The 1994–95 National Division 1 (sponsored by Courage Brewery) was the eight season of the top tier of the English rugby union league system, the Courage Clubs Championship, currently known as Premiership Rugby. Bath were the defending champions and West Hartlepool and Sale were the promoted teams. This was the first Courage League season to be shown live on Sky Sports.
Leicester were the eventual champions, beating Bath by four points, claiming their second league title. The battle to avoid relegation was extremely keenly fought, with Northampton being the sole relegated side to the 1995–96 National Division 2 after Gloucester managed to draw their rescheduled game against Bath, meaning that the Kingsholm side stayed up instead.[1]
Structure
Each side played one another twice, in a round robin system, home and away, to make a total of eighteen matches for each team. The team that finishes bottom would be relegated to National Division 2.
Participating teams
Locations of the 1994–95 Courage League National Division One teams
| Team
|
Stadium
|
Capacity
|
City/Area
|
Previous season
|
| Bath
|
Recreation Ground
|
8,300 (1,000 seats)[2]
|
Bath, Somerset
|
Champions
|
| Bristol
|
Memorial Stadium
|
8,500 (1,200 seats)[3]
|
Bristol, Avon
|
4th
|
| Gloucester
|
Kingsholm
|
12,000
|
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
|
8th
|
| Harlequins
|
The Stoop
|
9,000 (2,000 seats)[4]
|
Twickenham, London
|
6th
|
| Leicester
|
Welford Road
|
14,700 (9,200 seats)[5]
|
Leicester, Leicestershire
|
2nd
|
| Northampton
|
Franklin's Gardens
|
6,000 (2,000 seats)[6]
|
Northampton, Northamptonshire
|
5th
|
| Orrell
|
Edge Hall Road
|
5,300 (300 seats)[7]
|
Orrell, Greater Manchester
|
7th
|
| Sale
|
Heywood Road
|
4,000 (500 seats)[8]
|
Sale, Greater Manchester
|
Promoted from National 2 (1st)
|
| Wasps
|
Repton Avenue
|
3,200 (1,200 seats)[9][10]
|
Sudbury, London
|
3rd
|
| West Hartlepool
|
Brierton Lane
|
7,000[11]
|
Hartlepool, County Durham
|
Promoted from National 2 (2nd)
|
Table
Source:
Results
The Home Team is listed in the left column.
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Fixtures & Results
Round 1
Recreation Ground Referee: Brian Campsall[12] |
| Leicester | 28 – 15 | Northampton |
| | |
| West Hartlepool | 17 – 19 | Orrell |
| | |
[13]
Round 2
| Gloucester | 48 – 12 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
Franklin's Gradens Referee: Steve Lander[12] |
[13]
Round 3
Recreation Ground Referee: Ceri Thomas[12] |
| Leicester | 16 – 6 | Gloucester |
| | |
| West Hartlepool | 20 – 15 | Wasps |
| | |
[13]
Round 4
Kingsholm Attendance: 9,000[12] Referee: Ed Morrison[12] |
| Harlequins | 20 – 10 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
| Northampton | 15 – 18 | Bristol |
| | |
[13]
Round 5
Recreation Ground Referee: Eddie Murray[12] |
| Leicester | 33 – 16 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
| Northampton | 16 – 23 | Harlequins |
| | |
[13]
Round 6
| Harlequins | 13 – 40 | Leicester |
| | |
| West Hartlepool | 18 – 20 | Bath |
| | |
Brierton Lane Referee: David Leslie[12] |
[13]
Round 7
Recreation Ground Referee: Jim Pearson[12] |
| Northampton | 9 – 6 | Gloucester |
| | |
| Sale | 22 – 7 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
[13]
Round 8
Recreation Ground Referee: Matt Bayliss[12] |
| West Hartlepool | 47 – 21 | Bristol |
| | |
[13]
Round 9
| Harlequins | 10 – 14 | Gloucester |
| | |
| Northampton | 25 – 14 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
Heywood Road Referee: Steve Lander[12] |
[13]
Round 10
Memorial Stadium Attendance: 11,000[12] Referee: Stuart Piercy[12] |
| Northampton | 18 – 20 | Leicester |
| | |
| Orrell | 22 – 22 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
[13]
Round 11
Recreation Ground Referee: David Leslie[12] |
| West Hartlepool | 22 – 21 | Gloucester |
| | |
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 21 January 1995.
[13]
Round 11 (rescheduled game)
- Game rescheduled from 14 January 1995.
Round 12
Edge Hall Road Referee: Chris Rees[12] |
| Wasps | 33 – 32 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
[13]
Round 13
| Bristol | 13 – 24 | Northampton |
| | |
| West Hartlepool | 10 – 8 | Harlequins |
| | |
- Postponed. Game rescheduled to 4 May 1995.
[13]
Round 14
| Harlequins | 10 – 9 | Northampton |
| | |
Repton Avenue Referee: John Pearson[12] |
| West Hartlepool | 6 – 12 | Leicester |
| | |
[13]
Round 15
| Bath | 53 – 17 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
Recreation Ground Referee: Ashley Rowden[12] |
| Leicester | 22 – 8 | Harlequins |
| | |
[13]
Round 16
| Gloucester | 14 – 13 | Northampton |
| | |
Welford Road Attendance: 14,000[12] Referee: Stuart Piercy[12] |
| West Hartlepool | 23 – 17 | Sale |
| | |
[13]
Round 17
| Bristol | 12 – 17 | West Hartlepool |
| | |
The Stoop Referee: Andy Leslie[12] |
- Northampton are relegated.
[13]
Round 18
Recreation Ground Referee: Ed Morrison[12] |
| Gloucester | 17 – 28 | Harlequins |
| | |
| West Hartlepool | 12 – 21 | Northampton |
| | |
[13]
Round 13 (rescheduled game)
- Game rescheduled from 4 March 1995.
See also
References
- ^ "1994/95 Courage League Division 1 Table". Homepage.ntlworld.com. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Bath F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 40.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Bristol F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 43.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Harlequins F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 50.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Leicester F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 54.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Northampton F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 64.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Orrell R.U.F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 70.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Sale F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 118.
- ^ Tony Williams and Bill Mitchell, ed. (1990). "Wasps F.C. (Ground Details)". Courage Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 82.
- ^ "Dallaglio's turned into Nostradamus". The Rugby Paper. 21 May 2023.
- ^ "West Hartlepool". Rugby Journal. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Peter Hall and Colin Gale. "1994 to 1995". Bath Rugby Heritage. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Fixtures / Results (September 10, 1994 to May 4, 1995)". Rugby Archives. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
External links
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| 2025–26 teams | |
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| Former clubs | |
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| Seasons | | National Division 1 | |
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| Premiership 1 | |
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Premiership Rugby | |
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| Other | | Awards | |
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| Competitions | |
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| In season events | |
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