Rugby / Statbunker News

Rugby Lions

 

·         Finished in eighth place in their first season in National Three South having transferred from National Three North and it was a one place improvement on last season

·         Rugby were the draw specialists with four of their 26 matches ending all square

·         One of those draws was at home to Champions London Scottish, the only match they failed to win all season

·         In matches against the top four sides the Lions did well with two wins and two draws to go with four defeats

·         James Hawken finished as leading scorer despite missing the start of the season and started just 16 matches and racked up 169 points as he topped the scoring charts for a third consecutive season the Webb Ellis Road

·         Hawken passed 100 league appearances during the season and has scored 752 points for the Lions in 101 starts over four seasons

·         No player started all 26 matches but centre Phil Read started all but one which was one more than prop James Hadfield and second row Karl Brabant, Hadfield took part in all 26 matches as he came on as a replacement in the other two games 

·         Winger Ade hales was top try scorer for the club for the third consecutive season as he again hit double figures but his total of 10 was his lowest in those three seasons but did come from just 16 starts, altogether he has scored 56 tries for the Lions in just 69 starts plus seven as a replacement 

 

 

Henley Hawks

 

·         Henley Hawks finished ninth in their first season in this division in over a decade after relegation last season form National Two; they last played in this division in the 1997/98 season when they went up as runners up to Camberley 

·         They managed to draw three matches which was one behind Rugby Lions and the most they have ever drawn in a season 

·         Centre Danny Wells top scored with 94 points for the second successive season which was an improvement on his 70 points last season

·         In the try scoring centre Neil Baggett and No 8 Matt Payne led the way with eight tries each

·         No player started all 26 matches the best return was 24 by four players, the back row trio of Stern Williams, Matt Payne and Dave Clements along with hooker Simon Tattersall   

·         In eight matches against the top four sides they managed just one win, they beat Richmond at home back in October and after that lost seven in a row although all three home defeats were by less than 10 points 

·         The Hawks picked up the most sin bins in the division, 26, three more than Lydney and had a player sent off, the most Sin Bins went to flanker Stern Williams with five 

·         Although down in ninth place they had the fourth best defensive record in terms of tries conceded just 62, only the top three in the league table conceded fewer 

 

   

Bridgwater & Albion

 

·         In their fourth season in National Three South they have their worst ever finish 10^th, two places worse than last season having finished in the top half of the table in their first two season in the division   

·         They managed just four try bonus points only Chinnor with three got fewer 

·         They also only managed two losing bonus points which was the lowest of any of the bottom 10 sides in the division 

·         Fly half Luke Cozens top scored with 165 points which was the best return by an Albion player since Jarvis Manupenu scored the same amount of point back in 2005/06 and he scored his points in just 18 starts 

·         The top try scorer with eight was back row forward Dave Kimberley, who started just 11 matches although he came on in 12 more, which was the lowest ever return by an Albion player in National League rugby

·         Kimberley scored four tries as a starter and four as a replacement 

·         Albion had two ever presents, Flanker Dan Kemmish and centre Tito Elisara and Elisara played every minute of every game whilst Kemmish was replaced just once 

·         In matches against the top four they lost seven out of eight with the one exception a 39-15 home win over Richmond back in October 

·         In matches against the bottom four they won five and lost three, they won all their home matches and were winners away at Worthing 

·         The Albion back five in the pack nearly contributed half the clubs tries last season, 30 out of 61 

 

Lydney

 

·         Lydney are the second longest serving side in the division after Dings Crusaders as they complete a fifth season with easily their lowest ever finish, 11^th, prior to this it was seventh last season 

·         They were second when it came to losing bonus points taking seven in their 17 defeats, only Barking with eight took more and it was two more than any other side in the division   

·         In matches against the other bottom four sides they did really well with four wins and a draw and their only defeat came at Worthing late in the season

·         In matches against the top four they lost seven out of eight with their only win coming in their last match when they were 17-7 winners over Ealing having lost all before that  

·         Lydney had three ever present who started all 26 matches for the club, fly half Mark Davies, hooker Ben Lewis and second row Paul Kiely, and had another eight players who started 20 or more matches 

·         Fly half Davies was the top point’s scorer with 223 points, the first Lydney layer to top 200 league points in a season since Adam Westall back in 2004/05

·         He nearly scored half of the clubs 458 points

·         Centre Chris Holder was the leading try scorer with eight tries one more than utility back Craig Jones

·         Lydney with 24 were second when it came to players sin binned after Henley Hawks, leading the way with five was second row Paul Kiely one more than hooker Ben Lewis 

·         Only once recorded back to back wins all season in late March early April as they finished the season with three wins in their last five matches

 

 

Worthing

 

·         Worthing in their first ever season of National League rugby survived for another season after finishing 12^th four points clear of relegated Chinnor

·         In matches against the other three bottom four sides they did really well with five wins and just one defeat but in matches against the top four they lost all eight taking just two losing bonus points 

·         Winger Ben Coulson was again the clubs leading scorer, and has been now for the last four seasons, with 181 points his best return since he scored 252 back in the 2004/05 season 

·         In his 21 appearances he was also the clubs leading try scorer with eight two more than anyone else 

·         Coulson also started the most matches, 21, one more than flanker Jody Levett

·         Worthing only picked up 11 sin binning during the season which was the joint lowest in the division along with Richmond 

 

Chinnor

 

·         Chinnor again fail to make a second season in National Three South as they are again relegated after winning South West One for the second time in three seasons

·         Chinnor missed out by four points although they did finish 21 points ahead of bottom of the table Havant

·         They only managed three try bonus points which was the lowest of any side in the division 

·         In matches against the other bottom four sides they were beaten four times and managed one win and one draw and in just one of the four defeats did they take a losing bonus point  

·         Centre Darren Oxley and lock Matt Hutchings were the clubs only ever present starting all 26 matches and Hutchings finished all but one of them as well 

·         Top scorer with 99 points was fly half James Cathcart who missed the early part of the season and only started 14 matches 

·         In his two previous seasons for Chinnor he has topped the 200 point mark and in total scored 680 points in 69 starts, an impressive average in any league and overall playing or four clubs has passed 1000 league points 

·         In the try scoring stakes three players tied on six tries wing Richard Williams, centre Trevor Powell and another wing James Serrano who only started 11 matches 

·         Chinnor were the only side to concede more tries at home than on the road 48 to 42

 

Havant

 

·         Havant after a five season stay in the division are relegated back to London One finishing some 21 points behind Chinnor and 25 points from safety, just three seasons ago they were third in the league table

·         They were the lowest scorers and had the worst defensive record in the division 

·         In matches against the other bottom four sides they managed just the one win to go with five defeats when winning 24-13 away at Chinnor, although in the five defeats they managed just one losing bonus points 

·         Havant did not have any ever presents but prop Tom Wells led the way with 24 starts, one more than hooker/flanker Stephen Cruddas

·         Centre Greg Sullivan was the leading try scorer with eight in 18 starts 

In the points scoring winger Keith Molyneux led the way just with 41 points, one more than Sullivan, as they struggled to find a top line goal kicker