Wikipedia

Nick Royle

Nick Royle (born 1983) is a former England Rugby Sevens International rugby union player. He plays as a winger. He is currently playing 15-aside rugby for Caldy in the RFU Championship. As of 2018 he is the most prolific try scorer in National League 2 North with over 190 tries.[1][2] Royle has also had success with Lancashire in the Bill Beaumont Cup - winning the competition 3 times. As well as playing international sevens, he was selected by the England Counties XV.

Nick Royle
Date of birth (1983-09-25) 25 September 1983 (age 41)
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight83 kg (13 st 1 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002-03 Manchester 19 (30)
2003-04 Liverpool SH 8 (20)
2005-12 Fylde 123 (635)
2005-12 Sale Sharks 2 (0)
2012-14 Vale of Lune 50 (280)
2014- Caldy 140 (570)
Correct as of 12 May 2018
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007, 2009 England Counties XV 6 (25)
2009-12 England Sevens 11 (145)
Correct as of 12 May 2018
Rugby league career
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–04 Widnes Vikings
2004–05 Warrington
Total 0 0 0 0 0

Career

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In 2002 Royle was playing rugby union for Manchester, then in the second tier of English rugby. He made a number of league and cup appearances for the club, mostly as a substitute, and scored several tries. The next season, he dropped several divisions to National League 2 North (then known as National 3 North) to spend a year playing for Liverpool St Helens, who unfortunately ended up being relegated from the league. During the summer of 2004 he switched to rugby league, playing for Super League sides Widnes Vikings and rivals Warrington Wolves.[citation needed]

Despite making a number of appearances in the Super League, Royle returned to rugby union for the 2005-06 season and was signed by Premiership side Sale Sharks, who loaned him out to local Lancashire side, Fylde, who were playing in the fourth division. He scored 16 tries for a Fylde side that finished mid table. The following year, Royle's performances continued to improve with Fylde as he finished as the league's top try scorer with 31 tries and his club side finished in 5th place.[3] He also equaled the division's record of seven tries in one game during the 106-0 thrashing of relegated Orrell on 31 March 2007.[4] The 2007-08 season with Fylde was less prolific for Royle, although he still managed 20 tries in league and cup competitions and Fylde just missed out on a playoff spot when they finished 3rd. In September 2007 Royle's form saw him picked by the England Counties XV for the FIRA/AER Rugby Festival held in south-west France. He played in all 3 games at the festival scoring 3 tries.[5][6][7]

The next couple of seasons would see Royle continue his prolific try scoring with Fylde, during which he was called up for the England Sevens team in 2009, England Counties and the Barbarians.[8][9][10]

Royle was also involved with the Lancashire country side that won the Bill Beaumont Cup in the summer of 2009 - scoring a try in the 32 - 18 win against Gloucestershire at the final at Twickenham.[11][12][13][14] A second county championship win with Lancashire would be repeated in the 2010 Bill Beaumont Cup, as Royle played in the 37-27 victory over Cheshire.[15] He would also be picked by England Counties XV for their 2009 tour of South Korea and Japan - playing all 3 games and scoring 2 tries.[16][17][18]

The 2011-12 season would see Royle be called up once more by the England Sevens team, finishing best try scorer of the Sevens Grand Prix Series with 35 tries.[19]

In 2012 Royle decided to leave Fylde on what was initially thought to be a temporary (but financially lucrative) deal to play for the Vale of Lune, a local side which played three divisions below Fylde.[20][21] While at the Vale of Lune, Royle broke the club's season try scoring record of 36 set by former player Mark Nelson (got who was also Royle's coach at Fylde) with 38 league tries during the 2013-14 season.[22][23] While at Vale of Lune, Royle was also called up to the Lancashire county rugby side, with whom he helped win the 2013 Bill Beaumont Cup (his third successive cup victory for his county), scoring 2 tries as Lancashire defeated Cornwall at the final held at Twickenham, and finishing the tournaments top try scorer with 5.[24]

