The 2023–24 National League 2 North is the 36th season 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; one of three at this level. The others are
National League 2 East
National League 2 East is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and the East of England. The remainder of England is covered by t ...
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 ...
. 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 either
Regional 1 North East
Regional 1 North East is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and the East Midlands. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, Re ...
or
Regional 1 North West, depending on their location.
Rotherham Titans
Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a rugby union club from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the third tier of the English rugby union league system, following their promotion from the National League ...
finished the season as champions on 27 April 2024 following an away win against
Billingham
Billingham is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority ...
. The title battle went right to the last day of the season, with Titans finishing just two points clear of Yorkshire rivals
Leeds Tykes
Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North.
The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...
who had looked certain champions up until very last few games, with Rotherham's home win over Tykes on 23 March 2024 ultimately being the catalyst for who would take the league. In winning the league Rotherham would be promoted back into the
2024–25 National League 1 after an absence of four seasons.
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 ...
were the first side to be relegated, losing away to
Billingham
Billingham is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority ...
on 23 March 2024 to go down with three games left to play.
The battle for the second relegation spot would go all the way until the end of the season, with
Billingham's bonus point loss against champions Rotherham, being just enough to see them pip
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 virtue of a better better points for against record, with both sides equal on 44 points apiece. Despite finishing 13th, Ionians resounding 94-26 victory against already relegated Huddersfield, was enough to see them stay up as the best ranked National League 2 side, as they had a better for and against record than the
2023–24 National League 2 East side
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 ...
who also finished on 44 points and had an equal number of wins (6). In the end the only relegated club from National League 2 North, Huddersfield would drop down to
Regional 1 North East
Regional 1 North East is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and the East Midlands. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, Re ...
after spending six seasons at level 4.
Structure
The league consists of fourteen teams and each 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 typically the last two teams are relegated to
Regional 1 North East
Regional 1 North East is a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and the East Midlands. The other level five leagues are Regional 1 Midlands, Regional 1 North West, Re ...
or
Regional 1 North West; 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
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...
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 13 (rescheduled)
*Game brought forward from 16 December 2023.
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled.
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Round 12
*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.
*Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 3rd February 2024.
*Postponed due to poor weather. Game to be rescheduled for 3rd 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.
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Round 13
*Rescheduled. Game brought forward to 21 October 2023.
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Round 14
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Round 12 (rescheduled games)
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
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Round 15
*Postponed in respect of Tynedale 1st XV player Rory Cramb whose funeral was being held on same date. Game to be rescheduled for 2 March 2024.
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Round 16
*Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 2 March 2024.
*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 2 March 2024.
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Round 17
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Rounds 12 & 16 (rescheduled games)
*Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
*Game rescheduled from 2 December 2023.
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Round 20
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Rounds 15 & 16 (rescheduled games)
*Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 13 January 2024.
*Game rescheduled from 20 January 2024.
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
*Huddersfield are relegated.
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Round 24
*Postponed as due to waterlogged pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 20 April 2024.
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Round 25
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Round 24 (rescheduled game)
*Game rescheduled from 6 April 2024.
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Round 26
*Rotherham Titans are champions.
Attendances
Individual statistics
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Notes
See also
*
2023–24 National League 1
The 2023–24 National League 1 is the 36th season of the National League 1, third tier of the English rugby union system, English domestic rugby union competitions.
Chinnor R.F.C., Chinnor claimed the league title on 13 April with one game st ...
*
2023–24 National League 2 East
*
2023–24 National League 2 West
References
External links
NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:National2
National League 2 North
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