The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 was the 16th version of the annual

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

organised by the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

for the tier 2

English counties The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

. 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 Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England cons ...

(typically

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

). 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 Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

. Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

(winners) and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

(runners up) coming up due to reaching the final of the

2016 County Championship Shield The 2016 County Championship Shield was the 12th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organised by the RFU for the tier 3 English counties. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and b ...

, while

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

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 Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

and Hampshire won their respective groups to qualify for the

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

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

. 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.

Participating Counties and ground locations

Group stage

Division 2 North

Round 1

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Round 2

----

Round 3

Division 2 South

Round 1

----

Round 2

----

Round 3

Final

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.

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

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)

Richard Buck Richard Thomas Buck (born 14 November 1986 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former British sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres event. He is from York, and trains in Loughborough. Buck's current club is City of York A.C. (formerly Nestlé ...

for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017
Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017 ;Most tries in a match — 4 (x2)

for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017
Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017 ;Most conversions in a match — 8

Ben Palmer Ben Palmer (born 1976) is a British film and television director. His television credits include the Channel 4 sketch show '' Bo' Selecta!'' (2002–2006), the second and third series of the E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners'' (2009–2010) and the Sk ...

for Warwickshire at home to North Midlands on 13 May 2017 ;Most penalties in a match — 4 Pierre-Alex Clarke for Hampshire at home to Somerset on 13 May 2017 ;Most drop goals in a match — 0

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2016–17 County Championship

Competition format

Participating Counties and ground locations

Group stage

Division 2 North

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 2 South

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Final

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Competition records

Team

Player

See also

References

External links