The 2026–27 National League 1 is the 39th season of the third tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions.
Structure The league consists of fourteen teams, with all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis, to make a total of twenty-six matches each. From the 2025–26 season there is one automatic promotion place, with the champions going up to Champ Rugby, while clubs ranked 2nd and 3rd contest the National League 1 play-off (the 2nd ranked team having home advantage), with the winner going on to play the 13th placed Champ Rugby side for a possible second promotion place. Clubs finishing 12th, 13th and 14th are automatically relegated to either, National League 2 East, National League 2 North or National League 2 West, depending on the geographical location of the team. The 11th placed side enters a four team play-off with the runner-up of the three tier 4 leagues, with one side going up or remaining in National League 1.
The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows: 4 points are awarded for a win 2 points are awarded for a draw 0 points are awarded for a loss, however 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match.
Participating teams and locations
TeamGroundCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season Birmingham Moseley Billesley Common 5,000 (1,300 seats) Birmingham, West Midlands 11th Bishop's Stortford Silver Leys 1,600 Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire 6th Bury St Edmunds The Haberden 3,000 (135 seats) Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Promoted from National 2 East (1st) Cambridge Grantchester Road 2,200 (200 seats) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Relegated from Champ Rugby (14th) Camborne Recreation Ground 7,000 (780 seats) Camborne, Cornwall Promoted from National 2 West (1st) Dings Crusaders Shaftesbury Park 2,250 (250 seats) Frenchay, Bristol 10th Leeds Tykes The Sycamores 1,500 Bramhope, Leeds, West Yorkshire 9th London Scottish Athletic Ground 4,500 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London Relegated from Champ Rugby (13th) Plymouth Albion The Brickfields 5,600 Plymouth, Devon 3rd Rams Old Bath Road 2,000 (300 seats) Sonning, Reading, Berkshire 7th Rosslyn Park The Rock 2,000 (630 seats) Roehampton, London 4th Sale FC Heywood Road 3,387 Sale, Greater Manchester 5th Sheffield Abbeydale Park 3,300 (100 seats) Sheffield, South Yorkshire Promoted from National 2 North (1st) Tonbridge Juddians The Slade 1,500 Tonbridge, Kent 8th
League table
Fixtures & results
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Individual statistics
Top points scorers Rank Player Team Points1 Harry Read Birmingham Moseley 262 Harry Wilkinson Plymouth Albion 253 James Mitchell Sale FC 24 4 Joseph Green Sale FC 22 5 Iwan Jenkins Plymouth Albion 21 Luc Smith Rosslyn Park 7 Alex Earnshaw London Scottish 20 Daniel Cole Bishop's StortfordConnor Lloyd Tonbridge Juddians Tom Mills Bishop's StortfordJack Walsh Tonbridge Juddians
Top try scorers Rank Player Team Tries 1 Harry Wilkinson Plymouth Albion 5 2 Alex Earnshaw London Scottish 4 Joseph Green Sale FC Tom Mills Bishop's StortfordJack Walsh Tonbridge Juddians 6 Ben Alexander Cambridge 3 Noah Fenton Plymouth Albion Archibald Hosking Rosslyn Park Luke Mehson Ben Priddey Camborne Thomas Walsh Sale FC George Worthington Leeds Tykes
See also 2026–27 Champ Rugby 2026–27 National League 2 East 2026–27 National League 2 North 2026–27 National League 2 West
Notes
References
External links National Clubs Association for Leagues 1 and 2