The 2023–24 National League 2 East was the second season of the fourth-tier (east) 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; one of three at this level. The others are

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 ...

and

National League 2 West National League 2 West is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the Midlands and South West England. The remainder of England is covered by two other region ...

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 ...

were crowned champions on 13 April with two games still to play following a home win over

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

, booking a quick return to 2024–25 National League 1 after a gap of just one season. In the end it was fairly comfortable with Esher who could even afford to lose to runners up

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 ...

on the last day of the season.

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 ...

were the first side to be relegated, going down with five games remaining following an away defeat to

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 ...

on 9 March. It was a miserable season for the Norfolk club, who would achieve just one victory all season. The second relegation spot was much more keenly fought, particularly as one 13th place team in National 2 could stay up, and went down to the last day of the season. In the end

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 ...

would go down, a losing bonus point away to

not enough to keep them in the league, finishing 3 points below 12th place Worthing Raiders and also missing out on being the best ranked 13th placed side to

2023–24 National League 2 North The 2023–24 National League 2 North is the 36th season of the fourth-tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions; one of three at this level. The others are National League 2 East and National League 2 West. The champions are ...

side

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 ...

by the narrowest of margins (points for against). Out of the two relegated sides North Walsham would drop to

Regional 1 South East 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 Wimbledon would go into

Regional 1 South Central Regional 1 South Central is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across southern and South East England. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, Regional ...

. For Wimbledon it would be an instant return to tier 5, while for North Walsham a gap of two seasons.

Structure

The league consists of fourteen teams who play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 26 matches each. 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 ...

and the bottom two teams are relegated to

, depending on their location. Due to the liquidation of RFU Championship side

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds was a rugby union club based in Jersey, Channel Islands. On 28th September 2023, the club ceased trading and shortly thereafter went into liquidation following the withdrawal of financial support from a key investor. Until seaso ...

in September 2023 and the knock on effect on the league system, the best placed 13th placed side in the three National 2 leagues (National League 2 North, National League 2 East, National 2 West) will be saved from relegation. See Relegation (13th placed teams). 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

League table

Relegation (13th placed teams)

Fixtures & results

Fixtures for the season were published by the RFU on 12 June, 2023.

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

*Postponed due to waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain. Game to be rescheduled to 6 January 2024. ----

Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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Round 12

*Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 3 February 2024. *Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 6 January 2024. *Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 3 February 2024. *Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 6 January 2024. *Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 6 January 2024. ----

Round 13

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Round 14

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Rounds 8 & 12 (rescheduled games)

*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023. *Game rescheduled from 4 November 2023. *Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023. *Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023. ----

Round 15

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Round 16

*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 3 February 2024. *Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 3 February 2024. *Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 20 April 2024. *Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 2 March 2024. ----

Round 17

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Rounds 12 & 16 (rescheduled games)

*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023. *Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024. *Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023. *Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024. ----

Structure

Participating teams and locations

League table

Relegation (13th placed teams)

Fixtures & 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

Rounds 8 & 12 (rescheduled games)

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Rounds 12 & 16 (rescheduled games)

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 16 (rescheduled game)

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 16 (rescheduled game)

Round 26

Attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Notes

See also

References

External links