2017 County Championship Plate

2017 County Championship Plate
Countries  England
Date 6 May 2017 - 28 May 2017
Champions Leicestershire (1st title)
Runners-up Hampshire
Matches played 8
Tries scored 83
(average 10.375 per match)
Top point scorer England Callum Dacey (Leicestershire) 40
Top try scorer England Callum Dacey (Leicestershire) 8
2016
2018 →

The 2017 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 16th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organised 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 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.[1][2] 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 Plate competition by a final score of 39-7.[3][4] It was a well deserved win for Leicestershire who were by the far the strongest county in the Plate competition 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 plate 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.[1] Typically there was no relegation although teams have dropped out/been invited to join the division.

Participating Counties and ground locations

Egremont (Cumbria)
Hartlepool (Durham
Bedhampton (Hampshire)
Gosport (Hampshire)
Lutterworth (Leicestershire)
Oakham (Leicestershire)
Kingswinford (North Midlands)
Bridgwater (Somerset)
Lichfield (Staffordshire)
Longton (Staffordshire)
Rugby (Warwickshire)
Locations of the 2017 County Championship Plate county teams
County Stadium(s) Capacity City/Area
Cumbria Bleach Green N/A Egremont, Cumbria
Durham County Mayfield Park N/A Hartlepool, County Durham
Hampshire Gosport Park
Hook's Lane
N/A
1,500
Gosport, Hampshire
Bedhampton, Havant, Hampshire
Leicestershire Ashby Lane
Showground Way
N/A Lutterworth, Leicestershire
Barleythorpe, Oakham, Rutland
North Midlands Heathbrook N/A Kingswinford, West Midlands
Somerset Old Bath Road 5,000 Bridgwater, Somerset
Staffordshire Cooke Fields
Trentham Fields
N/A
N/A
Lichfield, Staffordshire
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Warwickshire Webb Ellis Road 1,000 Rugby, Warwickshire

Group stage

Division 2 North

2017 Beaumont Cup 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:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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

[5]


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

[6]


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

[7]

Division 2 South

2017 Beaumont Cup 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:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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

[5]


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

[6]


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

[7]

Final

28 May 2017
17:00
Leicestershire 39 - 7 Hampshire
Report
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: Neil Chivers

[3]

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Points
1 England Callum Dacey Leicestershire Hinckley 4 40
2 England Ricky Aley Leicestershire South Leicester 4 33
3 England Fraser Wilson Durham County Blaydon 3 30
England Pierre-Alex Clarke Hampshire Tottonians 4 30
4 England Alex Everett-Bolter Hampshire Bournemouth 4 25

[5][6][7][3]

Top try scorers

Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Tries
1 England Callum Dacey Leicestershire Hinckley 4 8
2 England Fraser Wilson Durham County Blaydon 3 6
3 England Alex Everett-Bolter Hampshire Bournemouth 4 5
4 England Tom Johnson North Midlands Moseley Oak 1[a 1] 4
England Richard Buck Hampshire Tottonians 2 4
England Callum Gunn Leicestershire South Leicester 2[a 2] 4
England Kemp Price Hampshire University of the West of England 3 4

[5][6][7][3]

  1. Tom Johnson may have also played in North Midlands 20-38 loss to Somerset but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.
  2. Callum Gunn may have also played in Leicestershire's 45-7 win over Staffordshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.

Competition records

Team

Largest home win —

62 - 5 Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017

Largest away win — 49 points

62 - 13 Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017

Most points scored — 62 (x2)

62 - 5 Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017
62 - 13 Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017

Most tries in a match — 10 (x2)

Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017
Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017

Most conversions in a match — 8

Warwickshire at home to North Midlands on 13 May 2017

Most penalties in a match — 4

Hampshire at home to Somerset on 13 May 2017

Most drop goals in a match — 0

Player

Most points in a match — 20 (x2)

England Richard Buck for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017
England Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017

Most tries in a match — 4 (x2)

England Richard Buck for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017
England Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017

Most conversions in a match — 8

England Ben Palmer for Warwickshire at home to North Midlands on 13 May 2017

Most penalties in a match — 4

England Pierre-Alex Clarke for Hampshire at home to Somerset on 13 May 2017

Most drop goals in a match — 0

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Full Men's County Championship fixture list 2016-17" (PDF). England Rugby. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  2. "Staffordshire beaten by Hampshire in County Shield final at Twickenham". Staffordshire Newsletter. 29 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "DOMINANT LEICESTERSHIRE CRUISE TO DIVISION TWO FINAL WIN". England Rugby. 28 May 2017.
  4. "LEICESTERSHIRE 39 HAMPSHIRE 7". Hampshire RFU. 28 May 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Division Two Round-up". The RUGBYPaper (451). Rugby Paper Ltd. 7 May 2017. pp. 30 & 34.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (452). Rugby Paper Ltd. 14 May 2017. pp. 30–31.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (453). Rugby Paper Ltd. 21 May 2017. pp. 24–25 & 30.
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