The Rugby Times end of season review
THE foundations for Esher's championship winning season were firmly laid during the previous 12 months. Former Canadian international Mike Schmid had been installed as director of rugby, and although Esher lost the promotion battle with Waterloo and Moseley the Surrey club had built a formidable side under his guidance.
Pre-season they added Richard Briggs and Bevon Armitage to create a free-scoring threequarter line-up that also included the league's top tryscorer in Matt Moore. Moore not only topped the league chart for a second consecutive season but set a new all-time try scoring record for the Surrey side.
Esher had another record-breaker in fullback Neil Hallett who finished the season with 398 points to overhaul Jon Gregory's 351 total set in 1999-2000. It was also just six points short of the divisional all-time record. Hallett, of course, benefited from what was Esher's best-ever league finish but the tone was set not by the free-scoring backs but a formidable pack well led by captain Duncan Cormack.
Prop Cormack was a regular name on the scoresheet in the early weeks of the season, indeed scoring in four consecutive games in September, and the former London Irish man proved an inspirational leader, not just for the champions, but also for England Counties in their victory over the French Amateurs in March.
Schmid augmented Esher's pack with pre-season signings of former Saracens flanker Emmanuel Ampakabo but in reality it was the consistent performers of stalwarts Jeff Smith, Mike Blakebum, Ladislav Vondrasek and Lee Starling that was the backbone of their success.
New signings Ampakabo, Armitage and Briggs all scored as Esher recorded a 35-17 success over Wharfedale on the opening day of the season. That win kick-started an unbeaten 15-match sequence that ended when visitors Manchester made better use of the Molesley Road rain, wind and mud to record a 12-10 win at the start of 2007.
It was New Year nerves that undid Esher's challenge 12 months earlier but this time they simply steeled themselves for the challenges ahead and six more consecutive wins ensured that next season the Molesley Road outfit will play National League One rugby for the first time.
The championship was wrapped up on Easter Saturday at Bradford & Bingley with Esher finishing the season on 115 league points -surpassing the record 112 haul of Moseley the previous season.
All-in-all it was a team effort that gave Esher their finest-ever season and that was recognised with six players ¬Graham Barr, Matt Leek, Tom Doran, Hallett, Armitage and Blakeburn playing under Cormack in English Countries colours.
THE Cornish All Blacks will be another new name to the National One roster next season.
The All Blacks and their cowbell ringing supporters have been a popular member of the National Two community over the past three years and under the tenure of joint coaches Chris Brown and Jon Hill they have made consistent progress.
, "We had a five-year plan and we've done it in three," says Brown after their promotion had been confirmed. Brown paid tribute to the club's playing squad: "It's all about. the players that you have got, we have some huge characters in the dressing room and that's what you need when you are down on your luck"
In the early weeks of the campaign it looked as if the Cornish side were destined to fight head-to-head with Esher for the right to be league champion. But a late defeat at Bradford & Bingley and a setback to form side Stourbridge meant that when the All Blacks came off second best to Esher at the end of October they had already lost three games.
A further defeat to Wharfedale late in 2006 saw an end to the club's title aspirations.
But second place and promotion was achieved one week from the end of the season when the challenge of third place Henley went awry at Esher.
The All Blacks added New Zealand fly-half Sam Young to their ranks at the start of the season, he finished the campaign with 242 league points to play a major role in the All Blacks success.
Wayne Sprangle topped the try scoring chart as he crossed the line 13 times during the season. One of the key features of the campaign was that Brown and joint coach Jon Hill were able to select a consistent side with the performance of prop Wayne Reed and winger Marc Sweeney being recognised with England Counties selection.
Next season will pose new problems, not least the regular supply of derby fixtures against local foes Exeter Chiefs, Plymouth Albion and the Pirates but already Brown and Hill have added to their ranks with the signing of Tony Roques, Neil Clark, Owen Hambly and Mike Provis.
But Brown is looking forward to the new season with confidence, saying: "I feel that this season we have developed a brand of expansive rugby that will keep us in good stead."
AFTER being relegated from National One two seasons ago and then struggling with a third from bottom finish in National Two last term - being saved from relegation thanks to a league restructure - the Henley Hawks can be satisfied with their achievements this season.
However, after a consistent showing throughout the second half of the league campaign, there will be many at Dry Leas who will have been disappointed that the Oxfordshire side were not making a return to National One.
Their failure to make promotion by a margin of just one league point can be pinpointed to the first half of the season when they consistently failed to pick up enough bonus points.
Indeed, they finished the season with one win more than the promoted Cornish All Blacks, but the Cornish side were able to recover the deficit through bonus points.
