1996–97 Courage League National Division Two

1996–97 Courage League National Division Two
Countries	England
Champions	Richmond (1st title)
Runners-up	Newcastle Falcons
Relegated	Rugby Lions and Nottingham
Matches played	132
Highest attendance	8,000 Coventry at home to Newcastle Falcons on 2 November 1996
Top point scorer	Simon Mason, (Richmond) 334 points
Top try scorer	John Bentley, (Newcastle Falcons) 23 tries[1]
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Courage League National Division Two was the tenth full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship and was season that saw professional rugby openly introduced into the English game. Joining the eight teams who participated in the division in 1995–96 were Richmond, Coventry, Rugby and Rotherham all of whom were promoted from National Division Three with no teams coming down from National Division One due to league restructuring. The league was sponsored by Courage Brewery for the tenth consecutive year.

The top two teams, Richmond and Newcastle Falcons were automatically promoted, and for the first time there were play–offs between the third and fourth placed teams, and the ninth and tenth placed teams in Division One, for a place in the top tier for season 1997-98.^[2] The Division Two sides played at home first with the winners of the two matches, on aggregate score, playing in the top division the following season. Coventry and Bedford both failed to win promotion. Rugby Lions and Nottingham were relegated to Division 3 for the 1997–98 season. Last season Nottingham finished in the bottom two and escaped relegation due to the division being increased from ten clubs to twelve clubs. This season they were not so lucky and next season will be their first in Division Three.^[3]

Participating teams

Bedford

Coventry

London

Moseley

Newcastle

Nottingham

Rotherham

Rugby

Wakefield

Waterloo

London teams

Blackheath
London Scottish
Richmond

Locations of the 1996–97 Courage League National Division Two teams

Blackheath

London Scottish

Richmond

Greater London Courage League National Division Two clubs

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford	Goldington Road	7,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Greenwich, London
Coventry	Coundon Road	9,000+	Coventry, West Midlands
London Scottish	Athletic Ground, Richmond	4,500	Richmond, London
Moseley	The Reddings	10,000 (est)	Birmingham, West Midlands
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park	10,000	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Nottingham	Ireland Avenue	4,950	Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Richmond	Athletic Ground, Richmond	4,500	Richmond, London
Rotherham	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Rugby	Webb Ellis Road	1,000	Rugby, Warwickshire
Wakefield	College Grove	3,000	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,000	Blundellsands, Merseyside

Table

1996–97 Courage League National Division Two Table[2]
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Points
1	Richmond	22	19	2	1	986	410	576	40
2	Newcastle Falcons	22	19	1	2	1255	346	909	39
3	Coventry	22	16	1	5	738	394	344	33
4	Bedford	22	15	0	7	720	482	238	30
5	London Scottish	22	11	0	11	549	568	–19	22
6	Wakefield	22	11	0	11	504	557	–53	22
7	Rotherham	22	10	0	12	525	661	–136	20
8	Moseley	22	9	0	13	492	741	–249	18
9	Waterloo	22	8	0	14	506	661	–155	16
10	Blackheath	22	7	0	15	412	641	–229	14
11	Rugby Lions	22	3	0	19	317	1060	–743	6
12	Nottingham	22	2	0	20	344	827	–483	4
Points are awarded as follows: two points for a win one point for a draw no points for a loss If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: difference between points for and against total number of points for
Green background are promotion places. Buff background are promotion play–off places. Pink background are relegation places.

Promotion play–offs

For the first time play–offs took place between the third and fourth placed teams in Division Two and the ninth and tenth placed teams in Division One. The play–offs followed a 4th v 9th, 3rd v 10th system - with the games being played over two legs and the second tier team playing at home in the first leg.^[3]

First leg

7 May 1997

Bedford	11 – 20	Bristol

Goldington Road

7 May 1997

Coventry	16 – 14	London Irish

Coundon Road

Second leg

11 May 1997

Bristol	19 – 12	Bedford

Memorial Ground

• Bristol won 39 – 23 on aggregate to retain their place in Division One

11 May 1997

London Irish	28 – 7	Coventry

The Avenue

• London Irish won 42 – 23 on aggregate to retain their place in Division One

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.

Top points scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Points 1 Simon Mason Richmond 22 324 2 Rob Andrew Newcastle Falcons 22 297 3 John Steele London Scottish 18 256 4 Mike Rayer Bedford 21 238 5 Jez Harris Coventry 20 236 6 Mike Jackson Wakefield 19 199 7 Richard Le Bas Moseley 14 177 8 Chris Braithwaite Blackheath 14 137 9 Tim Stimpson Newcastle Falcons 21 116 10 John Bentley Newcastle Falcons 18 115 [4]

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Tries 1 John Bentley Newcastle Falcons 18 23 2 Gary Armstrong Newcastle Falcons 21 21 3 Scott Quinnell Richmond 21 21 4 Jim Fallon Richmond 21 19 5 Andy Smallwood Coventry 20 17 6 Pat Lam Newcastle Falcons 11 15 7 Darragh O'Mahony Moseley 13 15 8 Andy McAdam Coventry 18 14 9 Tim Stimpson Newcastle Falcons 18 14 10 Ben Whetstone Bedford 18 13 11 Guy Easterby Rotherham 21 13 [5]

Season records

Team Largest home win — 151 pts 156 - 5 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 Largest away win — 72 pts 87 - 15 Richmond away to Moseley on 5 October 1996 Most points scored — 151 pts 156 - 5 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 Most tries in a match — 24 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 Most conversions in a match — 18 Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 Most penalties in a match — 7 Rotherham away to Richmond on 14 September 1996 Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x3) Coventry at home to Wakefield on 21 September 1996 London Scottish away to Blackheath on 8 February 1997 Blackheath at home to Nottingham on 22 March 1997 [6][7][8][9]

Player Most points in a match — 42 Jez Harris for Coventry at home to Nottingham on 5 October 1996 Most tries in a match — 5 Pat Lam for Newcastle Falcons at home to Rotherham on 4 May 1997 Most conversions in a match — 18 Rob Andrew for Newcastle Falcons at home to Rugby Lions on 5 October 1996 Most penalties in a match — 7 Matt Inman for Rotherham away to Richmond on 14 September 1996 Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x2) Jez Harris for Coventry at home to Wakefield on 21 September 1996 Chris Braithwaite for Blackheath at home to Nottingham on 22 March 1997 [10][11][12][13][14] Attendances Note that attendances were very poorly documented this season and aside from a few big games there is almost no information available Highest — 8,000 Coventry at home to Newcastle Falcons on 2 November 1996[15][16] Lowest — N/A N/A Highest Average Attendance — N/A N/A Lowest Average Attendance — N/A N/A [17]

See also

• English rugby union system

References

1. Stephen McCormack, ed. (2000). The Official RFU Club Directory 2000–2001. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press.
2. "Courage League Championship 1996/97". Moseley Rugby Club. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
3. Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0 7472 7732 X.
4. "National Two 96/97 Leading points scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
5. "National Two 96/97 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
6. "National Two 96/97 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
7. "National Two 96/97 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
8. "National Two 96/97 Most penalties in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
9. "National Two 96/97 Most drop goals in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
10. "National Two 96/97 Most points in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
11. "National Two 96/97 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
12. "National Two 96/97 Most conversions in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
13. "National Two 96/97 Most penalties in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
14. "National Two 96/97 Most drop goals in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.
15. "Rugby Union: Harris has the drop on tough Newcastle". The Independent. 4 November 1996.
16. "Falcons in Division Two 1996/97". thesouthstandchoir.wordpress.com. 9 August 2012.
17. "National Two 96/97 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 1997.