2015 Conference League South
# 2015 Conference League South

The 2015 Conference League South saw the competition increase to 10 clubs. The new clubs were Gloucestershire Warriors who were promoted from the West Of England Rugby League as champions, Torfaen Tigers who moved up from the South Wales Conference and two new clubs Raiders RL and Coventry Bears Reserves. Unfortunately on 10 April Bristol Sonics after postponing their first two games, announced that they would have to withdraw from the league due to player problems and drop down to the West Of England Rugby League. The league season ran from March to September. The teams would play each other home and away with the top four contesting the end of season play-offs to decide the champions

## Clubs

| Club | Ground | Coach |
| - | - | - |
| Coventry Bears Reserves | Xcel Leisure Centre | James Carter |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | Oxstalls Sports Park | Richard Jones |
| Leicester Storm | Brooksby Melton College | Dean Thomas |
| Nottingham Outlaws | Highfields Sports Ground | Joe Shepherd |
| Oxford Cavaliers | Brookes University Sports Centre | William Brewer |
| Raiders RL | Stebonheath Park | Jon Ellis |
| Sheffield Hallam Eagles | Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park | Adam Hughes |
| Torfaen Tigers | Kings Head Ground, Cwmbran | Jamie Williams |
| Valley Cougars | Treharris RFC | Dafydd Hellard |

## League season

* 20 Jan - Gloucestershire Warriors appoint Gloucestershire All Golds player Richard Jones as their head coach for their debut season
* 2 Feb - Valley Cougars beat Leicester Storm 27-22 in the first round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup
* 9 Feb - Nottingham Outlaws are beaten heavily at home 4-50 by Blackbrook in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup first round
* 14 Feb - Valley Cougars are knocked out of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup by Oulton Raiders 48-0 in the second round
* 23 Mar - Opening round of matches sees wins for Gloucestershire Warriors, Leicester Storm, Sheffield Hallam Eagles and Raiders RL
* 30 Mar - Sheffield Hallam Eagles go top after winning 28-16 at Nottingham Outlaws
* 10 Apl - Bristol Sonics after postponing their opening two games announce that they will have to withdraw from the competition
* 13 Apl - Sheffield Hallam Eagles retain top spot with a 54-22 victory at home to new boys Raiders RL
* 20 Apl - Valley Cougars end Sheffield Hallam Eagles' unbeaten run in the league stretching back 741 days, 16-14 at Treharris RFC
* 27 Apl - Nottingham Outlaws defeat league leaders Coventry Bears Reserves 20-6
* 11 May - Valley Cougars beat Gloucestershire Warriors 44-10 scoring 28 unanswered second half points
* 18 May - Valley Cougars go top after coming from 0-12 down to beat Leicester Storm 32-24
* 1 Jun - Cougars remain top beating Raiders RL 34-16 in a classic Welsh derby, Torfaen Tigers pick up first win against Oxford Cavaliers
* 8 Jun - A crowd of 257 watch Torfaen Tigers beat former champions Sheffield Hallam Eagles and move off the foot of the table
* 22 Jun - Valley Cougars move four points clear of Coventry Bears Reserves following their 48-12 win in the top of the table clash
* 29 Jun - Leaders Valley Cougars beaten for the first time in nine matches as they went down 22-28 at Nottingham Outlaws
* 6 Jul - Coventry Bears Reserves moved up to second by beating Raiders RL, Valley Cougars remain top after winning at Sheffield
* 20 Jul - Nottingham Outlaws set new club and league record by beating Gloucestershire Warriors 102-6
* 27 Jul - In form Raiders RL beat third placed Nottingham Outlaws 35-20 to join race for the play-offs
* 3 Aug - Nottingham won a hugely important clash against play-off rivals Coventry
* 18 Aug - Coventry secure their top four place with a hard fought win at Torfaen Tigers ending the hosts play off hopes
* 24 Aug - Torfaen Tigers set new club and league record when beating Gloucestershire Warriors 110-6
* 2 Sep - Valley Cougars confirm top two finish after win against Oxford Cavaliers
* 7 Sep - Nottingham Outlaws confirmed as runners up after hard fought win at Leicester Storm 34-14
* 11 Sep - Valley Cougars reach Grand Final
* 14 Sep - Nottingham Outlaws power their way to the Grand Final beating Raiders RL 36-8
* 21 Sep - Nottingham Outlaws wrestled the Conference League South title away from holders Valley Cougars 39-16 at AFC Corsham in Bath.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valley Cougars | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 620 | 344 | 25 |
| 2 | Nottingham Outlaws | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 654 | 299 | 24 |
| 3 | Raiders RL | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 634 | 402 | 20 |
| 4 | Coventry Bears Reserves | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 536 | 388 | 19 |
| 5 | Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 613 | 357 | 17 |
| 6 | Torfaen Tigers | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 582 | 579 | 13 |
| 7 | Gloucestershire Warriors | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 320 | 754 | 10 |
| 8 | Leicester Storm | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 362 | 618 | 8 |
| 9 | Oxford Cavaliers | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 284 | 864 | 6 |

1 point deducted-Coventry Bears Reserves and Sheffield Hallam Eagles

## Play-offs

| Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valley Cougars | 24 | | | |
| 4 | Coventry Bears Reserves | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Coventry Bears Reserves | 0 | Valley Cougars | Valley Cougars | 16 |
| | | | Nottingham Outlaws | Nottingham Outlaws | 39 |
| 2 | Nottingham Outlaws | 36 | Nottingham Outlaws | Nottingham Outlaws | 39 |
| 3 | Raiders RL | 8 | | | |

