Regional 2 North Explained

Regional 2 North
Current Season:	2024–25 Regional 2 North
Sport:	Rugby union
Founded:	2022
Teams:	12
Champion:	Percy Park
Season:	2023–24
Website:	Northern Division

Regional 2 North is a level six league in the English rugby union system, with the twelve teams drawn from across North East England and Cumbria. The other level six leagues in the Northern Division are Regional 2 North East for teams in Yorkshire, Regional 2 North West for teams in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. It was created as a product of the 2022 Adult Competition Review.^[1] The current champions are Percy Park.

Structure

The league consists of twelve teams who play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 22 matches each. The champions are promoted to Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West and the bottom sides are relegated to Counties 1 Cumbria or Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland depending on the location of the teams.

The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows:

• 4 points are awarded for a win
• 2 points are awarded for a draw
• 0 points are awarded for a loss, however
• 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
• 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match.

2024–25

Participating teams and locations

Departing were Percy Park,^[2] promoted to Regional 1 North East whilst Cockermouth^[3] were relegated to Counties 1 Cumbria and Stockton relegated to Counties 1 Durham/Northumberland. Replacing them were Carlisle promoted from Counties 1 Cumbria,^[4] Guisborough promoted from Counties 1 Durham/Northumberland^[5] and Kirkby Lonsdale joining on a level transfer from Regional 2 North West.^[6]

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Bower Park			5th
	Rugby Ground, Warwick Road	1,500 (250 seats)		Promoted from Counties 1 Cumbria
Consett	Amethyst Park			8th
	Hollow Drift	1,500 (500 seats)		4th
Guisborough	Belmangate			Promoted from Counties 1 D&N
Keswick	Davidson Park			10th
	Underley Park			Level transfer from Regional 2 North West (11th)
		5,000 (159 seats)		3rd
	Grange House Field	1,000		7th
		1,000		2nd
Upper Eden	Pennine Park			9th
	Brinkburn	1,000 (76 seats)		6th

2023–24

Participating teams and locations

Departing were Penrith,^[7] promoted to Regional 1 North West, whilst Carlisle were relegated to Counties 1 Cumbria and South Shields Westoe relegated to Counties 1 Durham/Northumberland. Replacing them were Cockermouth^[8] and Upper Eden,^[9] promoted from Counties 1 Cumbria, and West Hartlepool^[10] promoted from Counties 1 Durham/Northumberland

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Bower Park			7th
Cockermouth	Grassmoor Sports Centre			Promoted from Counties 1 Cumbria
Consett	Amethyst Park			8th
	Hollow Drift	1,500 (500 seats)		6th
Keswick	Davidson Park			9th
		5,000 (159 seats)		5th
	Grange House Field	1,000		2nd
		1,000		3rd
	Preston Avenue			4th
	The Grangefield Ground			10th
Upper Eden	Pennine Park			Promoted from Counties 1 Cumbria
	Brinkburn	1,000 (76 seats)		Promoted from Counties 1 D&N

League table

<															-- --> width=20% style="border:0px" Regional 2 North 2023–24
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Points deducted
1		22	19	0	3	775	340	435	20	2	99	0
2		22	19	0	3	660	337	323	15	1	92	0
3		22	15	1	6	637	405	232	16	4	82	0
4		22	13	0	9	559	406	153	9	7	68	0
5		22	11	0	11	461	541	−80	4	4	52	0
6		22	8	1	13	436	544	−108	10	5	50	0
7		22	10	0	12	502	552	−50	6	3	49	0
8	Consett	22	10	0	12	545	596	−51	7	2	49	0
9	Upper Eden	22	9	1	12	423	439	−16	5	5	48	0
10	Keswick	22	8	0	14	397	520	−123	4	6	42	0
11	Stockton (R)	22	8	0	14	397	576	−179	7	1	40	0
12	Cockermouth (R)	22	0	1	21	169	705	−536	1	2	−5	−10
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
	Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 3 November 2024 Source:^[11]

2022–23

Participating teams and locations

This was the first season following the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Adult Competition Review. The league had some similarities with North 1 East as three clubs returned, but was smaller (14 teams reduced to 12) and the vast majority of Yorkshire RFU clubs were allocated to Regional 2 North East. The league was supplemented by the top five sides from Durham/Northumberland 1 together with three from North 1 West and one each from North 2 West and Yorkshire 1.