After going down 26-15 at the All Blacks on the opening week of the season they put together a five-match unbeaten run before again losing to a Cornish side - a 22-19 home defeat to Redruth. A further five-match unbeaten run followed but that sequence produced just one bonus point from a 34-15 home defeat of Halifax.
At the start of the season director of rugby Jon Lambden had added forwards Liam Wordley, Andrew Le Chevalier and Rob Hurrell from Pertemps Bees while Stean Williams arrived from Stourbridge and those recruitments provided a formidable pack around which the team's success was built.
Wordley took over the captaincy duties and proved to be a confident and inspirational leader for the Hawks, and his consistency throughout the campaign - and that of lock James Winterbottom - was rewarded with selection for England Counties.
Once Wordley had instilled his confidence in his team mates - in the sense that promotion was a possibility then his side did find the means to turn those regulation wins into five pointers.
It happened from the turn of the year onwards but it was too little, too late, and that told eventually when they ran-out of steam in what was a 'must win' encounter at Esher. They lost 28-13 and their dream of National One rugby had gone.
The stats tell the tale of Henley's season - just 75 tries scored was the lowest tally by any club in the top eight but they only conceded 36 to finish with the best defensive record in the league for five seasons. And that should give Lambden and his charges the platform for a renewed promotion effort next term.
IN hindsight the 2006-07 campaign was over before it really started for Redruth given the fixture list they found themselves confronted with in the first three weeks of the season.
The Rec outfit were confronted by Stourbridge - one of the form teams of the autumn in their opening fixture before tackling Esher and the Cornish All Blacks who went on to occupy the top two spots in the division.
They could manage just two Mike Hook penalty goals at Stourbridge, as they fell to defeat by an 11 point margin. And Esher and the Cornish All Blacks picked up victories before a 36-7 victory over Harrogate earned Redruth their first league points of the season. It had been a difficult start for Nigel Hambly and his men, and there was worse to follow as he took a weakened team to Blackheath and came away with nothing from a 55-16 defeat.
With just five league points from their first five matches Hambly was under fire, but he retained the confidence of director of rugby David Penberthy and results quickly improved in dramatic fashion.
Not only did the Reds win their next eight games, but in the remainder of the season they suffered just two more defeats - against the two promoted sides - and finished the season as the only side in senior rugby with an unbeaten record in 2007.
Close season signing Hook - the brother of Welsh international James Hook - was an astute one. He finished the season with 271 points to his name, beating the previous best (256) by Rob Thirlby nearly a decade ago.
Thirlby has journeyed through the Premiership with top clubs Bath, Saracens and Gloucester since then and also made a name for himself with the England Sevens squad.
But when the opportunity came for a return to Cornwall, Redruth were quick to react, initially gaining his service on loan from Gloucester before agreeing a two-year deal with the fullback-cum-wing. And with another former player, Lewis Vinnicombe, returning to the Rec from the Cornish Pirates the future looks bright - very bright when you have a player like inspirational No.8 Mark Bright in your squad.
Bright was snapped up from New Zealand rugby and took the league by storm, as he scored 21 tries to finish just two in arrears of the league's best, Matt Moore of Esher.
With his squad firmly in place Hambly will no doubt enjoy the summer months contemplating how far he can extend Redruth's unbeaten run
AFTER finishing in ninth position for the previous two seasons Blackheath made satisfactory progress under the director of Harvey Biljon.
Injury restricted Biljon's own appearances for the Rectory Field outfit but the South African's influence off the pitch helped to guide the south east London club to their best finish this decade.
Biljon made full use of his connections with former club London Wasps to utilise a number of the Academy youngsters from the Premiership club, but the agreement worked both ways with Blackheath players assisting Wasps by playing in the midweek Guinness A League.
Scrum-half Joe Simpson, in particular, will have learned much from playing senior rugby at this level while fullback or fly-half Frankie Neale - on a season loan from Saracens - once again finished as top scorer. Rob Webber and Dominic Waldouk were others to arrive from Wasps, as did the more experienced James Brookes for a brief two-match spell in which in was outstanding against Bradford & Bingley at the Rectory Field.
With Blackheath having progressed this season from being a side finishing in mid-table, to one that was an outside contender for promotion and with aspirations to do better, it will be interesting to see how Biljon balances his squad next season.
However it would be wrong to say that Blackheath's progress was simply down to the influence of on-loan players. Regulars such as captain Tom Basan, James Kellard, Des Brett and Dave Allen all had consistent seasons with Allen's form getting him a place on the replacement bench for England Counties.
