The 2019–20 National League 2 South was the eleventh season (33rd overall) of the fourth tier (south) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Rugby Football Union officially cancelled the season on 20 March 2020, after an initial postponement of all rugby in England including training.[2][3] After the cancellation was announced the RFU used a best playing record formula to decide the final table.[4] This meant that Taunton Titans, who were 3 points clear when the league was suspended, were promoted as champions along with runners up Tonbridge Juddians, who went up as the best runner up as they had more considerably more points than 2019–20 National League 2 North runner up Fylde.
Other interesting news from the season was Taunton's Gary Kingdom who finished as top scorer in the division for the third time, tying him with Worthing Raiders prolific Matthew McLean. An unwanted record was also made with Tonbridge Juddians official attendance of 0 from their game Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019 being the lowest ever recorded in a National League 2 South game. This was due to the game being played behind closed doors due to safety concerns caused by flooding.
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 2020–21 National League 1 and the runners-up play the second-placed team in the 2019–20 National League 2 North with the winner being promoted. The last three teams are relegated to either London & South East Premier or South West Premier depending on the geographical location of the team (in some cases teams may join the Midlands regional leagues).
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.
The promoted teams are Bournemouth who come up as champions of South West Premier while Sutton & Epsom (champions) and Westcliff (play-off) came up from London & South East Premier.[12][13][14]Leicester Lions were level transferred into the division from National League 2 North in order to address an imbalance of teams in National 2, with Rams and Canterbury being promoted and only Esher dropping down from National League 1. Although there were several candidates for the level-transfer in the end Leicester Lions were deemed the most suitable due to being the most southerly club in a central position, making access to both the south-east and south-west more straightforward than alternatives such as Luctonians.
Updated to match(es) played on 14 March 2020. Source: "National League 2 South". NCA Rugby. Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
Number of matches won
Difference between points for and against
Total number of points for
Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
On 4 April, the Rugby Football Union confirmed the final table for the season.[15]
Updated to match(es) played on 4 April 2020. Source: "National League 2 South"(PDF). England Rugby. Notes:
^Tonbridge Juddians home game against Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019 was a closed game due to flooding making it unsafe for spectators.[1]
^Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom the promotion playoff game between the runners up of National League 2 South and the 2019–20 National League 2 North was cancelled and the winners were determined on final points tally. Tonbridge Juddians with 117.02 points were promoted ahead of Fylde with 107.88.
Game originally rescheduled from 15 February 2020 but postponed again due a Dings player being potentially exposed to coronavirus. Game to be rescheduled.[51]
14 March 2020 14:30
(1 BP) Taunton Titans
48 – 10
Esher
Towergate Stadium Attendance: 412 Referee: James Milliner-Woodcock
Game rescheduled from 15 February 2020.
14 March 2020 15:00
(1 BP) Bournemouth
14 – 15
Barnes
Chapel Gate Attendance: 150 Referee: Alan Chandrachud
83 – 10 Tonbridge Juddians at home to Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019
Largest away win — 60 points
74 – 14 Tonbridge Juddians away to Sutton & Epsom on 14 September 2019
Most points scored — 83 points
83 – 10 Tonbridge Juddians at home to Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019
Most tries in a match — 13
Tonbridge Juddians at home to Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019
Most conversions in a match — 9 (3)
Henley Hawks at home to Worthing Raiders on 5 October 2019
Tonbridge Juddians at home to Taunton Titans on 5 October 2019
Tonbridge Juddians at home to Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019
Most penalties in a match — 5 (2)
Worthing Raiders at home to Old Redcliffians on 7 September 2019
Taunton Titans at home to Bury St Edmunds on 23 November 2019
Most drop goals in a match — 1 (3)
Redruth at home to Old Redcliffians on 30 November 2019
Bury St Edmunds at home to Tonbridge Juddians on 14 December 2019
Leicester Lions away to Old Redcliffians on 7 March 2020
Tristan Roberts for Esher away to Barnes on 14 September 2019
Most tries in a match — 4 (2)
Murray Galbraith-Lowe for Tonbridge Juddians at home to Taunton Titans on 5 October 2019 Ewan Fenley for Henley Hawks away to Dings Crusaders on 30 November 2019
Most conversions in a match — 9 (3)
Ben Bolster for Henley Hawks at home to Worthing Raiders on 5 October 2019 Will Robinson for Tonbridge Juddians at home to Taunton Titans on 5 October 2019 Will Robinson for Tonbridge Juddians at home to Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019
Most penalties in a match — 5 (3)
Matthew McLean for Worthing Raiders at home to Old Redcliffians on 7 September 2019 Gary Kingdom for Taunton Titans at home to Bury St Edmunds on 23 November 2019
Most drop goals in a match — 1 (3)
Fraser Honey for Redruth at home to Old Redcliffians on 30 November 2019 Kodie Drury-Hawkins for Bury St Edmunds at home to Tonbridge Juddians on 14 December 2019 Ben Young for Leicester Lions away to Old Redcliffians on 7 March 2020
^Rugby Statbunker gives an attendance of 505 for the Redruth v Esher game on 7 September 2019, while The Rugby Paper give a figure of 535. The Rugby Paper figure is correct as it is backed up by Redruth RFC official match report.[16]
^Rugby Statbunker gives an attendance of just 426 for Dings Crusaders v Clifton on 14 September 2019, while The Rugby Paper give a figure of 1,076. The Rugby Paper figure is correct as it is backed up by Dings Crusaders official match report.[18]
^Rugby Statbunker gives an attendance of 320 for Dings Crusaders v Barnes on 28 September 2019, while The Rugby Paper give a figure of 438. As Rugby Statbunker has tended to underestimate the Dings attendances, The Rugby Paper figure is used instead.
^The Sutton & Epsom v Bournemouth game was abandoned after 60 minutes with the score at 20 - 15 to Sutton & Epsom due to local power cut causing failure to floodlights. Game to be replayed.[31][32]
^Sutton & Epsom's attendance of 210 against Bournemouth on 30 November 2019 will not be counted towards their final attendance due to the game being abandoned and later rescheduled. The rescheduled game's figure on 22 February 2020 will be used instead.
^Due to flooding Tonbridge Juddians home game against Sutton & Espom on 21 September 2019 was held at Juddians 3G training ground at The Judd School.[1]
^Due to flooding of Barn Elms, Barnes game against Taunton Titans on 29 February 2020 was instead held at The Rock, the home ground of Rosslyn Park, with kickoff moved from 14:30 to 15:30.
^Due to unplayable pitch at The Slade, Tonbridge Juddians home game against Clifton on 7 March 2020 was held at Juddians 3G training ground at The Judd School.[49]
^Tonbridge Juddians home game against Sutton & Epsom on 21 December 2019 was a closed game due to flooding making it unsafe for spectators.[1]
^The Rugby Paper gives an attendance of just 212 for Taunton Titans v Redruth on 14 September 2019, while Rugby Statbunker gives 500. From speaking to Taunton officials it seems the Rugby Statbunker figure is closer, with 480 being the actual attendance.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 574. 15 September 2019. pp. 36–37 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 575. 22 September 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 576. 29 September 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 577. 5 October 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 578. 13 October 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 579. 20 October 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 580. 27 October 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 581. 3 November 2019. pp. 40–41 & 43.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 582. 10 November 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 583. 17 November 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"National League 2 South". The RugbyPaper. No. 584. 24 November 2019. pp. 34–35 & 39.
^"Power cuts short relegation battle". The RugbyPaper. No. 585. 1 December 2019. p. 35.
England