## Grand final

Venue - AFC Corsham, Bath

| Pts | Valley Cougars | No | Nottingham Outlaws | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Danyl Davies | 1 | Adam Cunliffe | 1 try |
| | Lewis Phillips | 2 | Adrian Chaina | 2 tries |
| 1 try | Mike Hurley | 3 | Adam Simm | |
| | Scott Greggs | 4 | Jimmy Goodwin | 2 tries |
| | Suliman Yousif | 5 | Jon Christie | 1 try |
| | Lee Goddard | 6 | Dan Smith | 4 goals |
| 1 goal | Marcus Webb | 7 | Alex Whittle | |
| | Scott Giles | 8 | Chris Prime | |
| | Dean Higgs | 9 | Simon Morton | |
| | Gethin King | 10 | Joe Barton | |
| | Ethan Coombes | 11 | Garyn Ward | |
| | Lewis Wilkes | 12 | Oliver Dale | |
| | Scott Britton | 13 | George Strachan | 1 try |
| 1 goal | Ben Jones | sub | Oliver Crick | |
| 1 try | Dafydd Hellard | sub | Will Ephraim | |
| 1 try | Craig Lewis | sub | Paul Calland | 1 goal, 1 field goal |
| | Adam Morgam | sub | Pat Crummay | |

## Grand final mini report

Nottingham Outlaws lifted their first Conference League South title by beating holders the Valley Cougars at AFC Corsham in Bath 39-16. Ill discipline cost the Valley Cougars who at one point were down to ten men. By the half hour the Outlaws were 18-0 up thanks to tries by John Christie, Jimmy Goodwin and Adrian Chaima all scored a goal by Dan Smith but the holders hit back with two tries in the final five minutes through Craig Lewis and Mike Hurley the first converted by Ben Jones leaving the score 18-10 at half time. At the start of the second half the first Valley Cougars sin binning cost them an immediate try from George Strachan, again scored a goal by Smith. A second sin binning soon after led again to an immediate try for the Outlaws this time from Goodwin, his second try of the match, Smith on this occasion missing his first conversion to leave the score at 28-10. Amazingly while down to 10 men following another sin binning, player coach Dafydd Hellard scored and with a conversion from Marcus Webb the Valley Cougars reduced the arrears to 12 points. But the lack of numbers eventually made the difference as Nottingham scored two more tries through Chaima, his second, and Adam Cunliffe. Player coach Paul Calland kicking one conversion to go with his field goal

## Results

| Teams | Cov | Glou | Leic | Nott | Oxf | Raid | Sheff | Torf | Vall |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Coventry Bears Reserves | x | 0-24 | 62-18 | 16-28 | 72-0 | 32-24 | 32-20 | 56-26 | 20-68 |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | 10-56 | x | 26-32 | 24-20 | 46-22 | 0-84 | 10-54 | 12-40 | 20-62 |
| Leicester Storm | 22-36 | 32-26 | x | 18-47 | 20-26 | 22-30 | 4-62 | 28-16 | 24-32 |
| Nottingham Outlaws | 20-6 | 102-6 | 34-14 | x | 68-8 | 44-20 | 16-28 | 86-20 | 28-22 |
| Oxford Cavaliers | 6-50 | 12-56 | 42-44 | 4-56 | x | 36-28 | 10-58 | 40-36 | 26-48 |
| Raiders RL | 24-30 | 84-20 | 45-24 | 35-20 | 78-18 | x | 38-22 | 34-26 | 34-6 |
| Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 24-12 | 0-24 | 50-32 | 16-23 | 76-12 | 54-22 | x | 71-4 | 38-54 |
| Torfaen Tigers | 26-44 | 110-6 | 56-28 | 42-32 | 56-22 | 14-28 | 48-26 | x | 24-28 |
| Valley Cougars | 48-12 | 44-10 | 28-0 | 20-30 | 72-0 | 34-26 | 16-14 | 38-38 | x |

## Player statistics

### Top try scorers

| Pos | Player | Team | Tries |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Adrian Chaima | Nottingham Outlaws | 25 |
| 2 | Matthew Cummins | Torfaen Tigers | 19 |
| 3 | James Goodwin | Nottingham Outlaws | 16 |
| 3 | Donald Kudangirana | Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 16 |
| 5 | Daniel Fox | Raiders RL | 15 |

### Top goal kicker

| Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Matthew Cummins | Torfaen Tigers | 61 |
| 2 | Daniel Smith | Nottingham Outlaws | 58 |
| 3 | Kieran Smith | Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 41 |
| 4 | Luke Williams | Raiders RL | 36 |
| 5 | Alex King | Raiders RL | 34 |
| 5 | Lewis Chapman | Leicester Storm | 34 |

### Top point scorer

| Pos | Player | Team | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Matthew Cummins | Torfaen Tigers | 198 |
| 2 | Daniel Smith | Nottingham Outlaws | 136 |
| 3 | Alex King | Raiders RL | 108 |
| 4 | Adrian Chaina | Nottingham Outlaws | 100 |
| 5 | Kieran Smith | Sheffield Hallam Eagles | 90 |

## Sources

* statistics
