2015 County Championship Plate
The 2015 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 14th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the tier 2 English counties. 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 South or National League 2 North). The counties were divided into two regional pools (north/south) with three teams in the north division and four in the south, with the winners of each pool meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the division included North Midlands and Northumberland who were demoted from the 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup while Surrey came up from the 2014 County Championship Shield having beaten Leicestershire the previous year in the Shield final having won the competition three years in a row.[1][2][3][4]
| 2015 County Championship Plate | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England |
| Date | 15 May 2016 - 31 May 2015 |
| Champions | Surrey (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Eastern Counties |
| Attendance | 2,310 (average 247 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 640 Devon v North Midlands (16 May 2015) |
| Lowest attendance | 112 North Midlands v Surrey (9 May 2015) |
| Top point scorer | Matt Noble Surrey 39 |
| Top try scorer | Ryan Jeffrey Surrey 6 |
At the end of the group stage the northern division was won by Eastern Counties who edged out Northumberland while the southern division was won with ease by Surrey who steamrolled through their group. The counties went through to the final and as group winners will be promoted to the top tier with Surrey making it two promotions in a row. Surrey then defeated Eastern Counties in the early kickoff at Twickenham Stadium, winning 17 – 3, in what was their fourth consecutive Twickenham appearance.[5] In terms of individual player performances the top try scorer was Surrey's Ryan Jeffrey who got six tries in the tournament – all coming in the one game against North Midlands.
Competition format
The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. In the north group each team played one home game (there were three teams in the group) while in the south group, two teams in the group had two home games, while the other two had just the one. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015,[6] with both teams also being promoted to the top tier for the following season. Typically there was no relegation although teams have dropped out of the division in the past.
Participating counties and ground locations
| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | Putnoe Woods | 500 | Bedford, Bedfordshire |
| Eastern Counties | University Football Ground | 1,000 | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire |
| Devon | Astley Park Showground |
1,800 1,120 (120 seats) |
Brixham, Devon Okehampton, Devon |
| North Midlands | Stourton Park | 3,500 (499 seats) | Stourbridge, West Midlands |
| Northumberland | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear |
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 | Taunton, Somerset |
| Surrey | Hazelwood | N/A | Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey |
Group stage
Division 2 North
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Counties (P) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 37 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||
| 2 | Northumberland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 36 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||
| 3 | East Midlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 74 | −46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 North of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 13 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| East Midlands | 10–36 | Northumberland (BP) |
| Report |
| Putnoe Woods, Bedford Attendance: 152 Referee: Robbie Bourke |
Round 2
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Eastern Counties | 38–18 | East Midlands |
| Report |
| University Football Ground, Cambridge Attendance: 250 Referee: Veryan Boscawen |
Round 3
| 23 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Northumberland | 19–26 | Eastern Counties |
| Report |
| Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne Attendance: 258 Referee: Mick Harris |
Division 2 South
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surrey (P) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 81 | 71 | 3 | 0 | 15 | ||||||
| 2 | North Midlands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 99 | 103 | −4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| 3 | Somerset | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 86 | 138 | −52 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Devon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 101 | −13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 South of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 13 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| North Midlands | 17–60 | Surrey (BP) |
| Report |
| Stourton Park, Stourbridge Attendance: 112 Referee: Chris Bennett |
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Somerset | 34–31 | Devon (2BP) |
| Report |
| Hyde Park, Taunton Attendance: 203 Referee: Phil Davies |
Total season attendances
- Does not include final at Twickenham which was a neutral venue and involved teams from all three county divisions on the same day
| County | Home Games |
Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | 2 | 882 | 441 | 640 | 242 | 29% |
| Eastern Counties | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 15% |
| East Midlands | 1 | 152 | 152 | 152 | 152 | |
| North Midlands | 2 | 287 | 144 | 175 | 112 | 4% |
| Northumberland | 1 | 258 | 258 | 258 | 258 | 3% |
| Somerset | 1 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 10% |
| Surrey | 1 | 278 | 278 | 278 | 278 | |
Individual statistics
- Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances comes first. Also 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 also include final.
Top points scorers
|
Top try scorers
|
References
- "North Midlands relegated". North Midlands RFU. 24 May 2014.
- "Northumberland 22 Yorkshire 36: Relegation blow for beaten North". Chronicle Live. 25 May 2014.
- "Surrey make it three County Championship Shield titles in a row at Twickenham". Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser. 1 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- "Surrey Enters The Bill Beaumont Cup". Surrey Rugby. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
- "Super Surrey call Twickenham their home once again". Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- "ENGLAND V BARBARIANS SUNDAY 31 MAY 2015 K.O. 3pm". Tunbridge Wells RFC. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 347. Rugby Paper Ltd. 10 May 2015. pp. 32–33 & 36.
- "County Championships Results: 2015". englandrugby.com. 31 May 2015.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 38. Rugby Paper Ltd. 17 May 2015. pp. 28–30.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 349. Rugby Paper Ltd. 24 May 2015. pp. 24–26.
External links
- NCA Rugby Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine