2015–16 National League 2 North

The 2015–16 National League 2 North is the seventh season (29th overall) of the fourth tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. There was talk of this being the last season in this format due to RFU changes to tier four which were supposed to result in a restructuring of the league from two regional divisions (north and south) to three (north, south-east and south-west) for the 2016–17 season but this seems to have been put on hold due to protests from the northern clubs who stood to lose revenue from a smaller fixture list.

Teams joining the division include Macclesfield and Tynedale (both relegated from National League 1), Sale and Sandal (both promoted from National League 3 North) and South Leicester (promoted from National League 3 Midlands). A further change this season saw Harrogate play their first game at their new ground at Rudding Lane – a move from their previous ground of Claro Road where they had been stationed for the past 119 years – beating local rivals Otley in front of a club record crowd of 1,050.

At the end of the season, Macclesfield made an instant return to National League 1 after their relegation the previous season by winning the championship with three games to go, defeating Chester 40-12 to take the title at Priory Park – the club's third National League 2 North title and a record so far in the division. The two bottom clubs at the end of the season were Huddersfield, who went down in Round 27, and Broadstreet, who followed one week later. While both teams were fairly competitive (gaining 7 and 8 wins apiece) the third relegation spot was much more keenly fought with five teams facing the drop up on the last round of the season. In the end it was Sandal who went down after one season spent in National League 2 North, losing their final game against Luctonians, while their relegation rivals all won. It was a particularly interesting contest between Sandal and fellow promoted club, Sale, who were actually in the final relegation spot on the last day (although they did have a rescheduled game still to play) but the Heywood Road side won against high flying Caldy to stay in the division. Another interesting feature of the season was Caldy's Nick Royle whose 25 tries saw him finish not only as the top try scorer in the league but also as the record all-time try scorer in the division with 161 tries overall.

As league runners up to Macclesfield by some distance, Sedgley Park had to travel down to Hertfordshire to face the 2015–16 National League 2 South runners up, Old Albanian, who hosted the game due to a superior league record. In the end Old Albanian were too good for Sedgley Park, winning 24 – 0 to claim the final promotion place to the 2016–17 National League 1.

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 2016–17 National League 1 and the runners-up play the second-placed team in the 2015–16 National League 2 South with the winner being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either National League 3 Midlands or National League 3 North depending on the geographical location of the team.

Participating teams and locations Eleven of the teams listed below participated in the 2014–15 National League 2 North season; Macclesfield and Tynedale were relegated from the 2014–15 National League 1, Sale (champions) and Sandal (play-offs) were promoted from National League 3 North while South Leicester (champions) were promoted from National League 3 Midlands.

TeamStadiumCapacityCity/AreaPrevious SeasonBroadstreetIvor Preece Field1,500 (250 seats)Coventry, West Midlands7thCaldyPaton Field4,000Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside6thChesterHare Lane2,000 (500 seats)Chester, Cheshire5thHarrogateRudding Lane2,000Harrogate, North Yorkshire4thHuddersfieldLockwood Park1,500 (500 seats)Huddersfield, West Yorkshire9thLeicester LionsWestleigh Park2,000Blaby, Leicestershire11thLuctoniansMortimer Park2,500 (300 seats)Kingsland, Herefordshire13thMacclesfieldPriory Park1,250 (250 seats)Macclesfield, CheshireRelegated from National League 1 (16th)OtleyCross Green7,000 (852 seats)Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire8thPreston GrasshoppersLightfoot Green2,250 (250 seats)Preston, Lancashire12thSaleHeywood Road5,400Sale, Greater ManchesterPromoted from National League 3 North (1st)SandalMilnthorpe GreenSandal Magna, Wakefield, West YorkshirePromoted from National League 3 North via the play-offSedgley ParkPark Lane3,000Whitefield, Bury, Greater Manchester3rdSouth LeicesterWelford Road GroundLeicester, LeicestershirePromoted from National League 3 Midlands (1st)StourbridgeStourton Park3,500 (499 seats)Stourbridge, West Midlands10thTynedaleTynedale ParkKingston Park2,000 (400 seats)10,200Corbridge, NorthumberlandNewcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and WearRelegated from National League 1 (15th)

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

Postponed due to severe weather and flooding. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016.

Postponed due to severe weather causing flooding. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016.

Round 14

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016.

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch. Game rescheduled to 27 February 2016.

Round 15

Round 16

Postponed due to pitch being deemed unsuitable to play due to heavy rain. Game rescheduled to 12 March 2016.

Round 17

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain. Game to be rescheduled for 12 March 2016.

Round 18

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 12 March 2016.

Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 12 March 2016.

Postponed due to bad weather. Game to be rescheduled for 12 March 2016.

Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game to be rescheduled for 26 March 2016.

Postponed due to bad weather. Game to be rescheduled for 27 February 2016.

Round 19

Round 20

Postponed due to Sandal being unwilling to play what they considered to be an unsafe pitch caused by recent rain. Game to be rescheduled for 26 March 2016.

Round 21

Postponed due to bad weather conditions. Game to be rescheduled for 7 May 2016.

