2007–08 National Division One

2007–08 National Division One
Countries	England
Champions	Northampton Saints
Runners-up	Exeter Chiefs
Relegated	Pertemp Bees and Launceston
Attendance	544,725 (average 2,279 per match)
Highest attendance	13,498 Northampton Saints at home to Exeter Chiefs on 22 March 2008
Lowest attendance	350 Pertemps Bees (twice) at home to Plymouth Albion on 15 September 2007 & Esher on 10 November 2007
Top point scorer	Ireland Gareth Steenson (Cornish Pirates) 287 points
Top try scorer	England Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints) 39 tries
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 National Division One was the 21st full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams included Northampton Saints (relegated from the Guinness Premiership 2006–07) and Esher and Launceston (both promoted from National Division Two 2006–07).^[1]^[2]^[3] After two seasons Rotherham dropped the 'Earth' from their name to return to 'Rotherham Titans' (which they had been rebranded to in 2005 for the 2005–06 season) as sponsor Earth Mortgages ran into financial difficulties and Complete Technical Services instead became the club's new sponsor.^[4]

Following their relegation from the previous season, Northampton Saints won the National Division One title at the first attempt and returned to the Guinness Premiership for season 2008–09 with Chris Ashton setting what was then the English league try record of 39 tries in a season (although Phil Chesters broke this record with 70 tries in a season in tier 4, Ashton's still stands as the highest ever in tier 2).^[5]^[6] Exeter Chiefs finished in second place, and Pertemp Bees and Launceston were relegated to the 2008–09 National Division Two.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Participating teams

[edit ]

2007–08 National Division One is located in England

Bedford

Cornish Pirates

Coventry

Doncaster

Esher

Exeter

Launceston

London Welsh

Moseley

Newbury

Northampton

Nottingham

Pertemps Bees

Plymouth

Rotherham

Sedgley Park

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Locations of the 2008–09 National Division One teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	6,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Cornish Pirates	Recreation Ground	9,000	Camborne, Cornwall
Coventry	Butts Park Arena	4,000	Coventry, West Midlands
Doncaster Knights	Castle Park	3,075	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Esher	Molesey Road	3,000	Hersham, Surrey
Exeter Chiefs	Sandy Park	6,000	Exeter, Devon
Launceston	Polson Bridge ^{[a 1]}	3,000	Launceston, Cornwall
London Welsh	Old Deer Park	5,850	Richmond, London
Moseley	Billesley Common	3,000+	Birmingham, West Midlands
Newbury	Monk's Lane	8,000	Newbury, Berkshire
Northampton Saints	Franklin's Gardens	13,600	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Nottingham	Meadow Lane	19,588	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Pertemps Bees	Sharmans Cross	2,500	Solihull, West Midlands
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	6,500	Plymouth, Devon
Rotherham Titans	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Sedgley Park	Park Lane	3,000	Whitefield, Greater Manchester

Notes

^ *Launceston would play a 'home game' on 4 March 2008 at Franklin's Gardens in Northampton against Northampton Saints due to there not being suitable floodlights at Polson Bridge.^[10]

Table

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2007–2008 National Division One table
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	B	Pts	Qualification
1	Northampton Saints (C)	30	30	0	0	1321	343	+978	23	143	Promoted
2	Exeter Chiefs	30	24	0	6	899	424	+475	20	116
3	Nottingham	30	23	0	7	818	518	+300	24	116
4	Doncaster	30	21	0	9	796	551	+245	14	98
5	Cornish Pirates	30	20	1	9	800	583	+217	12	91^[a]
6	Bedford Blues	30	18	0	12	705	542	+163	13	85
7	London Welsh	30	15	0	15	542	659	−117	10	70
8	Plymouth Albion	30	12	1	17	530	528	+2	14	64
9	Coventry	30	11	1	18	637	731	−94	17	63
10	Moseley	30	12	1	17	519	744	−225	8	58
11	Rotherham Titans	30	11	0	19	591	856	−265	14	58
12	Esher	30	10	0	20	481	850	−369	9	49
13	Newbury	30	8	1	21	497	794	−297	11	45
14	Sedgley Park	30	7	1	22	506	832	−326	14	44
15	Pertemps Bees	30	7	0	23	474	696	−222	13	41	Relegated
16	Launceston	30	8	0	22	441	906	−465	8	40	Relegated

Source: ^[11]
Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows: four points for a win; two points for a draw; no points for a loss; one bonus point for scoring four tries or more in a match; one bonus point for losing by seven points or less.

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.
(C) Champion
Notes:

^ 3 points deducted

Results

[edit ]

Round 1

[edit ]

1 September 2007

Coventry 13 - 40 Doncaster Knights

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	15	35,128	2,342	5,307	1,590	39%
Cornish Pirates	15	52,294	3,486	6,487	2,275	39%
Coventry	15	20,490	1,366	3,100	873	34%
Doncaster Knights	15	18,939	1,263	3,075	500	41%
Esher	15	13,593	906	2,500	426	30%
Exeter Chiefs	15	60,466	4,031	5,859	2,820	67%
Launceston	15^{[b 1]}	25,307	1,687	8,201	729	55%
London Welsh	15	14,653	977	2,400	420	17%
Moseley	15	13,608	907	1,358	675	30%
Newbury	15	10,756	717	2,345	402	9%
Northampton Saints	15	172,408	11,494	13,498	10,071	85%
Nottingham	15	22,448	1,497	4,751	932	8%
Pertemps Bees	15	9,791	653	1,577	350	26%
Plymouth Albion	15	48,348	3,223	6,381	2,132	50%
Rotherham Titans	15	17,095	1,140	2,807	607	46%
Sedgley Park	15	9,401	627	1,325	467	21%

Participating teams

Table

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 17 (rescheduled game)

Round 24

Round 15 (rescheduled game)

Round 25

Round 16 (rescheduled game)

Round 26

Round 27

Round 28

Round 20 & 22 (rescheduled games)

Round 29

Round 30

Total Season Attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

Player

Attendances

See also

References