The 2016–17 National League 2 North is the eighth season (30th overall) of the fourth tier (north) 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 was introduced. New teams to the division include

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 ...

who were relegated from

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

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. They were founded in 1929 an ...

were promoted as champions of National League 3 North along with

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

(champions) and

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

(play-off) 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 ...

Caldy Caldy (historically spelt Calday) is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward (country subdivision), Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wi ...

were crowned champions on the 8 April 2017 with two games to go, after beating second place Sale 28–26 in front of a crowd of 1,432 at Paton Field (the biggest in the league that season) to make sure that the Heywood Road side could not catch them. It was the first time Caldy had won National League 2 North and the highest level they have reached in the club's history. Up until the last few games, Sale had been neck and neck with Caldy but in the end two defeats to the Wirral-based club meant that they finished 9 points adrift in second place. However, a strong finish by Sale meant that they would go into the promotion play-off against the runner-up from the

2016–17 National League 2 South The 2016–17 National League 2 South was the eighth season (30th 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 div ...

, Old Elthamians, with home advantage as they gained more league points (124) than the southern based side (122). Despite home advantage Sale were unable to join Caldy in the 2017–18 National League 1 as they lost a close game 14–19 to Old Elthamians in front of a crowd of 1,297 at

Heywood Road Heywood Road (currently known as CorpAcq Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-use rugby stadium in Sale, Greater Manchester, England, which has been the home ground of rugby union side Sale F.C. since 1905. It was the home ground of sp ...

. The liquidation of

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

in January 2017, and their expulsion from 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 ...

, meant that there were only five teams relegated from National League 2 South and National League 2 North this season – meaning that one league would have three teams going down and the other having just two depending on league points at the end of the season. On the same day that Caldy won the league title,

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 ...

were the first team to be relegated, losing 32–48 to relegation rivals

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

and ending the club's 12-year stay in the division. The battle for the other relegation places was much closer as on the last day of the season three sides could still go down. In the end it was Harrogate and newly promoted Scunthorpe who were relegated as both teams lost their matches, while another newly promoted side, Sheffield Tigers, won theirs. With regards to the Tigers, who at one point looked likely to go down, they had an absolute fantastic finish to the season, winning four out of five games to remain in National League 2 North. There had been some hope that the 14th placed team might have been kept safe but the equivalent side in the

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, escaped relegation as they gained more points (51) than their northern counterparts (47). Following their relegation, Preston Grasshoppers and Harrogate will start next season in National League 3 North, while Scunthorpe will drop back down to

. There were other points to contemplate at the end of the campaign. Attendances in National League 2 North were very good this season - up to 78,160 (or 326 per game) from 65,338 (273 per game) the previous year - which was the best support since the 2013-14 campaign when sides such as Darlington Mowden Park were taking part. This was mostly due to the consistent support which went to watch Wharfedale,

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 ...

and Hinckley (two of whom were new to the division), along with several good individual attendances at both Caldy and Sale who benefited from being involved in a tightly contested title battle. A second point of note went to Nick Royle of Caldy who had another record breaking campaign. Firstly, his 32 tries equaled a season best for the division ( Gareth Collins and Royle himself had previously achieved this), and secondly he finished as the top try scorer in the division for the third time in his career - a National League 2 North record. Finally, another record was equaled in the division by Wharfedale's Tom Barrett, who scored 3 drop kicks in a game - twice during the season.

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 2017–18 National League 1 and the runner-up play the second-placed team in the

with the winner also being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either National League 3 North or

depending on the geographical location of the team (in some cases teams may join the southern regional leagues). The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows: * 4 points are awarded for a win * 2 points are awarded for a draw * 0 points are awarded for a loss, however * 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer * 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match.

Participating teams and locations

Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the 2015–16 National League 2 North season;

were relegated from the 2015–16 National League 1 while

were promoted as champions of National League 3 North and

(champions) and

came up from

League table

Results

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

*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 25 February 2017. ----

Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 25 February 2017. ----

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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Rounds 13 & 18 (rescheduled games)

*Game rescheduled from 14 January 2017. *Game rescheduled from 26 November 2016. ----

Round 24

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Round 25

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Round 26

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Round 27

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Round 28

*Preston Grasshoppers are relegated. *Caldy are champions. ----

Round 29

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Round 30

*Scunthorpe are relegated. *Harrogate are relegated.

Promotion play-off

Each season, the runners-up in the National League 2 North and

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 ...

participate in a play-off for promotion to National Division 1. Sale finished second in the 2016–17 National League 2 North and because they had a better record than the

runners-up, Old Elthamians, they hosted the play-off match.

Attendances

* Does not include promotion 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). Does not include promotion playoff.

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 53 points 67 – 14 Sedgley Park at home to Scunthorpe on 3 December 2016 ;Largest away win — 54 points 61 - 7 Sale away to Scunthorpe on 4 March 2017 ;Most points scored — 76 points 76 - 35 Sedgley Park at home to Luctonians on 15 October 2016 ;Most tries in a match — 12 Sedgley Park at home to Luctonians on 15 October 2016 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Sale at home to Wharfedale on 11 March 2017 ;Most penalties in a match — 6 Scunthorpe away to Harrogate on 22 October 2016 ;Most drop goals in a match — 3 (x2) Wharfedale at home to Scunthorpe on 19 November 2016
Wharfedale at home to Luctonians on 28 January 2017

Player

;Most points in a match — 37 Jack Lavin for Caldy at home to Preston Grasshoppers on 14 January 2017 ;Most tries in a match — 5 (x3)

Johnny Matthews Johnny Matthews (August 27, 1946 - December 25, 2019), British football player and manager. A famous cricket player and a member of the Waterford Referee Association, he serves as a referee for the youth league competition in the Waterford You ...

for Sedgley Park at home to Luctonians on 15 October 2016
Andrew Riley for Sedgley Park at home to Scunthorpe on 3 December 2016
Jack Lavin for Caldy at home to Preston Grasshoppers on 14 January 2017 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Luke McGovern for Sale at home to Wharfedale on 11 March 2017 ;Most penalties in a match — 6 Steve Johnson for Scunthorpe away to Harrogate on 22 October 2016 ;Most drop goals in a match — 3 (x2) Tom Barrett for Wharfedale at home to Scunthorpe on 19 November 2016
Tom Barrett for Wharfedale at home to Luctonians on 28 January 2017

Attendances

;Highest — 1,432 Caldy at home to Sale on 8 April 2017 ;Lowest — 50 South Leicester at home to Caldy on 22 October 2016 ;Highest Average Attendance — 493 Wharfedale ;Lowest Average Attendance — 99 South Leicester

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:National2 2016-17 2016–17 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

Rounds 13 & 18 (rescheduled games)

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Round 27

Round 28

Round 29

Round 30

Promotion play-off

Attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References

External links