2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2
# 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2

The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 was the 16th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the tier 2 English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 2 having previously been known as the County Championship Plate. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the third tier and below of the English rugby union league system (typically National League 1, National League 2 North or National League 2 South). The counties were divided into two regional pools (north/south) with four teams in each and the winners of each pool meeting in the final at Twickenham Stadium.

Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with Hampshire (winners) and Staffordshire (runners up) coming up due to reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Shield, while Warwickshire and Cumbria were also promoted by virtue of their performances in the competition during the past two seasons. The changes also meant that there were no teams relegated into the division.

Leicestershire and Hampshire won their respective groups to qualify for the Twickenham final, with Leicestershire being the more impressive with three easy victories. The first half of the final was fairly close with Leicestershire going in 8-0 up, but in the second half they added a further four tries to win their first ever Division 2 competition by a final score of 39-7. It was a well deserved win for Leicestershire who were by the far the strongest county in Division 2 this season and it would be no surprise if they are in the top division in a couple of year's time.

## Competition format

The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south with four teams in each group. This meant that two teams in the pool had two home games, while the other two had just one. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium. The RFU plans to switch this around the following year so that teams that played one home game in 2017 will get two during the 2018 competition.

Due to changes to the County Championships implemented for this competition there was no promotion for the Division 2 finalists as there had been in previous seasons. Instead, points will be accumulated over two seasons with the two most successful sides over that period being promoted to the top tier for the 2019 competition. The RFU has also introduced relegation to the division, with the bottom sides in each group over two years dropping to Division 3.

## Group stage

### Division 2 North

2017 Bill Beaumont Division 2 North Table :

| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Leicestershire (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 39 | 113 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Durham County | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 117 | 74 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Cumbria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 136 | -75 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Staffordshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 124 | -81 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled |||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final. Updated: 20 May 2017 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

**Round 1**

* 6 May 2017 14:30

| (BP) Leicestershire | 45 - 7 | Staffordshire |
| - | - | - |

* Ashby Lane, Lutterworth
* 6 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) Durham County | 62 - 5 | Cumbria |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Mayfield Park, Hartlepool

**Round 2**

* 13 May 2017 15:00

| Cumbria | 18 - 52 | Leicestershire (BP) |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Bleach Green, Egremont
* 13 May 2017 15:00

| Staffordshire | 14 - 41 | Durham County (BP) |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Cooke Fields, Lichfield

**Round 3**

* 20 May 2017 14:30

| (BP) Leicestershire | 55 - 14 | Durham County |
| - | - | - |

* Showground Way, Barleythorpe, Oakham
* 20 May 2017 15:00

| Staffordshire | 22 - 38 | Cumbria (BP) |
| - | - | - |

* Trentham Fields, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

### Division 2 South

2017 Bill Beaumont Division 2 South Table :

| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hampshire (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 137 | 59 | 78 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Somerset | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 117 | 70 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | North Midlands | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 89 | 156 | -67 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Warwickshire | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 138 | -58 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled |||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final. Updated: 20 May 2017 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

**Round 1**

* 6 May 2017 15:00

| North Midlands | 13 - 62 | Hampshire (BP) |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Heathbrook, Kingswinford Referee: Claire Hodnett
* 6 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) Somerset | 43 - 14 | Warwickshire |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Old Bath Road, Bridgwater Referee: Jack Lewars

**Round 2**

* 13 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) Hampshire | 36 - 36 | Somerset (BP) |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Gosport Park, Gosport Referee: Gareth Holsgrove
* 13 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) Warwickshire | 56 - 56 | North Midlands (BP) |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Webb Ellis Road, Rugby

**Round 3**

* 20 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) Hampshire | 39 - 10 | Warwickshire |
| - | - | - |

* Hook's Lane, Bedhampton, Havant
* 20 May 2017 15:00

| (BP) North Midlands | 20 - 38 | Somerset (BP) |
| - | - | - |

* Heathbrook, Kingswinford

## Final

* 28 May 2017 17:00

| Leicestershire | 39 - 7 | Hampshire |
| - | - | - |
| | Report | |

* Twickenham Stadium, London Referee: Neil Chivers

## Individual statistics

* Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included). Statistics will also include final.