After a mixed start to the season, Blackheath found their feet with a six match unbeaten run during the autumn period, including free-scoring home successes over Reduth, Manchester and Halifax. Those victories meant that the 'Club' was on the verge of the promotion race but successive defeats against Stourbridge, Esher and the Cornish All Blacks killed off any aspirations of a move to National One rugby this year. From that point onwards Blackheath only lost on home soil to the All Blacks but away from the Rectory Field, Biljon's team had mixed success with their only away wins in 2007 at Halifax, Harrogate and on the final day of the season at Nuneaton.
Biljon's successful second season in charge was rewarded when he was named as coach for England Counties to replace Ben Ryan.
WHARFEDALE will go into the 2007-08 season as the longest-serving dub in National Two, and there's no doubt that the supporters of their 13 rivals will look forward to a trip to one of the most picturesque grounds in senior rugby.
That may not be the case on the field, though, where visiting teams have found that Wharfeside Avenue remains one of the most difficult places to visit - only Blackheath, Cornish All Blacks and Henley were able to return from the trip to the Yorkshire Dales with a win to their name.
Those defeats came in the first three home games of the season, and when they were followed by defeats at Nuneaton and Redruth, many neutrals were asking if Wharfedale's tenure in the division was about to end?
Even though the Greens had not crossed for a try for three matches the loyal supporters faithfully remained behind a team that languished third bottom in the league table. The reason for the confidence was that centres Chris Malherbe and Mark Bedworth had not been able to play together for a full game.
Once they did, the tries and victories followed, starting with a 46-5 success over Barking in which the centres accounted for three of Wharfedale's seven tries on a rain-swept day.
The team then put together a run of five wins out of their next six games as they steadily moved up the table. Although the centres are a vital part of Wharfedale's success the Yorkshire side continued to flourish through good honest teamwork under the guidance of outgoing coach John Lawn.
Lawn's full-time commitments with the RFU have forced him to step down from the coaching role at Wharfedale, the club keeping the role "in-house" with the return of Peter Hartley to head the coaching team.
Always rely on a safe pair of hands seems to be the motto at Threshfield and that's also been a case on the field where the evergreen forwards Hedley Verity, Dave Lister and Neil Dickinson have continued to impress.
Whether this remains to be the final season for Verity remains to be seen as the club, under Lawn, has introduced and developed a system whereby the senior players mentor the juniors - and there's plenty of talent gradually being introduced with the likes of Andrew Clements, Steve Moon and Tom Homer all getting first-team opportunities.
Ahead of them, wingers Simon Horsfall and James Hutchinson continue to bag tries, James Doherty continues to impress at scrum-half and captain Andrew Baggett is a reliable leader at fly-half.
The message is clear - don't expect much to change for next season.
THE potential that is on offer at Stourbridge shone through this season.
Director of rugby Neil Mitchell made a number of astute summer signings, bringing in the experience of Nick Baxter and Jim Jenner from Pertemps Bees and the West Midlands club were soon suggesting that they could be a force to be reckoned with in National Two.
Wins in each of the first four games - and scoring 18 tries in those games hinted that Stourbridge were going to give the other championship contenders a run for their money.
Defeats in their next three games, especially the home games to Halifax and Nuneaton, brought a serious reality check, and although Mitchell's men put together a four-match unbeaten run in late autumn the season was set to turn sour.
More defeats followed in the pre-Christmas games and turning into the New Year the season became very inconsistent. Injuries played their part, Baxter was missing for much of the campaign and so too fly-half Sam Robinson. Indeed, the talented play-maker lasted only until mid-November - and without his influence that's when Stourbridge's form varied.
The major plus for the club was the form of winger Alistair Bressington who broke his elder brother Nathan's record for tries in a season. Matt Williams was another regular scorer for the club but has opted for National One rugby with Pertemps Bees next term.
Scrum-half Tom Richardson, Bressington and a fully-fit Robinson should be instrumental in guiding Stourbidge into a possible promotion race next term, especially if Mitchell can add some more strength to his squad.
IT was a season of mixed fortunes for Manchester. Once again they finished in mid-table, dropping two places from last season's sixth place finish.
But that doesn't mean that Dave Baldwin's outfit are starting to wane as a team, it is more of a reflection of the injury problems that hit the Grove Park' side in mid-term.
Baldwin doesn't have the benefit of a large squad and his pre-season recruiting was done locally, with goalkicker Scott Rawlings and former Macclesfield pair Jonathan Keep and Ben Coulbeck amongst the new faces.
