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 consi ...

, 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 Eng ...

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

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 ...

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 foun ...

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 the ...

and

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

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

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is 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 played ...

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 Counties 3 Devon (formerly 'Devon League 2', also known as 'Tribute Devon 2' for sponsorship reasons) is an English level ninerugby union league for clubs based in Devon. Promotion is to Counties 1 Devon. Formerly relegation was to Devon Leagu ...

. 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 reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

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 ...

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 Rug ...

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 the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. It is the native language of the Albanian people. Standard Albanian is the offi ...

, (to the 2015–16 National League 2 South), and

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

and

Tynedale __NOTOC__ Tynedale was a local government district in Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 census. The main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. The district contained part of ...

, (both to the 2015–16 National League 2 North). The promoted teams are

and

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 ...

champions of the 2014–15 National League 2 South 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 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 ...

who won the promotion play-off against

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 ...

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 Blackhea ...

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 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, c ...

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