - 0 Hartpury College away to Henley Hawks on 17 October 2015 ;Most points scored — 71 pts 71 – 12 Hartpury College at home to Blaydon on 23 January 2016 ;Most tries in a match — 11 Hartpury College at home to Blaydon on 23 January 2016 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Hartpury College at home to Hull Ionians on 30 April 2016 ;Most penalties in a match — 8 Hartpury College at home to Rosslyn Park on 9 April 2016 ;Most drop goals in a match — 3 Fylde away to Esher on 13 February 2016

Player

;Most points in a match — 30 Gareth Thompson for Hartpury College at home to Esher on 26 September 2015 ;Most tries in a match — 4 (x7) Jonas Mikalcius for Hartpury College away to Henley Hawks on 17 October 2015

Spencer Sutherland Spencer Sutherland is an American indie pop singer, songwriter, and actor from Pickerington, Ohio, United States. In June 2017, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month appearing on NBC's ''Today'' show with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee G ...

for Esher at home to Coventry on 7 November 2015
Peter Homan for Darlington Mowden Park at home to Hull Ionians on 21 November 2015
Jonas Mikalcius for Hartpury College at home to Blaydon on 23 January 2016
Ben Vellacott for Hartpury College at home to Blaydon on 23 January 2016
Aquile Smith for Hull Ionians at home to Cinderford on 20 February 2016
Jonas Mikalcius for Hartpury College at home to Wharfedale on 19 March 2016 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Gareth Thompson for Hartpury College at home to Hull Ionians on 30 April 2016 ;Most penalties in a match — 8 Gareth Thompson for Hartpury College at home to Rosslyn Park on 9 April 2016 ;Most drop goals in a match — 3 Chris Johnson for Fylde away to Esher on 13 February 2016

Attendances

;Highest — 1,843 Plymouth Albion v Hartpury College on 23 April 2016 ;Lowest — 80 Blaydon v Fylde on 7 November 2015 ;Highest Average Attendance — 1,153 Plymouth Albion ;Lowest Average Attendance — 243 Blaydon

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 National League 1

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

National League 1 seasons

Structure

Participating teams and locations

League table

Fixtures

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

Postponed matches (1)

Round 24

Postponed matches (2)

Round 25

Round 26

Round 27

Round 28

Round 29

Round 30

Attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References

External links