The 2018–19 National League 2 South is the tenth season (32nd overall) of the fourth tier (south) 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. At the end of the season,

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Clifton on 6 April 2019, sealing promotion with two games to go. It was a fitting reward for the Berkshire club, who were by far the strongest side in the division. The runners up were

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

who claimed second spot after beating off stiff competition from the likes of

Tonbridge Juddians Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Tonbridge in Kent. The club runs four senior teams, a ladies side and the full range of junior teams. The first XV play in National League 2 East for the 2022–23 se ...

and

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 ...

. Despite finishing 21 points behind Rams, Canterbury's league results were still strong enough to enough to book a home promotion playoff against

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 ...

runners up,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. On 4 May 2019, Canterbury defeated Chester 19–10 to join Rams in the

2019–20 National League 1 The 2019–20 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1, was the 11th season of the National League 1, third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Champ ...

. For both clubs,

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 ...

is the highest level they have ever reached since the leagues began back in 1987. At the other end of the table, London Irish Wild Geese became the first team to be relegated after they suffered a heavy loss away to

on 30 March 2019. They were followed a week later by league newcomers

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, who also went down after just one season, following a heavy defeat away to Henley on 6 April 2019. One week later still, Birmingham & Solihull became the third and final team to go down with one round still to play after they lost away to champions, Rams, on 13 April 2019, with a try bonus not enough to keep them up due to results elsewhere. London Irish Wild Geese and Guernsey will drop into

London & South East Premier 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 ...

, while Birmingham & Solihull, who had initially been supposed to drop to Midlands Premier, decided to become an amateur club and drop out of the league system altogether. A final point of note was Worthing's Matthew McLean, who once again finished as the league's top scorer – this time for a record-breaking 3rd time. McLean scored 341 points, including 22 tries – an outstanding total for a Worthing side that finished 9th.

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 runners-up play the second-placed team in the 2018–19 National League 2 North with the winner being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either

South West Premier Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) 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 it was known as South West D ...

depending on the geographical location of the team (in some cases teams may join the Midlands 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

2017–18 National League 2 South The 2017–18 National League 2 South is the ninth season (31st overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. On 7 April 2018 Broad ...

season. The 2017–18 champions

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 play-off winners

Chinnor Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about southeast of Thame and close to the border with Buckinghamshire. The village is a spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment. Sinc ...

, who won the promotion play-off against

Sedgley Park Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester, north of Salford and south of Bury. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ...

, were promoted into the 2018–19 National League 1, while

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 ...

were relegated into the division from the 2017–18 National League 1. Sides relegated from the 2017–18 National League 2 South included Broadstreet (to Midlands Premier),

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

(

) and

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 ...

(

). The promoted teams are Dings Crusaders who finished as champions of

while

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

(champions) and

(play-off) came up from

. Birmingham & Solihull were also included from the division when they were level transferred from

having been promoted as champions of Midlands Premier. They were transferred to address an imbalance of teams in National League 2 caused by both Cinderford and Chinnor being promoted, with only Old Albanian dropping down to the south, and as the most southerly club in the northern division, Birmingham & Solihull were deemed the most suitable for a level transfer.

League table

Fixture & 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

*Postponed due to poor weather (snow). Game to be rescheduled for 23 February 2019. *Postponed due to poor weather (snow). Game to be rescheduled for 23 February 2019. *Postponed due to poor weather (snow). Game to be rescheduled for 23 February 2019. ----

Round 22

----

Round 23

----

Round 21 (rescheduled games)

*Game rescheduled from 2 February 2019. *Game rescheduled from 2 February 2019. *Game rescheduled from 2 February 2019. ----

Round 24

----

Round 25

----

Round 26

----

Round 27

*London Irish Wild Geese are relegated. ----

Round 28

*Guernsey are relegated. *Rams are champions. ----

Round 29

*Birmingham & Solihull are relegated. *Canterbury qualify for promotion play-off. ----

Round 30

Promotion play-off

Each season, the runners-up in the

and National League 2 South participate in a play-off for promotion to

were runners up in the 2018–19 National League 2 South, and because they had a better record than the 2018–19 National League 2 North runners up,

, they host 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 play-off.

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 56 points 56 – 0 Old Albanian at home to London Irish Wild Geese on 8 December 2018 ;Largest away win — 56 points 61 – 5 Old Albanian away to London Irish Wild Geese on 6 April 2019 ;Most points scored — 70 points 70 – 26 Bury St Edmunds at home to Guernsey on 15 September 2018 ;Most tries in a match — 12 Bury St Edmunds at home to Guernsey on 15 September 2018 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Worthing Raiders at home to Redruth on 15 September 2018 ;Most penalties in a match — 5 Tonbridge Juddians at home Old Redcliffians on 3 November 2018 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 (3) Old Albanian away to Barnes on 15 September 2018
Clifton away to Canterbury on 20 October 2018
Old Redcliffians away to Redruth on 15 December 2018

Attendances

;Highest — 1,160 Henley Hawks at home to Rams on 5 January 2019 ;Lowest — 68 Old Redcliffians at home to Worthing Raiders on 8 December 2018 ;Highest average attendance — 607 Redruth ;Lowest average attendance — 161 Clifton

Player

;Most points in a match — 34 Daniel Watt for Old Albanian away to London Irish Wild Geese on 6 April 2019 ;Most tries in a match — 5 Henry Bird for Old Redcliffians at home to Guernsey on 17 November 2018 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Matthew McLean for Worthing Raiders at home to Redruth on 15 September 2018 ;Most penalties in a match — 5 Will Robinson for Tonbridge Juddians at home to Old Redcliffians on 3 November 2018 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 (3) Tom Bednall for Old Albanian away to Barnes on 15 September 2018
Bradley Barnes for Clifton away to Canterbury on 20 October 2018
Kieran Hill for Old Redcliffians away to Redruth on 15 December 2018

Notes

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:National2 2018–19 4S

Structure

Participating teams and locations

League table

Fixture & 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 21 (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

Attendances

Player

Notes

See also

References

External links