Royle returned to national rugby with Caldy for the 2014-15 season, playing in National League 2 North (tier 4). Royle finished the 2015-16 season as the division's top try scorer with 25 tries, also becoming the divisions all-time top try scorer.[25][26] The 2016-17 season was an extremely successful one for Royle and his club, as he contributed 32 tries to finish once again as the top try scorer in the division for a record breaking 3rd time, and Caldy were promoted to National League 1 as champions - the highest level the club has reached.[27][28] The next season he scored 19 tries in National League 1 as Caldy finished their first season in the new division in a respectable 11th place. Although he had a good second season individually, his tries (20 in all) were not enough to keep Caldy up and they were relegated at the end of 2018-19.[citation needed]

Season-by-season playing stats

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Club

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Season Club Competition Appearances Tries Drop Goals Conversions Penalties Total Points
2002-03 Manchester National Division One 17 4 0 0 0 20
Powergen Cup 2 2 0 0 0 10
2003-04 Liverpool St Helens National Division 3 North 8 4 0 0 0 20
2004 Widnes Vikings Super League 13 9 ? ? ? ?
2005 Warrington Wolves Super League ? ? ? ? ? ?
2005-06 Fylde National Division 3 North 18 16 0 0 0 80
EDF Energy Trophy 1 0 0 0 0 0
2006-07 National Division 3 North 22 31 0 0 0 155
EDF Energy Trophy 1 0 0 0 0 0
2007-08 National Division 3 North 23 14 0 0 0 70
EDF Energy Trophy 2 6 0 0 0 30
2008-09 National Division 3 North 17 24 0 0 0 120
Sale Sharks EDF Cup 2 0 0 0 0 0
2009-10 Fylde National League 2 North 16 11 0 0 0 55
2010-11 National League 2 North 18 24 0 0 0 120
2011-12 National League 1 4 1 0 0 0 5
2012-13 National League 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
2012-13[a 1] Vale of Lune North Division 1 West 21 18 0 0 0 90
2013-14 North Division 1 West 29 38 0 0 0 190
2014-15 Caldy National League 2 North 30 12 0 0 0 90
2015-16 National League 2 North 30 25 0 0 0 125
2016-17 National League 2 North 30 32 0 0 0 160
2017-18 National League 1 29 19 0 0 0 95
2018-19 National League 1 29 20 0 0 0 100
2019-20 National League 2 North

[30]

County or representative

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Season Side Competition Appearances Tries Drop Goals Conversions Penalties Total Points
2006-07 Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 1[a 2] ? 0 0 0 ?
2007-08 England Counties XV FIRA/AER Rugby Festival, France 3 3 0 0 0 15
Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 1[a 3] 1 0 0 0 5
2008-09 Barbarians[33] Test 1 2 0 0 0 10
Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 4 7 0 0 0 35
England Counties XV Tour of Korea and Japan 3 2 0 0 0 10
2009-10 Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 2[a 4] 0 0 0 0 0
2011-12 Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0
2012-13 Lancashire Bill Beaumont Cup 4 5 0 0 0 25
2014-15 Cheshire Bill Beaumont Cup 3 1 0 0 0 5

Honours and records

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National League 2 North

  • Tier 4 (North) all-time top try scorer (161 tries)[26]
  • Tier 4 (North) most tries in a match: 7 (tied)

Fylde

Vale of Lune

Caldy

Lancashire

International/Representative

Notes

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  1. ^ *For the 2012-13 season Royle's appearance and try statistics may also include cup games (Staffordshire Trophy) as well as league.[29]
  2. ^ Played at least 1 game (final) in 2007 Bill Beaumont Cup. Likely to have played in the other 3 games but this is not certain as little information online.[31]
  3. ^ Played at least 1 game in 2008 Bill Beaumont Cup scoring a try.[32] Likely to have played in the other 2 group games but this is not clear due to poor press coverage of competition that year.
  4. ^ Played at least 2 games during 2010 Bill Beaumont Cup. May have played the 2 other games but not clear from press sources. What is clear is that he did not get any tries during the tournament.[34][35][36]

