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

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 ...

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

Hull Ionians Hull Ionians RUFC 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 Leagu ...

(relegated from National League 1 2013–14), Broadstreet (promoted from

National League 3 Midlands Regional 1 Midlands (until 2021–22 known as Midlands Premier and up until 2016–17 known as National League 3 Midlands) is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

(both promoted from

National League 3 North North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. ...

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

was also transferred back to the division after spending the 2013–14 season in

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 ...

. At the end of the season the champions are 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 second placed team will play against the runners-up from 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 division ...

, with the winner also promoted. The bottom three teams, depending on geographical location, are usually relegated to either

(in some cases teams may be relegated to the southern regional leagues).

claimed the title and promotion to

on the last day of the season, with

finishing as runners-up and having to be content with a promotion play-off. Both Hull Ionians and Ampthill were head and shoulders over the other teams in the division, with Ionians narrow 7 – 6 victory over Ampthill on 24 January ultimately being the deciding factor in who would end up as champions. While the title chase was tight, the fight against relegation was even tighter. Apart from

, who were relegated way before the end of the season, the next two relegation spots were contested up until the very last game with four teams in danger of the drop. In the end Hull's defeat to fellow relegation rivals

Preston Grasshoppers Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an England, English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire. The men's senior team play in the RFU National League 2 North, a level 4 league in the RFU league pyramid. History The club was founde ...

meant they went straight down, while Birmingham & Solihull's bonus point victory was not enough due to

Luctonians Luctonians Sports Club is an English sports club based in Kingsland, Herefordshire. The rugby union team currently plays in National League 2 West, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their promotion from the Midlands P ...

narrow win over

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. and again from 2011. The team race at the Beaumont Park Stadium (or Hydroscand Arena for sponsorsh ...

, meaning that Luctonians stayed up instead. On paper Birmingham & Solihull had a better attack and defence than Luctonians but were unable to translate this to enough wins over the course of the season. Stockport and Hull would drop down to

while Birmingham & Solihull would go into

. As runner-up, Ampthill played in the divisional play-off for the second year in a row (they lost the play-off in 2013–14 against Darlington Mowden Park). This year they played at home to

runner-up

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. The final result was 19 – 10 to Ampthill at Dillingham Park, and they join Hull Ionians in the

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 intr ...

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 the

and the runner-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.

Participating teams and locations

Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the

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

season; Hull Ionians were relegated from

, Huddersfield (champions) and Stockport (play-offs) were promoted from

, Broadstreet were promoted from

and Ampthill were transferred from

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

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

*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game replayed on 28 February. ----

Round 20

*Postponed due to bad weather. Game replayed on 28 February. ----

Round 21

*Postponed due to snow. Game replayed on 28 March. ----

Round 22

----

Round 23

----

Round 24

----

Rounds 19 & 20 (rescheduled games)

----

Round 25

----

Round 26

----

Round 21 (rescheduled game)

----

Round 27

----

Round 28

----

Round 29

----

Round 30

----

Promotion play-off

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

Average attendances

* Does not include play-off.

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 – 59 pts 66 – 7 Ampthill at home to Leicester Lions on 13 September 2014 ;Largest away win – 75 pts 85 - 10 Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014 ;Most points scored – 85 pts 85 - 10 Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014 ;Most tries in a match – 13 Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014 ;Most conversions in a match – 10 Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014 ;Most penalties in a match – 9 Luctonians at home to Birmingham & Solihull on 15 November 2014 ;Most drop goals in a match – 1 N/A - multiple times

Player

;Most points in a match – 36 Caolan Ryan for Stourbridge at home to Preston Grasshoppers on 29 November 2014 ;Most tries in a match – 4 (x2) Callum McShane for Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014
Joe Bercis for Ampthill away to Broadstreet on 13 December 2014 ;Most conversions in a match – 9 Matt Riley for Sedgley Park away to Stockport on 13 September 2014 ;Most penalties in a match – 9 Louis Silver for Luctonians at home to Birmingham & Solihull on 15 November 2015 ;Most drop goals in a match – 1 N/A - multiple players

Attendances

;Highest – 1,201 Preston Grasshoppers at home against Caldy on 18 April 2015 ;Lowest – 54 Leicester Lions at home against Chester on 14 March 2015 ;Highest Average Attendance – 404 Luctonians ;Lowest Average Attendance – 109 Leicester Lions

References

External links

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

Structure

Participating teams and locations

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 19 & 20 (rescheduled games)

Round 25

Round 26

Round 21 (rescheduled game)

Round 27

Round 28

Round 29

Round 30

Promotion play-off

Average attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References

External links