Henley Hawks

Henley Hawks is a rugby union club based in Henley-on-Thames and is one of the leading rugby clubs in the Thames Valley. The first team play in the fourth tier of the English league system. Promoted in 2012–13 and 2014–15 as the champions of National League 2 South, Henley have spent the last four seasons, either promoted or relegated.

Henley Hawks
Full nameHenley Rugby Club
FoundedAugust 1930 (1930-08)
LocationHenley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Ground(s)Dry Leas (Capacity: 4,000)
League(s)National League 2 South
2019–204th
Team kit
Official website
www.henleyhawks.co.uk

History

Henley RFC was founded in August 1930 as Old Henleiensians (old boys of Henley Grammar School). After a break during the war years the club was re-founded in 1954 and changed its name to Henley RFC in 1963. It has been based at Dry Leas since then.

Recent playing record

Henley's fortunes stood still until Clive Woodward, England's future World Cup winning manager, became the 1st XV coach in 1990. His introduction of the "flat ball" philosophy was a pioneering event for British rugby and brought promotion in 1992. Henley gained a further promotion in 1994 to the National Leagues and, after Woodward departed to coach London Irish, Henley continued to play fluid rugby and two further promotions ensued (in the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons), landing the club in what is now National Division One. Also in 1999, Henley enjoyed a record run in the Tetley's Bitter Cup, defeating the Premier 1 club Bedford in the fourth round before bowing out to Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Henley finished ninth in National One in 1999–00, seventh in 2000–01 but finished 13th in 2001–02 and were relegated to National Division Two. They regained their place in National One by finishing second in 2002–03 but two years later were relegated back into National Two. After flirting with promotion from National Division Two in season 2006–7, finishing third by one point to Launceston, the following season was little short of disastrous resulting in relegation to National Division 3 (South). Last season, 2009–10 they struggled during the middle part of the season to face further relegation worries but a good finish to the year resulted in a mid-table finish. This season has seen a large improvement on the previous season's performances especially during the middle of the year and the squad are hopeful of a top 6 finish. On 4 May 2013, Henley Hawks beat Worthing 55–27 to secure a place in National Division One for the 2013–14 season.

The Hawks squad is now coached by ex-Hawks players Steve Barnes and Pete Davies.

Ground

The ground is leased from the Town Council with the unexpired portion being nearly fifty years. When the leagues were started in 1987 Henley were placed in South West II. Henley have developed a working relationship with London Wasps, who use Dry Leas for their A-team matches, and also loan squad players to Henley for development.

Honours

1st team:

2nd team:

3rd team:

4th team:

Notable players

Current standings
2019–20 National League 2 South Table
Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1Taunton Titans (C)252005815521294174101
2Tonbridge Juddians (P)25210481036644413198
3Redruth25201462037524511396
4Henley Hawks25191576142433715295
5Clifton25160970355215115483
6Bury St Edmunds24150966048917112678
7Leicester Lions2416085203741467576
8Esher24131106095307911570
9Worthing Raiders2411013582726−14412460
10Old Albanian25901658556718111057
11Dings Crusaders249015548647−9911552
12Barnes258017533719−1869546
13Westcliff256118446735−2895839
14Sutton & Epsom (R)244119395831−4365326
15Old Redcliffians (R)233218329648−3193423
16Bournemouth (R)252122441852−4112618
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 14 March 2020
Source: "National League 2 South". NCA Rugby.
Notes

    See also

    References
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