The 1996–97 Courage League National Division Two was the tenth full season of

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the

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 Eng ...

and was season that saw professional rugby openly introduced into the English game. Joining the eight teams who participated in the division in 1995–96 were

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

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, Rugby and

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

all of whom were promoted from National Division Three with no teams coming down from National Division One due to league restructuring. The league was sponsored by

Courage Brewery Courage was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in London, England, in 1787. History Origin and family ownership The Courage Brewery was started by John Courage (1757 – October 1793). He was a Scottish shipping agent believed to b ...

for the tenth consecutive year. The top two teams,

and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

were automatically promoted, and for the first time there were play–offs between the third and fourth placed teams, and the ninth and tenth placed teams in Division One, for a place in the top tier for season 1997–98. The Division Two sides played at home first with the winners of the two matches, on aggregate score, playing in the top division the following season.

and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

both failed to win promotion.

Rugby Lions The Rugby Lions RFC, nicknamed ''The Lions'', is an English rugby union club based in Rugby, Warwickshire. The club plays its home matches at Webb Ellis Road. Its developmental squad is known as the Crusaders. The club also has a ladies team ...

and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

were relegated to Division 3 for the 1997–98 season. Last season Nottingham finished in the bottom two and escaped relegation due to the division being increased from ten clubs to twelve clubs. This season they were not so lucky and next season will be their first in Division Three.

Participating teams

Table

Promotion play–offs

For the first time play–offs took place between the third and fourth placed teams in Division Two and the ninth and tenth placed teams in Division One. The play–offs followed a 4th v 9th, 3rd v 10th system - with the games being played over two legs and the second-tier team playing at home in the first leg.

First leg

Second leg

* Bristol won 39 – 23 on aggregate to retain their place in Division One * London Irish won 42 – 23 on aggregate to retain their place in Division One

Individual statistics

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

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 151 pts 156 - 5 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 ;Largest away win — 72 pts 87 - 15 Richmond away to Moseley on 5 October 1996 ;Most points scored — 151 pts 156 - 5 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 ;Most tries in a match — 24 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 ;Most conversions in a match — 18 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 Rotherham away to Richmond on 14 September 1996 ;Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x3) Coventry at home to Wakefield on 21 September 1996
London Scottish away to Blackheath on 8 February 1997
Blackheath at home to Nottingham on 22 March 1997

Player

;Most points in a match — 42 Jez Harris for Coventry at home to Nottingham on 5 October 1996 ;Most tries in a match — 5

Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...

for Newcastle Falcons at home to Rotherham on 4 May 1997 ;Most conversions in a match — 18

Rob Andrew Christopher Robert Andrew (born 18 February 1963) is a former English rugby union player who as a fly-half played 71 Tests for England between 1985 and 1997. Since his retirement from playing he has held administration roles in both rugby and ...

for Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 Matt Inman for Rotherham away to Richmond on 14 September 1996 ;Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x2) Jez Harris for Coventry at home to Wakefield on 21 September 1996
Chris Braithwaite for Blackheath at home to Nottingham on 22 March 1997

Attendances

*''Note that attendances were very poorly documented this season and aside from a few big games there is almost no information available'' ;Highest — 8,000 Coventry at home to Newcastle Falcons on 2 November 1996 ;Lowest — N/A N/A ;Highest Average Attendance — N/A N/A ;Lowest Average Attendance — N/A N/A

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Courage League National Division Two N2 RFU Championship seasons