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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

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 prom ...

for the tier 2

English counties The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpos ...

. 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 One, up until 2023 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 Lea ...

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 Northern England. The remainder of England is covered by the two counterpart leagues National L ...

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 (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

. 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 counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

(winners) and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

(runners up) coming up due to reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Shield, while

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

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 ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and Hampshire won their respective groups to qualify for the

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

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

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Round 3

Division 2 South

Round 1

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Round 2

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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 director, 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 (TV channel), E4 sitcom ''The Inbetween ...

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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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