And when the injuries started to bite Baldwin's men found it hard to find a win.
They had started the season in reasonable form, beating both Bradford & Bingley and Halifax. They put 63 points past Harrogate and defeated Cambridge in convincing fashion. But then came a run of five consecutive defeats, mainly due to the dire injury situation, in which Manchester could only score 45 points. Morale was restored with back to-back wins over Halifax and Stourbridge to go into the Christmas break in good cheer.
As if to say, 'we're far better than our position shows', Manchester then caused panic at the top of the table, beating Esher away and restricting Cornish All Blacks to a share of the points at Grove Park a week later. Patchy form followed, though the club ended the season in fine style with three consecutive wins.
Baldwin joined the English Counties coaching team and will tour Russia in the summer. Before that trip, or on his return, Baldwin will look to replace Isaac Richmond who has left for the sunnier climes of Barcelona.
A Total of 311 points In Cambridge’s last eight games was promotion form, but the fantastic end-of-season rally couldn't mask earlier failures.
The resulting ninth-place finish was probably something of a 'disappointment for the ambitious Grantchester Road club, but in reality National Two is a tough league to adjust to, let alone get out of,
Any pre-season aspirations that National Two would be a cake walk were swiftly dismissed at a wet Claro Road on the opening day of the season. Cambridge dominated for long and missed some chances but at the end of 80 minutes Harrogate finished winners by a two-point margin.
It was a lesson that Cambridge had to take every opportunity, and for much of an injury hit first part of the season they struggled to claim a mid-table place.
Home form was good - they first tasted defeat on their own turf against Stourbridge in November and only the Cornish All Blacks and Redruth followed in taking victories from their visit to Grantchester Road.
But on their travels Cambridge found it hard to find a winning formula, taking until February to pick up maximum points on the road with a win at Barking. That seemed to inspire James Shanahan's team to finish the season in style, winning six of their last eight including a high-scoring encounter against champions Esher and posting a century against relegated Harrogate.
THE tragic Injury suffered by hooker Dan James in a training ground accident overshadowed Nuneaton's season. James suffered a serious spinal Injury in a forwards training session In March and is receiving treatment at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
After gaining promotion from National Three North through the play-offs, the Nuns lost director of rugby Chris Tarbuck. He was replaced by Paul Westgate but it was generally acknowledged that the close-season change disrupted Nuneaton's plans.
However the club had already agreed a loan deal with Leicester Tigers for some Academy players to play at Liberty Way and, in particular, Alex Shaw and Phil Boulton had excellent seasons in Nuns' colours.
Westgate felt that the club needed to win 80% of their home league fixtures and although that figure was not achieved - the Nuns winning eight out of 13 - a further four wins on the road ensured their survival.
Gareth Cull finished as top points scorer - the Welshman just missing out on the record he set the previous year, while the try scoring account was boosted by consistent input from Coventry-bound Lee Parry, former Manchester fullback Jon Lowden and Simon Brocklehurst.
Westgate has already announced that he is returning to teaching, so Nuns are again looking for a new man to lead them in what will be an important season.
With the football club moving in at Liberty Way, the departure of Boulton (to Rotherham) and Parry, and question marks over whether Leicester's Academy players will remain or return to the Tigers, it should prove a busy summer for the club's management.
HALIFAX may well have finished in the same position as they did the previous season. but director of rugby Kevin McCallion and his coaching team tan take heart that for much of the season they were a competitive mid-table outfit.
McCallion found Halifax's season was disrupted by just about everything imaginable - injuries, illness to relatives and a player opting to up sticks and move south.
Much was expected of Australian recruit Jarrad Anderson but he was destined never to wear a Halifax shirt in anger, his replacement Gareth Robson was forced to return home, due to family illness, while Jervis Manupenu opted to move to London in mid-season.
However, a positive was that respected forward Dave Jessiman delayed his own return to his native Australia to help the club out.
The Yorkshire club did get good value from two other signings, prop Kris Fullman and former Waterloo player Craig Aikman, who benefited from being allowed an extended run at scrum-half.
Four wins from the opening five games got Halifax off on the right track and home form was always consistent.
But away from Ovenden Park the Yorkshire side could only manage victories at Stourbridge, Bradford & Bingley, Harrogate and Barking.
McCallion's options were always limited by a lack in depth but good news arrived in mid-season with the signing of former Macclesfield and Sedgley Park back Joe Knowles, plus a welcome return to fitness of back rower Dan Solomi.
Close-season recruitment will be the key to how well Halifax fare next season, and that will be more so following the recent announcement that No.8 Rob Afoa Peterson is likely to head for France to play his rugby next term.
