The 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2, was the 17th version of the competition that is part 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 ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

were the reigning champions, having won the 2017 final. At the end of the group stage, Durham County won the northern group with ease despite having another strong side, and 2017 winners,

, in their pool. They were joined by southern winners

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 ...

who beat off stiff competition from

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, ...

to qualify. At the Twickenham final, Durham showed that they were best side in the division by comfortably beating Warwickshire, 46-12, for what would be the county's first ever Division 2 victory and first county silverware since 2009. By showing the best form over two years, Durham County were promoted from the northern group, just edging Leicestershire by virtue of a better for/against record, while Hampshire were promoted from the southern group despite missing out on the final. Both counties will play in the 2019 Bill Beaumont Cup. At the opposite end of the tables,

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 ...

(north) and

North Midlands The North Midlands is a loosely defined area covering the northern parts of the Midlands in England. It is not an International Territorial Level region like the East Midlands or the West Midlands. A statistical definition in 1881 included the ...

(south) were relegated to the 2019 County Championship Shield. In the case of Cumbria they actually finished above Staffordshire on points/for against over the two years, but still went down for reasons that are not yet clear.

Competition format

The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south with four teams in each group. This means that two teams in the pool had two home games, while the other two had just one. The RFU took fixtures from the previous year into account so that county sides that only played one home game in that competition now get two games and vice versa. At the end of the group stage the top teams with the best record from each group (north and south) advance to the final held on 27 May 2018 at

. A continuation from the 2017 competition was that promotion/relegation occurred every two seasons instead of one, with points accumulated over the two seasons (2017 and 2018) taken into consideration. The two highest ranked counties (one from the north/one from the south) were promoted into the 2019 Bill Beaumont Cup competition, replacing the lowest ranked aggregate sides who dropped down into Division 2. Relegation was also introduced with the bottom two ranked sides (again one north/one south) over the two years dropping to the

2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 was the 15th version of the competition that is part of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organised by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for the tier 3 English counties. Each cou ...

and being replaced by the top two teams from the 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship 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

Promotion/relegation aggregate table

In order to determine promotion to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 and relegation to the

, results from the

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 ...

and 2018 competitions will be combined, with the highest and lowest ranked sides from each group being promoted or relegated.

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 — 92 points 99 - 7 Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018 ;Largest away win — 60 points 66 - 5 Hampshire away to Somerset on 12 May 2018 ;Most points scored — 99 points 99 - 7 Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018 ;Most tries in a match — 15 Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018 ;Most conversions in a match — 12 Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018 ;Most penalties in a match — 2 (4) Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 5 May 2018
Hampshire away to Somerset on 12 May 2018
Durham County at home to Leicestershire on 19 May 2018
Durham County versus Warwickshire at Twickenham on 27 May 2018 ;Most drop goals in a match — 0

Player

;Most points in a match — 26 Joel Knight for Hampshire away to Somerset on 12 May 2018 ;Most tries in a match — 3 (4) Grant Connon for Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018
Callum Dacey for Leicestershire at home to Cumbria on 12 May 2018
Oliver Hodgson for Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018
Kemp Price for Hampshire away to Somerset on 12 May 2018 ;Most conversions in a match — 12 Warren Seals for Durham County at home to Staffordshire on 12 May 2018 ;Most penalties in a match — 2 (4) Grant Hancox for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 5 May 2018
Joel Knight for Hampshire away to Somerset on 12 May 2018
Peter Evans for Durham County at home to Leicestershire on 19 May 2018
Josh Bragman for Durham County versus Warwickshire at Twickenham on 27 May 2018 ;Most drop goals in a match — 0

Notes

References

External links

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2017–18 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

Promotion/relegation aggregate table

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Competition records

Team

Player

Notes

See also

References

External links