From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1997–98 Premiership 2

Rugby union competition in England

Field	Value
name	1997–98 Premiership 2
countries	England
champions	Bedford
runnersup	West Hartlepool
London Scottish (also promoted)
relegated	None
matches	132
top point scorer	289 – Mike Rayer (Bedford)
top try scorer	17 – Darragh O'Mahony (Moseley), Ben Whetstone (Bedford)
prevseason	1996–97
nextseason	1998–99

London Scottish (also promoted)

The Premiership 2 was the eleventh full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams to the division included West Hartlepoool and Orrell who had been relegated from National Division 1 (renamed as Premiership 1) while Exeter and Fylde were promoted from National League 1 (formerly National Division 3). For the first time Premiership 2, along with Premiership 1, was sponsored by the assurance company Allied Dunbar. For the previous ten seasons the league was known as the Courage Clubs Championship and sponsored by Courage Brewery.

Bedford, the champions, were promoted to the Allied Dunbar Premiership for season 1998–99, along with runner-up West Hartlepool. From next season, the top two divisions would consist of fourteen teams, an increase of two per division. The bottom two teams in the top tier played the third and fourth teams in Premiership 2 for the final two places in the top division. Third place London Scottish won promotion by beating Bristol in a two legged play-off, while fourth placed Rotherham lost to London Irish. There was no relegation to Jewson National League 1 because of the increase in teams in the top two divisions.

Participating teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford	Goldington Road	6,500	Bedford, Bedfordshire	4th (lost playoff)
Blackheath	Rectory Field	3,500 (500 seats)	Greenwich, London	10th
Coventry	Coundon Road	10,000 (1,100 seats)	Coventry, West Midlands	3rd (lost playoff)
Exeter	County Ground	5,750 (750 seats)	Exeter, Devon	Promoted from National 3 (1st)
Fylde	Woodlands	7,500 (500 seats)	Lytham St Annes, Lancashire	Promoted from National 3 (2nd)
London Scottish	Athletic Ground	7,300 (1,300 seats)	Richmond, London	5th
Moseley	The Reddings	9,999 (1,800 seats)	Birmingham, West Midlands	8th
Orrell	Edge Hall Road	5,300 (300 seats)	Orrell, Greater Manchester	Relegated from National 1 (12th)
Rotherham	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire	7th
Wakefield	College Grove	4,000 (500 seats)	Wakefield, West Yorkshire	6th
Waterloo	St Anthony's Road	9,950 (950 seats)	Blundellsands, Merseyside	9th
West Hartlepool	Victoria Park	7,856	Hartlepool, County Durham	Relegated from National 1 (11th)

Final table

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: (1) difference between points for and against; (2) total number of points for. There was no relegation this season.

Results

Round 1

Round 2

match postponed and rescheduled to 25 April 1998.
match postponed and rescheduled to 2 May 1998.
match postponed and rescheduled to 18 April 1998.

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

postponed, match rescheduled to 24 January 1998.
postponed, match rescheduled to 24 January 1998.
postponed, match rescheduled to 18 April 1998.
postponed, match rescheduled to 11 April 1998.

Rescheduled match

Round 14

Round 13 (rescheduled matches)

Round 15

Round 16

Rescheduled match

Rescheduled matches

Round 17

postponed, match rescheduled to 4 April 1998.

Round 18

Round 19

Round 17 (rescheduled match)

Round 20 (including postponed match from round 13)

postponed, match rescheduled to 22 April 1998.
match rescheduled from round 13.

Round 21 (including postponed matches from rounds 2 & 13)

match rescheduled from round 2.
match rescheduled from round 13.

Round 20 (rescheduled match)

Round 22

Round 2 (rescheduled match)

Individual statistics

Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Top points scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Appearances	Points
1	WAL Mike Rayer	Bedford	21	289
2	ENG Lyndon Griffiths	Waterloo	22	263
3	ENG Simon Binns	Rotherham	22	244
4	NZ Steven Vile	West Hartlepool	17	238
5	ENG Matt Jones	Moseley	17	176
6	ENG John Fabian	Exeter	22	174
7	ENG Simon Verbickas	Orrell	18	170
8	SCO Derrick Lee	London Scottish	15	154
9	ENG Greg Miller	Wakefield	14	141
10	ENG Jez Harris	Coventry	14	133

Top try scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Appearances	Tries
1	ENG Ben Whetstone	Bedford	19	17
IRE Darragh O'Mahony	Moseley	20	17
2	SCO Conan Sharman	London Scottish	20	14
WAL Jason Forster	Bedford	21	14
3	SAM John Clarke	Blackheath	14	13
ENG Simon Verbickas	Orrell	18	13
4	AUS Greg Austin	Rotherham	17	12
5	IRE Emmet Farrell	West Hartlepool	22	11
6	NZ Steven Vile	West Hartlepool	17	8
ENG Simon Binns	Rotherham	22	8

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 74 pts 77 – 3 Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 ;Largest away win — 60 pts 67 – 7 Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997 ;Most points scored — 151 pts 77 – 3 Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 ;Most tries in a match — 11 Bedford Blues at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 ;Most conversions in a match — 8 (x3) Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997

Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997

West Hartlepool at home to Fylde on 14 February 1998 ;Most penalties in a match — 6 (x9) N/A - multiple teams ;Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x4) Exeter at home to Bedford on 13 September 1997

Moseley at home to Orrell on 25 October 1997

Coventry at home to West Hartlepool on 31 January 1998

Wakefield at home to Rotherham on 28 March 1998

Player

;Most points in a match — 32 WAL Mike Rayer for Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997 ;Most tries in a match — 4 (x3) SAM John Clarke for Blackheath at home to Fylde on 20 September 1997

WAL Jason Forster for Bedford at home to Fylde on 17 January 1998

ENG Ben Wade for Rotherham at home to Exeter on 25 April 1998 ;Most conversions in a match — 8 (x3) WAL Mike Rayer for Bedford at home to Coventry on 8 November 1997

WAL Mike Rayer for Bedford away to Fylde on 27 December 1997

AUS Steven Vile for West Hartlepool at home to Fylde on 14 February 1998 ;Most penalties in a match — 6 (x9) N/A - multiple players ;Most drop goals in a match — 2 (x3) ZAM Meeku Patidar for Exeter at home to Bedford on 13 September 1997

ENG Matt Jones for Moseley at home to Orrell on 25 October 1997

ENG Greg Miller for Wakefield at home to Rotherham on 28 March 1998

Attendances

Note that attendances were very poorly documented this season and there is no information available

;Highest — N/A N/A ;Lowest — N/A N/A ;Highest Average Attendance — N/A N/A ;Lowest Average Attendance — N/A N/A

References

(2000). "The Official RFU Club Directory 2000–2001". [[Queen Anne Press]].
"Leagues 1997/98". Moseley Rugby Club.
(7 April 1997). "Rugby Union: Popplewell's punch sullies thriller". Independent.
(1994). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1994–95". Tony Williamson Publications.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(1990). "Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91". Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Leading point scorers". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Leading try scorers". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most penalties in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most drop goals in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most points in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most conversions in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most penalties in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Most drop goals in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker.
(2 May 1998). "AD Prem 2 97/98 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1997–98-in-english-rugby-union-leagues champ-rugby-seasons

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1997–98 Premiership 2 — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report