2007–08 National Division Two

2007–08 National Division Two
Countries	England
Champions	Otley
Runners-up	Manchester (also promoted)
Relegated	Halifax, Henley Hawks, Nuneaton
Attendance	87,398 (average 482 per match)[a 1]
Highest attendance	1,453 Blackheath at home to Westcombe Park on 24 November 2007
Lowest attendance	100 Nuneaton at home to Manchester on 10 November 2007
Top point scorer	Gareth Wynne Manchester 286 points
Top try scorer	Christoff Lombaard Cambridge 21 tries
← 2006-07 2008-09 →

The 2007-08 National Division Two was the eighth version (twenty first overall) of the third division of the English rugby union league system using the name National Division Two. New teams to the division included Waterloo and Otley who were relegated from the 2006–07 National Division One while promoted teams included Blaydon coming up from the 2006–07 National Division Three North while Southend (champions) and Westcombe Park (playoffs) came up from the 2006–07 National Division Three South.^[1][2][3][4]

At the end of the season Otley made an instant return to their former division by beating runners up Manchester to the title by just one point, with Manchester also gaining promotion by virtue of their second-place finish - both teams would be promoted to the 2008–09 National Division One.^[5] Relegated teams included Halifax, Henley Hawks and Nuneaton with Halifax picking up just two wins all season.^[6][7][8] Halifax and Nuneaton would drop to the 2008–09 National Division Three North while Henley Hawks would go into the 2008–09 National Division Three South.

One of the more bizarre events to take place over the season was Redruth's game away at Cambridge. Trailing 30 – 0 at half time the Reds returned to their dressing room to find that it had been raided by thieves while they had been playing. Incensed at the missing valuables, including wedding rings, the Redruth team refused to come out for the second half. This led to the game finishing 30 – 0 to Cambridge (who also got a bonus point for scoring four tries) and the RFU would dock Redruth 10 points for failing to complete the game.^[9]

Participating teams and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Blackheath, London
Blaydon	Crow Trees	N/A	Swalwell, Tyne and Wear
Cambridge	Grantchester Road	1,250	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Halifax	Ovenden Park		Halifax, West Yorkshire
Henley Hawks	Dry Leas	4,000	Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Manchester	Grove Park	4,000	Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
Nuneaton	Liberty Way	4,314 (514 seats)	Nuneaton, Warwickshire
Otley	Cross Green	5,000	Otley, West Yorkshire
Redruth	The Recreation Ground	12,000	Redruth, Cornwall
Southend	Warners Bridge Park		Southend, Essex
Stourbridge	Stourton Park	3,500 (499 seats)	Stourbridge, West Midlands
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)	Blundellsands, Merseyside
Westcombe Park	Goddington Dene	3,200 (200 seats)	Orpington, London
Wharfedale	Threshfield	2,000	Threshfield, Craven, North Yorkshire

Final league table

2007-2008 National Division Two Table
Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points Diff	Bonus Points	Points
Otley (C)	26	23	0	3	780	379	401	13	105
Manchester (P)	26	21	0	5	802	460	342	20	104
Stourbridge	26	21	0	5	677	434	243	15	99
Blackheath	26	15	0	11	596	602	-6	15	75
Cambridge	26	14	0	12	619	569	50	13	69
Westcombe Park	26	13	1	12	649	568	81	15	69
Wharfedale	26	12	1	13	592	559	33	17	67
Southend	26	12	0	14	666	620	46	18	66
Redruth	26	14	0	12	545	514	31	12	58*
Waterloo	26	11	1	14	488	517	-29	8	54
Blaydon	26	10	0	16	530	666	-139	13	53
Nuneaton (R)	26	6	0	20	456	747	-291	8	32
Henley Hawks (R)	26	6	1	19	333	617	-284	5	31
Halifax (R)	26	2	0	24	382	863	-481	6	14
Reference National Clubs Association and BBC Sport: Updated 2008-03-30 --- Current English Leagues Redruth deducted ten points for failing to complete their match against Cambridge on 29th September 2007[9]

Results

Round 1

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Round 2

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 November 2007.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 November 2007.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 17 November 2007.

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Round 3

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Round 4

• Game abandoned after 40 minutes as Redruth players refused to play second half after thieves raided the players dressing room. Redruth deducted 10 points for failing to finish game.^[9]

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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 2 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 15 September 2007.

• Game rescheduled from 15 September 2007.

• Game rescheduled from 15 September 2007.

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Round 11

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Round 12

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Round 13

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2008.

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Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 March 2008.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 March 2008.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 2 February 2008.

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Round 17

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Round 16 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 19 January 2008.

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Round 18

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2008.

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Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 16 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 19 January 2008.

• Game rescheduled from 19 January 2008.

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Round 22

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Rounds 13 & 18 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 9 February 2008.

• Game rescheduled from 15 December 2007.

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Round 23

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Round 24

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Round 25

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Round 26

Total season attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Blackheath	13	9,582	737	1,453	460	12%
Blaydon	13	4,718	363	614	210	N/A
Cambridge	13	7,862	605	1,370	402	48%
Halifax	13	4,660	358	585	220	N/A
Henley Hawks	13	4,741	365	527	190	9%
Manchester	13	4,455	343	563	243	9%
Nuneaton	13	2,690	207	400	100	5%
Otley	13	9,639	741	1,363	461	15%
Redruth	13	10,249	788	968	612	7%
Southend	13	5,985	460	720	250	N/A
Stourbridge	13	7,450	573	800	350	16%
Waterloo	12[a 2]	4,552	379	620	286	4%
Westcombe Park	13	4,606	354	1,021	189	11%
Wharfedale	13	6,209	478	1,010	330	24%

Individual statistics

• Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Season records

See also

• English Rugby Union Leagues
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

External links

• NCA Rugby