Team	Ground	Capacity	City/Area	Previous season
	Bower Park			5th DN1
	Rugby Ground, Warwick Road	1,500 (250 seats)		14th North 1 West
Consett	Amethyst Park			13th North 1 East
	Hollow Drift	1,500 (500 seats)		12th North 1 East
Keswick	Davidson Park			3rd North 2 West
		5,000 (159 seats)		1st Yorkshire 1^[12]
	Grange House Field	1,000		6th North 1 East
Northern^[13]		1,000		2nd DN1
	Winters Park			6th North 1 West
	Preston Avenue			1st DN1
	Wood Terrace			3rd DN1
	The Grangefield Ground			4th DN1

League table

<															-- --> width=20% style="border:0px" Regional 2 North 2022–23
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Loss bonus	Points	Points deducted
1		21	19	0	2	1014	274	740	18	1	95	0
2		22	18	0	4	842	285	557	16	2	90	0
3		22	17	0	5	646	302	344	12	4	85	0
4		22	15	0	7	743	463	280	14	3	77	0
5		22	13	0	9	668	452	216	12	5	69	0
6		21	14	0	7	585	370	215	10	2	68	0
7		22	8	1	13	518	576	−58	7	2	43	0
8	Consett	22	7	1	14	431	747	−316	6	2	38	0
9	Keswick	22	6	1	15	366	685	−319	3	4	33	0
10		22	6	0	16	368	849	−481	4	2	30	0
11	South Shields Westoe (R)	22	5	2	15	282	846	−564	3	1	28	0
12	Carlisle (R)	22	0	1	21	319	933	−614	6	4	7	−5
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Number of draws Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
	Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places. Updated: 30 October 2024 Source:^[14]

Regional 2 North (2022–)

League restructuring by the RFU created twelve leagues at level six. The champions are promoted to Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West and the bottom sides are relegated to Counties 1 Cumbria or Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland.

Regional 2 North
Season	No of teams	No of matches	Champions	Runners-up	Relegated team(s)	Ref
2022–23	12	22
2023–24	12	22			Stockton and Cockermouth
Green background is the promotion place.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Future competition structure 2022/23 in the adult male game . RFU . 2020-12-18 . 2024-08-20.
2. Web site: Champions!. Percy Park RFC. 2024-03-25.
3. Web site: Worrying trends spark fears over future of Cumbrian rugby union. Cumbria Crack. 2024-04-11.
4. Web site: Promotion/Relegation between Counties One and Regional Two - End of 2023-24 season. RFU London. 2024-09-02.
5. Web site: Champions! Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland. Guisborough RFC. 2024-04-07.
6. Web site: First XV Fixtures for 2024-25. Kirby Lonsdale RFC. 2024-08-01.
7. Web site: Penrith Claim Title In Style. Penrith RFC. 2023-03-05.
8. Web site: Newly promoted Regional 2 North teams go head-to-head. Cumbria Crack. 2023-11-09.
9. Web site: Rugby: Upper Eden have won promotion. Westmoreland Gazette. 2023-04-30.
10. Web site: Next Season's Opposition. West Hartlepool RFC. 2023-05-12.
11. Web site: Regional 2 North . England Rugby . 3 November 2024.
12. Web site: 3 senior sides win at home on 23rd April 2022. Middlesbrough RFC. 2022-04-24.
13. Web site: Level 6 rugby returns to McCracken Park for the new 2022-23 season. Northern RFC. 2022-05-24.
14. Web site: Regional 2 North . England Rugby . 30 October 2024.