Long-serving trio Carl Mortimore, Joe Bartlett and Richard Hill are also leaving the club.
THREE promotions In four seasons showed that Bradford & Bingley were on a roll unfortunately in 2006-07 that became a back spin and in a disappointing season the club found no escape from a return to National league Three North.
The club's failure to do well at National Two was something of a surprise; they'd built well, initially under the guidance of Andy Bemrose, and more recently under Geoff Wappett. But after years of recruiting overseas players that helped guarantee their success, the club opted against that policy.
Indeed the only recognised signing at the start of the season was former Sedgley Park scrum-half Dave McCormack who arrived as captain of Lancashire's County Championship winning side.
That lack of recruitment proved fatal as injuries eventually told on what was a limited squad in terms of numbers.
It took Wappett's side five games to find their first win at this level, a late one-point success over promoted side Cornish All Blacks. And although victories were hard to find, watching the Bees was like watching a side who couldn't fathom out whether they were good enough at this level or not.
The deficiency in numbers was partly remedied by the signing of Hese Fakatou from Stourbridge and Kiwi prop Ryan Wederell. But it was in the backs where injuries really struck - the club signed Jamie Barker from Harrogate only to find he was another middle back who was prone to miss out through injury this season.
Later CarIos Hassan arrived from MorIey but by then it was too late and the Bingley-based side were doomed.
Neil Spence was the success story at Wagon Lane - the flanker was week in, week out their best player and he was rewarded with England Counties selection.
Spence, along with Hassan, will take over coaching duties next season following Wappett's departure to Hull. If they can retain - and keep fit - backs like Tom Rhodes, Stuart Dixon, Phil and Benny Greaves then they can rebuild in Three North.
Spence wants to build a squad around Yorkshire-born players and former Halifax scrum-half Joe Bartlett is likely to be the first recruit under that policy.
The new season brought much optimism to the Barking and their fans - It was their second season at. this level and In pre-season they'd recruited no less than seven players - all from clubs at a higher level
Former Rotherham try-scoring sensation Scott Donald was certainly the eye-catching recruit, but names like Matias Albina, Reuben Aiona and Adam Halsall were also well known.
The east London side had a difficult start - away at Halifax and then games against in-form trio Stourbridge, Esher and the Cornish All Blacks. Their first win arrived on their second trip to Yorkshire, winger Johnny Marlin scoring twice in a 22-5 success at Harrogate.
Despite the good form of Marlin, Felise Ah Ling - another regular name on the try scoring list - and back-rower Sevanaia Rokobaro, wins were rare, the 24-23 victory over Manchester their only other success before Christmas.
Eventually the club's poor form told and coach Eddie Jones and director of rugby Dean Cutting left the club with second-team coaches Peter Mahoney and Any Capaert promoted.
Unfortunately for the Barking stalwarts, the writing was already on the wall and the prospect of any late escape act diminished week by week.
Once relegation was accepted, Donald, along with Shaun Phillips, Chris Demody and Aione parted company with the club who opted to give local youngsters an opportunity to show their worth.
That policy of sticking to local talent appears to be the way forward for a Barking side who drop into Three South only to find an absence of local derbies with Southend and Westcombe Park moving in the opposite direction.
After surviving twelve seasons and gaining an enviable reputation as one of the friendliest clubs in the division. a further season in National Two proved to be too much for Harrogate, an outfit that has struggled both on and off the field in recent times.
Matt Emmerson and Rob Liley arrived at the start of the season to form a new coaching team and saw their charges record a valiant 19-17 victory over new-boys Cambridge. However, any confidence taken from that win was soon destroyed with over 30 points conceded in each of their next .three matches against Henley, Wharfedale and Redruth .
When the club suffered a record away defeat at Manchester, any hope of avoiding the drop for a third successive season was nothing more than a distant one.
As defeat on defeat followed, first Liley relinquished his position due to business commitments and then the club parted company with Emmerson.
A combination of players and former players jointly took charge of coaching duties and the club's renowned post-match festivities made a welcome return. How good it is to hear of a club restoring traditions, even after a short absence, and how sad it was that the players weren't allowed to fully celebrate their only win of the season in traditional Harrogate style.
Off the field the club announced plans to relocate to the outskirts of Harrogate, and looking ahead to next season, former scrum-half and current Leeds player Mike Aspinall was named as the new coach.
The club will leave National Two with many good wishes but may find that National Three will be a difficult league from which to make a quick return. However, they are bound to find new friends and the hope of many of their former opponents is that they can find stability both on and off the field.
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