The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 was the 13th version of the annual
English rugby union County Championship, organised by the
RFU for the
tier 3 English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 3, having previously been known as the County Championship Shield. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and below of the
English rugby union league system. Due to changes to the competition across the board, the Division 3 competition was reduced to eight teams (see the section below for more detail on this), divided into two pools (north and south) with the pool winners meeting in the final to be held at
Twickenham Stadium.
New teams to the division include
Middlesex, who returned to Division 3 after missing the previous year, and
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
who last took part in 2013. The reigning champions,
Hampshire, were one of the promoted counties who were playing in
tier 2 in 2017.
At the end of the pool stage
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
and Sussex topped both of their groups to qualify for the final. This was not without some controversy as Oxfordshire managed to make the final despite only playing 2 of their 3 group games. With pool 1 on a knife edge going into the final game, Oxfordshire's opponents,
Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire, were unable to field a front row and the game was awarded to Oxfordshire and 5 points. By gaining the extra bonus point, Oxfordshire edged out group rivals,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
and
Essex, who both had a superior for and against records.
Having said all this had Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire played it was probably likely that Oxfordshire would have won by a bonus point anyway. At the Twickenham final an exciting game finished 29-29 after 80 minutes, with Oxfordshire crowned Division 3 champions for the first time in the county's history by virtue of scoring more tries (5) than Sussex (4).
Competition format
The Division 3 format was changed for the 2017 season. Where before there were ten teams playing in three pools, this was narrowed down to seven teams playing in two pools. The first pool had four teams with two of the counties playing two home games and the others just one - 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. Pool 2 only had three teams due to the withdrawal of
Middlesex who were supposed to take part, meaning that each team played one home game each. The top side in each group went through to the final held at
Twickenham Stadium.
[
Due to changes to the County Championships implemented for this competition, promotion between tier 3 and tier 2 has been introduced. This will be done over a two-year period, with points accumulated from the pool stages determining the promoted sides (one for each group), who will be turn replaced by the bottom two sides (one from each group) from tier 2.
]
Participating counties and ground locations
Group stage
Division 3 Pool 1
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
*Oxfordshire awarded 5 point win by default as Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire were unable to field a team due to a lack of front-row forwards.
Division 3 Pool 2
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Final
*Oxfordshire champions by virtue of scoring more tries (5) than Sussex (4).
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 — 20 points
30 - 10 Buckinghamshire at home to Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire on 13 May 2017
;Largest away win — 29 points
37 - 8 Essex away to Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire on 6 May 2017
;Most points scored — 37 points
37 - 8 Essex away to Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire on 6 May 2017
;Most tries in a match — 5 (x2)
Essex away to Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire on 6 May 2017
Oxfordshire at Twickenham against Sussex on 28 May 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 4
Sussex at home to Dorset & Wilts on 6 May 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 3 (x2)
Sussex away to Berkshire on 13 May 2017
Berkshire away to Dorset & Wilts on 20 May 2017
;Most drop goals in a match — 0
;Most points in a match — 17
Ed Phillips for Oxfordshire away to Buckinghamshire on 6 May 2017
;Most tries in a match — 2 (x2)
Pat Ockendon for Buckinghamshire at home to Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire on 13 May 2017
Bradley Burr
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
for Essex at home to Buckinghamshire on 20 May 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 4
Carlos Casanova for Sussex at home to Dorset & Wilts on 6 May 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 3 (x2)
Carlos Casanova for Sussex away to Berkshire on 13 May 2017
Tom Finnie for Berkshire away to Dorset & Wilts on 20 May 2017
Notes
See also
* English rugby union system
* Rugby union in England
References
External links
NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
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