References

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  1. ^ "Former England Sevens star Nick Royle makes history". The Rugby Paper. 27 February 2016.
  2. ^ "National Two North All time try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 29 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b "National Three North 06/07 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  4. ^ "National 3 North 06/07 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 28 April 2007.
  5. ^ "England Counties in 12 try French romp". Rolling Maul. 7 September 2007.
  6. ^ "English Counties XV". Rolling Maul. 11 September 2007.
  7. ^ "Royle's try secures draw against French Amateurs". Rolling Maul. 14 September 2007.
  8. ^ "England 7s Squad for Dubai & George 2009 Plus Schedules". Rugby Network. 23 November 2009.
  9. ^ a b "England Counties - Will they be BIG in Japan?". Rugby Network. 2 June 2009.
  10. ^ a b "Baa Baas bringing internationals to Blues". Bedfordshire News. 1 April 2009.
  11. ^ a b "Heartache for county at Twickenham". This is Gloucestershire. 1 June 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Warwickshire 28 Lancashire 66". Coventry Telegraph. 11 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Nutt cracker so sweet for Lancs". Blackpool Gazette. 18 May 2009.
  14. ^ "Lancashire book place at Twickenham". Lancashire Telegraph. 27 May 2009.
  15. ^ a b "Updated report on Lancs' victory over Cheshire: now with pics". Fylde Rugby. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Record win for England RU Counties XV". Rugby Network. 5 June 2009.
  17. ^ "East Japan 31 England Counties 67". Everything Rugby. 8 June 2009.
  18. ^ "England Counties complete clean sweep". Everything Rugby. 13 June 2009.
  19. ^ "England Sevens name new squad". Rugby World. 30 August 2011.
  20. ^ "Nick joins Vale of Lune". Fylde Rugby. 24 October 2012.
  21. ^ "Royle leaves Fylde... for now". Blackpool Gazette. 25 October 2012.
  22. ^ "LASSOED AT LEIGH". Vale of Lune RUFC (Pitchero). 8 March 2014.
  23. ^ a b c "A SEASON OF LIGHT AND SHADE". Vale of Lune RUFC (Pitchero). 12 April 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Thomas' reign ends in disappointment as Cornwall are beaten". Western Morning News. 27 May 2013.
  25. ^ a b "National Two North 15/16 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 7 May 2016.
  26. ^ a b "National Two North All time try scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 7 May 2016.
  27. ^ "National League North". The RUGBYPaper. No. 450. Rugby Paper Ltd. 30 April 2017. pp. 30–31 & 37.
  28. ^ "Caldy land title after stunning fightback". The RUGBYPaper. No. 447. Rugby Paper Ltd. 9 April 2017. p. 32.
  29. ^ "In addition to his exploits on the field, 25 league tries so far this season..." Vale of Lune RUFC (Pitchero). 12 December 2013.
  30. ^ "Nicholas Royle Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  31. ^ "Devon win county trophy". Northampton Chronicle & Echo. 29 May 2007.
  32. ^ "Lancashire 35 Warwickshire 25". Coventry Telegraph. 5 May 2008.
  33. ^ "19 tries as Barbarians triumph in Mobbs match". BBC Devon. 29 May 2008.
  34. ^ "Updated report on Lancs' victory over Cheshire: now with pics". Fylde Rugby. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  35. ^ "Lancs progress with help of Fylde players". Fylde Rugby. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  36. ^ "Lancashire qualify for another Twickenham Final". Fylde Rugby. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  37. ^ "TringRugby Helps Hertfordshire to Cup Win!". Tring Rugby (Pitchero). Retrieved 5 January 2017.
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