The 1998–99 National League 2 South (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 ...

) was the twelfth 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. 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. The title battle was very keenly contested by three clubs but in the end it was

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

who came out top, 1 point clear of runners up

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...

and 3 clear of 3rd placed

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. The town is located south of Cromer and Norwich is south. Demography The civil parish has an area of ...

, to claim their second successive promotion and a place in the 1999–00 National League 1. It was during this campaign that Bracknell set the (then) English league record of 53 consecutive wins at home. The battle for relegation was equally well contested with a number of teams fighting for survival. Despite battling hard

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England. Nearby places include Portsmouth to the south-west, Southampton to the west, Waterlooville to north, Chichester to the east and Hayling Island to the south. The wider borough ...

would finish in the bottom spot, dead level with 13th placed

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

but with a worse for/against record. Havant would drop to

London 1 Regional 1 South East (formerly known as London & South East Premier and 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. When this division began in 1987 ...

. The reason National League 2 South had only one relegation place compared to National League 2 North (who had 3) was that both of the two teams relegated from the division above were based in the north of the country, requiring more places to accommodate for their arrival the following season.

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 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 ...

while the bottom side dropped to either

or South West 1 depending on locality.

Participating teams and locations

League table

Sponsorship

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 National League 2 South N4 National League 2 South