2002–03 National Division Three South

2002-03 National Division Three South
Countries	England
Champions	Rosslyn Park
Runners-up	Lydney (also promoted)
Relegated	Camberley, Havant
Attendance	N/A[a 1]
Top point scorer	Adam Westall Lydney 373 points
Top try scorer	Andy Thorpe North Walsham 21 tries
← 2001-02 2003-04 →

The 2002-03 National Division Three South was the fourth season (sixteenth overall) of the fourth division (south) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three South. New teams to the division included Rosslyn Park who were relegated from the 2001–02 National Division Two while Havant (champions) and Basingstoke (playoffs) were promoted from London Division 1 along with champions of South West Division 1 – Weston-super-Mare.^[1][2][3] The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw with the league champions going straight up into National Division Two and the runners up playing a playoff against the runners up from National Division Three North for the final promotion place.

By the end of the season, Rosslyn Park made an instant return to National Division Two by winning the league championship, beating runners up Lydney to the title by virtue of just two points.^[4] Lydney would join Rosslyn Park in the 2003–04 National Division Two by winning their playoff game against the 2002–03 National Division Three North runners up New Brighton.^[5] At the other end of the table, Camberley were comfortable the worst team in the division with 26 defeats out of the 26 games played and over 1,000 points conceded. Newly promoted Havant made a much better fight out of it in what was a very close relegation scrap, winning their last 3 games but eventually going down with only 2 points separating them from 9th placed Tabard. Camberley would drop down to London Division 1 while Havant went back into South West Division 1.^[6][7]

Participating teams and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Barking	Goresbrook	1,000	Becontree, Dagenham, London
Basingstoke	Down Grange		Basingstoke, Hampshire
Blackheath	Rectory Field	6,000	Blackheath, London
Camberley	Watchetts Recreation Ground		Camberley, Surrey
Havant	Hook's Lane	1,500	Havant, Hampshire
Lydney	Regentsholme	1,500	Lydney, Gloucestershire
North Walsham	Norwich Road	1,200	Scottow, North Walsham, Norfolk
Old Colfeians	Horn Park		Lee, London
Old Patesians	Everest Road		Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Redruth	The Recreation Ground	12,000	Redruth, Cornwall
Rosslyn Park	Priory Lane	2,000	Roehampton, London
Tabard	Cobden Hill		Radlett, Hertfordshire
Westcombe Park	Goddington Dene	3,200	Orpington, London
Weston-super-Mare	Recreation Ground	2,000	Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

Final league table

2002-03 National Division Three South Table
Position	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points Diff	Points
1	Rosslyn Park (C)	26	24	0	2	1055	395	660	48
2	Lydney (P)	26	23	0	3	695	422	273	46
3	Blackheath	26	17	1	8	616	479	137	35
4	North Walsham	26	16	0	10	636	479	157	32
5	Old Patesians	26	14	0	12	644	544	100	28
6	Weston-super-Mare	26	13	0	13	476	512	-36	26
7	Redruth	26	12	1	13	583	588	-5	25
8	Barking	26	11	2	13	473	578	-105	24
9	Old Colfeians	26	10	1	15	501	677	-176	21
10	Tabard	26	10	0	16	531	571	-40	20
11	Westcombe Park	26	10	0	16	531	571	-40	20
12	Basingstoke	26	10	0	16	603	729	-126	20
13	Havant (R)	26	9	1	16	672	567	105	19
14	Camberley (R)	26	0	0	26	270	1116	-846	0
Reference englandrugby.com: Updated 26-04-2003

Results

Round 1

^[8]

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Round 2

^[9]

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Round 3

^[10]

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Round 4

^[11]

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Round 5

^[12]

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Round 6

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 28 December 2002.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 28 December 2002.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 28 December 2002.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 28 December 2002.

^[13]

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Round 7

^[14]

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Round 8

^[15]

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Round 9

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 15 February 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 15 February 2003.

^[16]

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Round 10

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2003.

^[17]

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Round 11

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 March 2003.

^[18]

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Round 12

^[19]

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Round 13

^[20]

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Round 14

^[21]

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Round 15

^[22]

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Round 6 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 19 October 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 19 October 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 19 October 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 19 October 2002.

^[23]

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Round 16

• Postponed. Game rescheduled for 8 March 2003.

^[24]

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Round 17

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 15 February 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 March 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 15 February 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2003.

^[25]

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Round 18

^[26]

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Round 19

^[27]

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Round 20

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 8 March 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 5 April 2003.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 March 2003.

^[28]

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Round 21

^[29]

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Rounds 9 & 17 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 11 January 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 9 November 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 9 November 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 11 January 2003.

^[30]

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Round 22

^[31]

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Round 23

^[32]

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Rounds 11, 16, 17 & 20 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 1 February 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 11 January 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 4 January 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 23 November 2002.

^[33]

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Round 24

^[34]

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Rounds 10, 17 & 20 (rescheduled games)

• Game rescheduled from 16 November 2002.

• Game rescheduled from 11 January 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 1 February 2003.

• Game rescheduled from 11 January 2003.

^[35]

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Round 25

^[36]

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Round 20 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 1 February 2003.

^[37]

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Round 26

^[38]

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Promotion play-off

The league runners up of National Division Three South and North would meet in a playoff game for promotion to National Division Two. Lydney were runners-up in the south and because they had a better league record than north runners-up, New Brighton, they hosted the play-off match.

^[5]

Total season attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Barking	3	750	250	300	200	25%
Basingstoke	3	700	233	250	200	N/A
Blackheath	1	300	300	300	300	5%
Camberley	2	450	225	250	200	N/A
Havant	2	600	300	300	300	20%
Lydney	0	0	0	0	0	0%
North Walsham	3	1,150	383	500	300	32%
Old Colfeians	2	500	250	300	200	N/A
Old Patesians	2	700	350	400	300	N/A
Redruth	5	2,850	570	650	500	5%
Rosslyn Park	2	800	400	400	400	20%
Tabard	3	630	210	250	180	N/A
Westcombe Park	5	1,550	310	400	250	10%
Weston-super-Mare	3	700	233	250	200	12%

Individual statistics

• Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Season records

See also

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

External links

• NCA Rugby