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain. Game to be rescheduled for 7 May 2016.

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain. Game to be rescheduled for 26 March 2016.

Postponed due to waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain. Game to be rescheduled for 26 March 2016.

Round 22

Round 23

Rounds 13, 14 & 18 (rescheduled games)

Game rescheduled from 12 December 2015.

Game rescheduled from 5 December 2015.

Game rescheduled from 12 December 2015.

Game rescheduled from 5 December 2015.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Round 24

Postponed due to bad weather conditions. Game to be rescheduled for 14 May 2016.

Rounds 16, 17 & 18 (rescheduled games)

Game rescheduled from 2 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 9 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Round 25

Rounds 18, 20 & 21 (rescheduled games)

Game rescheduled from 30 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Game rescheduled from 6 February 2016.

Game rescheduled from 6 February 2016.

Round 26

Round 27

Huddersfield are relegated.

Round 28

Broadstreet are relegated.

Round 29

Round 30

Sandal are relegated.

Round 21 (rescheduled games)

Game rescheduled from 6 February 2016.

Game rescheduled from 6 February 2016.

Round 24 (rescheduled game)

Game originally rescheduled from 5 March 2016 but would ultimately be cancelled at Harrogate's request as the game would not affect the final league table standings.

Promotion play-off Each season, the runners-up in the National League 2 North and National League 2 South and participate in a play-off for promotion to National Division 1. Old Albanian were runners-up in the 2015–16 National League 2 South and because they had a better record than the 2015–16 National League 2 North runners-up, Sedgley Park, they hosted the play-off match.

Season attendances ClubHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Broadstreet 15 2,693 180 276 98 12% Caldy 15 2,819 188 295 120 5% Chester 15 5,354 357 890 210 18% Harrogate 15 4,710 314 1,050 180 16% Huddersfield 15 4,091 273 385 148 18% Leicester Lions 15 1,836 122 193 89 6% Luctonians 15 5,637 376 821 220 15% Macclesfield 14 4,381 313 452 207 25% Otley 15 4,553 304 573 192 4% Preston Grasshoppers 15 5,070 338 552 232 15% Sale 15 3,829 255 420 185 5% Sandal 15 3,414 228 350 100 Sedgley Park 15 3,546 236 300 160 8% South Leicester 15 1,644 110 300 50 Stourbridge 15 6,052 403 570 260 12% Tynedale 15 5,709 381 584 210 9%

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 Rank Player Team Appearances Points 1 Lewis Minikin Harrogate 28 299 2 Liam McGovern Sale 28 279 3 Lewis Barker Macclesfield 27 247 4 Sean Taylor Preston Grasshoppers 25 241 5 Stephen Collins Sedgley Park 20 209 6 Greg Wood Sandal 27 205 7 Chris Bell Huddersfield 28 203 8 Louis Silver Luctonians 22 197 9 Rickie Aley South Leicester 25 169 10 Rhys Hayes Chester 26 166

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Tries 1 Nick Royle Caldy 30 25 2 Andrew Riley Sedgley Park 29 21 3 Ryan Parkinson Macclesfield 28 19 4 Devon Constant Leicester Lions 27 18 5 Elliot Brierley Macclesfield 26 17 6 Jamie Harrison Sedgley Park 25 16 Lewis Minikin Harrogate 28 16 7 David Marwick Macclesfield 28 15 8 Joshua Fowles Macclesfield 24 14 Calum Gunn South Leicester 26 14 Callum Irvine Harrogate 28 14 Matthew Riley Sedgley Park 28 14

Season records

Team Largest home win – 66 pts 83 – 17 Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Largest away win – 47 pts 53 – 6 Sedgley Park away to Harrogate on 7 May 2016 Most points scored – 83 83 – 17 Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Most tries in a match – 13 Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Most conversions in a match – 9 Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Most penalties in a match – 6 (x3) Stourbridge at home to Caldy on 19 September 2015 Preston Grasshoppers away to Stourbridge on 3 October 2015 Caldy away to South Leicester on 10 October 2015 Most drop goals in a match – 1 N/A – multiple teams

Player Most points in a match – 28 (x2) Lewis Barker for Macclesfield away to Huddersfield on 28 November 2015 Matt Riley for Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Most tries in a match – 3 N/A – multiple players Most conversions in a match – 9 Matt Riley for Sedgley Park at home to Sandal on 26 March 2016 Most penalties in a match – 6 (x2) Christopher Scott for Stourbridge at home to Caldy on 19 September 2015 Sean Taylor for Preston Grasshoppers away to Stourbridge on 3 October 2015 Most drop goals in a match – 1 N/A – multiple players

Attendances Highest – 1,050 Harrogate at home to Otley on 5 September 2015 Lowest – 50 (x2) South Leicester at home to Sedgley Park on 12 September 2015 South Leicester at home to Caldy on 10 October 2015 Highest Average Attendance – 403 Stourbridge Lowest Average Attendance – 110 South Leicester

See also English rugby union system Rugby union in England

References

External links NCA Rugby