The 1997–98 National League 2 South was the eleventh 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 fourth tier (south) of the English league system, previously known as Division 4 South, and was the first to be sponsored by

Jewson Jewson is one of the largest chains of British general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors. The chain comprises around 500 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's Stark Group, STAR ...

who replaced former sponsor

Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

. It is counterpart 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 Northern England. The remainder of England is covered by the two counterpart leagues National L ...

, which covers the northern half of the country. At the end of the campaign Camberley were the league champions, finishing 3 points clear of runners up

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 foun ...

, with both teams promoted to the 1998–99 National League 1. There was no relegation this season in order to prevent an imbalance of teams in the leagues due to

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

changes for the following season which would see tier 2 increased from 12 to 14 teams and tier 3 reduced from 16 to 14 teams.

Structure

Each team played home and away matches against each of the other teams, playing a total of twenty-six matches each. The league champions and runners up were promoted to

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 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 Lea ...

. There was no relegation this season due to changes higher up in the English league system.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Sponsorship

National League 2 South is part of the Jewson National Leagues is sponsored by

. It was the first year they would sponsor the league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 National League 2 South N4 National League 2 South