2004–05 National Division Two

The 2004–05 National Division Two was the fifth version (eighteenth overall) of the third division of the English rugby union league system using the name National Division Two. New teams to the division included Manchester who were relegated from the 2003–04 National Division One while Waterloo came up as champions of the 2003–04 National Division Three North with Blackheath (champions) and Launceston (playoffs) coming up from the 2003–04 National Division Three South.^[1][2][3][4] Wakefield had also been supposed to join the division having finished 13th in National Division One but sadly due to financial difficulties the club would go into liquidation and cease to exist.^[5] This season would see the league points system being overhauled in the division with four points being awarded for a win, two points for a draw as well as bonus points being introduced (the Premiership had been using them since 2000) with teams being awarded an extra point for scoring four or more tries during a game or if losing, being within seven points of the victor.

Doncaster would finish as league champions, 13 points clear of nearest rivals, Newbury Blues.^[6][7] Both sides would go up to the 2005–06 National Division One. At the other end of the table, apart from Rosslyn Park who were comfortably bottom, it was a very tight relegation battle with Bracknell and Nuneaton eventually going down to join Rosslyn Park despite both sides winning their last games - in the end only 2 points separated 10th placed Esher from 12th placed Nuneaton.^[8] Nuneaton would drop down to the 2005–06 National Division Three North while Bracknell and Rosslyn Park went into the 2005–06 National Division Three South.^[9][10]

Participating teams and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Blackheath, London
Bracknell	Lily Hill Park	1,250 (250 seats)	Bracknell, Berkshire
Doncaster	Castle Park	3,075	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Esher	Molesey Road	3,000	Hersham, Surrey
Harrogate	Claro Road		Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Launceston	Polson Bridge	3,000	Launceston, Cornwall
Manchester	Grove Park	4,000	Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
Moseley	Bournbrook		Birmingham, West Midlands
Newbury Blues	Monk's Lane	8,000	Newbury, Berkshire
Nuneaton	Liberty Way	4,314 (514 seats)	Nuneaton, Warwickshire
Rosslyn Park	The Rock	2,000	Roehampton, London
Stourbridge	Stourton Park	3,500 (499 seats)	Stourbridge, West Midlands
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,000 (200 seats)	Blundellsands, Merseyside
Wharfedale	The Avenue	2,000	Threshfield, Craven, North Yorkshire

Final league table

2004–05 National Division Two table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	B	Pts
1	Doncaster (P)	26	23	1	2	818	379	+439	12	106
2	Newbury Blues (P)	26	20	0	6	635	390	+245	13	93
3	Moseley	26	17	0	9	665	505	+160	13	81
4	Waterloo	26	14	1	11	650	510	+140	14	72
5	Launceston	26	13	2	11	570	609	−39	14	70
6	Manchester	26	12	2	12	694	541	+153	16	68
7	Stourbridge	26	10	2	14	576	695	−119	15	59
8	Wharfedale	26	11	1	14	481	528	−47	12	58
9	Blackheath	26	11	1	14	496	560	−64	11	57
10	Harrogate	26	10	1	15	607	764	−157	12	54
11	Esher	26	10	0	16	665	744	−79	13	53
12	Nuneaton (R)	26	10	2	14	447	660	−213	8	52
13	Bracknell (R)	26	8	1	17	503	666	−163	17	51
14	Rosslyn Park (R)	26	6	0	20	415	671	−256	11	35

Results

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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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

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 12 February 2005.

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Round 11

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Round 12

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Round 13

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Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 10 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 27 November 2004.

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Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 22

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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	8,731	672	1,500	273	11%
Bracknell	12[a 2]	3,004	250	384	100	20%
Doncaster	10[a 3]	8,786	879	2,000	470	29%
Esher	13	5,675	437	600	350	15%
Harrogate	13	5,367	413	778	200
Launceston	13	7,290	561	700	420	19%
Manchester	12[a 4]	3,699	308	457	208	8%
Moseley	12[a 5]	4,241	353	450	195
Newbury Blues	12[a 6]	5,316	443	825	280	6%
Nuneaton	8[a 7]	2,490	311	500	100	7%
Rosslyn Park	13	6,505	500	750	280	25%
Stourbridge	13	6,024	463	700	300	13%
Waterloo	10[a 8]	4,075	408	652	200	5%
Wharfedale	13	6,110	470	800	375	24%

Individual statistics

• 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 Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine