National Three - The contenders

The hard work is almost over. For teams in the four divisions in the final tier of National rugby, they are in touching distance of promotion to National Two and a shot at Level Four rugby. Talking Rugby Union takes a look at the contenders for promotion and who is looking up.

National Three North

Since the first whistle there really has been only two sides in the hunt for the league championship and that is Sale FC and Sandal. Currently the league leaders are Sale who began the year beating National Two North side Stockport in the Cheshire Cup and since then they have lost just two of their 18 league games. They sit four points clear at the top.

For me, second place Sandal are favourites to lift the title in April as they have a game in hand over Sale. If they pick up a bonus point win in that game against seventh placed Rossendale, they will go top. Sandal have lost just once this season and that came against Sale on the opening day of the season meaning they are on a 16 game unbeaten run. More importantly though, the final game of the season sees Sandal travel to Manchester to play Sale. It could very well be going right to the wire in this league.

Sheffield Tigers, sit third in the division seven points behind Sandal, but bearing in mind Sandal haven’t lost a match since September it seems unlikely that they will sneak in under the radar.

It will take something special for fourth place Firwood Waterloo and fifth place Cleckheaton to mount a late promotion challenge. Both sides are 15 points behind Sandal with Firwood’s chances being dented after two straight defeats. My verdict is it will go all the way to the last day of the season to see who claims automatic promotion to National Two North.

National Three Midlands

We may as well give the league title and a place in National Two to South Leicester right now. They lead this division by 20 points and have only lost once all season. They are on an eight game winning run and with eight matches remaining I can’t see them letting this lead slip.

The race for a play-off place is much more exciting and tense. Currently occupying second spot is Peterborough Lions who have a three point lead over the chasing pack. Hinckley, Bromsgrove and Nuneaton are within one win of the Lions with all of the teams having played 18 games. Any hiccup now from any of these sides could see their promotion challenge come to an end.

I also think it would be unfair to rule out the rest of the top half of the table which includes the Old Halesonians, Scunthorpe and Sandbach who all have a slim chance of creeping up into promotion contention. However, they will have to rely on a collapse from the teams around them to stand any chance.

National Three South East

Now the race for promotion is much closer in this league than the previous two we have mentioned. Bury St Edmunds are currently the league leaders and have a three point gap at the top of the table. They have won four out of their last five matches which has taken them to top spot but they will know the job is far from done just yet. London Irish Wild Geese are second in the table and their mixed bag of results lately has seen their lead at the top of this division vanish.

You can argue that there is a pack of four teams chasing down the top two in this league. Between London Irish Wild Geese and sixth place Hertford there are only six points. Third place Barnes have put together a five match winning run which has given them a great chance of promotion and even the title. They are just three points behind London Irish Wild Geese and six off Bury St Edmunds. Fourth place Chinchester are a point behind Barnes giving them a slight look at the title, but they are firmly in with a shout at promotion whilst East Grinstead and Hertford will have all eyes on that play-off spot. It is still very unclear about who will finish in the top two in this division, but what is clear is that this will be an incredible fight to the finish.

National Three South West

Unlike the South East, the South West division looks a forgone conclusion. Redingensians are six points clear at the top having lost on just two occasions this season and they also have a 100 per cent home record. Their only challengers to claiming the championship would be second place Exmouth, but they have almost guaranteed a playoff spot. Exmouth are 13 points clear of third place Brixham with fourth placed Bracknell 19 points behind. It’s safe to say the top two looks set in stone, but how they will finish is still undecided.