2023–24 Scottish League Championship

The 2023–24 Scottish League Championship, or 2023–24 Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the 48th season of formal domestic rugby union leagues in Scotland.

2023–24 Scottish League Championship
CountriesScotland Scotland
ChampionsCurrie (3)
Matches played93
Tries scored726
(average 7.8 per match)
← 2022-23
2024-25 →

The season began on September 2, 2023, with defending champions Hawick RFC playing Glasgow Hawks at their home pitch of Mansfield Park. Kelso RFC was promoted to the premier league to take the place of Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians, who were relegated to National Division One.

Currie won their third Championship title and first in over 14 years, with Hawick finishing as runners up after a repeat of last season's final. Jed-Forest were relegated after finishing bottom.

The format was altered slightly from last season, with all Divisions having 10 teams as opposed to 2022-23 in which all but the Premiership division had 12 teams. In addition, a new fourth National Division was established with the bottom three teams competing in it being relegated to their respective Regional League Division 1.[1]

Premier Division

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2023–24 Tennents Premiership Division Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Notes
1 Hawick 18 16 1 1 617 259 358 11 0 77 Qualified to Playoffs
2 Marr 18 14 0 4 620 421 199 13 2 71
3 Currie 18 12 1 5 616 341 275 13 2 65
4 Kelso 18 9 3 6 476 451 25 9 2 53
5 Heriot's 18 8 1 9 477 474 3 13 3 50
6 Musselburgh 18 7 2 9 482 607 -125 12 3 47
7 Edinburgh Academicals 18 7 1 10 470 437 33 10 6 46
8 Glasgow Hawks 18 6 1 11 465 479 -14 8 5 39
9 Selkirk 18 6 0 12 399 591 -192 8 3 35
10 Jed-Forest 18 0 0 18 314 876 -562 4 1 5 Relegated

Source [2]

Statistics

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Most tries Scored per team

Most tries scored per player

Most points scored per team

Most points scored per player

  • Kirk Ford - Hawick (245)

Most Yellow cards

  • Currie (16)

Most Red cards

  • Hawick (3)

Source: [3]

Playoffs

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
2 March – Mansfield Park
 
 
Hawick25
 
4 May – Mansfield Park
 
Kelso9
 
Hawick24
 
2 March – Fullarton Park
 
Currie26
 
Marr12
 
 
Currie27
 

Semifinals

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2 March 2024
15:00
Hawick25-9Kelso
Try: C Welsh 30' c
McKean 45' c
Redpath 80' c
Con: Ford (2/3)
Pen: Ford (2/2)
[4]Pen: Patterson (3/3)
Mansfield Park
Referee: Rob McDowell
2 March 2024
15:00
Marr12-27Currie
Try: C Bickerstaff 10' c
Sturgeon 80' c
Con: Sturgeon (1/2)
[5]Try: Davies 10' c
Innes 20' c
Cardosi 45' c
McCaig 60' c
Con: Brett (3/4)
Pen: Brett (1/1)
Fullarton Park
Referee: Sam O’Neill

Finals

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4 May 2024
14:00
Hawick24-26Currie
[6]
Mansfield Park

National Division One

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2023–24 Tennent's National League Division One Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Notes
1 Ayr 18 15 0 3 721 419 302 13 1 74 Promoted
2 GHA 18 11 0 7 545 431 114 13 4 61
3 Highland 18 11 1 6 465 359 106 9 1 56
4 Watsonians 18 10 1 7 539 484 55 11 2 55
5 Melrose 17 9 0 8 560 468 92 13 2 51
6 Glasgow Academicals 17 9 0 8 554 475 79 12 3 51
7 Biggar 18 6 1 11 503 575 -72 10 4 40
8 Gala 18 7 0 11 492 576 -84 8 3 39
9 Dundee 18 6 0 12 447 580 -133 8 1 33
10 GHK 18 3 1 14 328 787 -459 5 2 21 Relegated

Source [7]

National Division Two

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2023–24 Tennent's National League Division Two Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Notes
1 Peebles 15 12 1 2 472 278 194 11 1 62 Promoted
2 Falkirk 15 12 0 3 570 402 168 13 0 61
3 Newton Stewart 17 11 2 4 434 340 94 8 1 57
4 Lasswade 14 10 1 3 405 326 79 11 1 54
5 Gordonians 15 8 0 7 406 291 115 8 3 43
6 Stewart's Melville 15 6 1 8 411 471 -60 7 2 32[1]
7 Kirkcaldy 16 5 0 11 424 597 -173 8 2 30
8 Stirling 14 4 0 10 391 439 -48 7 2 25
9 Berwick 14 2 1 11 296 417 -121 6 4 20
10 Aberdeen Grammar 15 2 0 13 295 543 -248 6 1 15 Relegated

Source [8]

1.^ Stewart's Melville where sanctioned 3 points on 7 October 2023 as per NCR 4.18.1, after their match against Falkirk had to be postponed due to insufficient players.

National Division Three

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2023–24 Tennent's National League Division Three Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Notes
1 Preston Lodge 16 15 0 1 679 253 426 12 1 73 Promoted
2 Orkney 13 12 0 1 401 264 137 8 1 57
3 Howe of Fife 16 9 1 6 579 423 156 12 4 54
4 Allan Glen's 15 9 1 5 458 321 137 8 3 49
5 Hillhead/Jordanhill 15 9 0 6 366 339 27 7 3 46
6 Boroughmuir 15 7 0 8 475 419 56 10 3 41
7 West of Scotland 15 5 0 10 371 468 -97 7 2 29
8 Dumfries Saints 15 4 2 9 298 556 -258 6 2 28
9 Cartha Queens Park 14 2 0 12 262 560 -298 4 3 15
10 Hamilton 14 0 0 14 300 586 -286 6 4 10 Relegated

Source [9]

National Division Four

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2023–24 Tennent's National League Division Four Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Notes
1 Garnock 13 13 0 0 632 167 465 12 0 64 Promoted
2 Whitecraigs 14 10 0 4 456 377 79 13 3 56
3 Strathmore 12 9 0 3 428 284 144 9 1 46
4 North Berwick 15 9 0 6 366 390 -24 8 1 42[2]
5 Stewartry 15 8 0 7 500 422 78 8 1 41
6 Dunfermline 14 7 0 7 399 369 30 9 1 38
7 Greenock Wanderers 14 6 0 8 348 459 -111 7 3 34
8 Perthshire 14 3 0 11 357 520 -163 7 4 23 Relegated
9 Murrayfield Wanderers 14 2 0 12 339 563 -224 8 6 22
10 Ross High 11 1 0 10 231 505 -274 4 3 11

Source [10]

1.^ North Berwick where sanctioned 3 points on 14 October 2023 as per NCR 4.18.1, after their match against Garnock had to be postponed due to insufficient players.

References

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  1. ^ "NCRs-2023-24-Premiership-and-National-Leagues-FINAL" (PDF). Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Scottish Rugby". www.scottishrugby.org. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Player Statistic Leaders". The Offside Line. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Hawick book their place in Final with hard-earned win over Kelso". 2 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Revenge is a dish best served cold for Currie Chieftains against Marr". 2 March 2024.
  6. ^ "MEN'S PREMIERSHIP FINAL: HAWICK 24-26 CURRIE". Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Scottish Rugby". www.scottishrugby.org.
  8. ^ "Scottish Rugby". www.scottishrugby.org.
  9. ^ "Scottish Rugby". www.scottishrugby.org.
  10. ^ "Scottish Rugby". www.scottishrugby.org.