The 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 119th version of the annual, English

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

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

(RFU) for the top tier

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 sections with the winners of each meeting in the final held 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 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

were the reigning champions having defeated

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

in the previous year's final. At the end of the group stage,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

overcame stiff challenges from Lancashire and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to top Division 1 North. Although they beat Yorkshire in a razor tight game during round 2, they had to rely on the same side to beat favourites Lancashire on the final match day, before they were assured of a place in the competition final. The tournament structure was perhaps slightly unkind to Yorkshire as they had to play the top two sides, while Cheshire and Lancashire avoided playing one another.

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

made amends for a terrible tournament the previous year by topping Division 1 South with an resounding victory over

being probably the most impressive of their three wins. Again, due to the rather bizarre tournament structure the top two sides in the group did not meet, although

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

failed to get the 100% record needed to qualify for the final, thanks to a defeat against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. In an incredibly tight Twickenham final Cornwall defeated Cheshire 14–12. Cornwall had a 7–0 lead at the end of the first half thanks to a solo Alex Ducker converted try (his 4th of the tournament), when a moment of madness just before half-time saw Cornish scrum-half, Jack Oulton, red carded for an off-the-ball incident. The second half was all Cheshire as they looked to get back into the game against the 14 men of Cornwall, scoring two tries to eventually take a 12–7 lead with 10 minutes remaining. With a Cheshire win looking imminent, Cornwall were awarded a penalty inside the Cheshire 22. What followed was a series of Cornwall penalties and scrums, as Cheshire were reduced to 13 men for repeated infringements as the game went into injury time. Eight minutes into injury, the ball finally left the scrum and was found by Cornwall's Seti Raumakita, who dodged several tackles to go over for a try to make it 12-12. With the last kick of the game Matthew Shepherd held his nerve to kick the conversion and win Cornwall the 2019 County Championship, and their sixth overall.

Competition format

The 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 consists of twelve county sides, with six counties in the northern group, and six in the southern group. Each county plays three games per group, which means that certain counties get two home games, while others just the one home game. The RFU have taken 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 2 June 2019 at

. It is the top tier of county championship rugby. Promotion into the division and relegation from it occurs every two seasons, with accumulated points taken into consideration. At the end of the 2017–18 season,

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

(north) and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

(south) were relegated due to pool results accumulated over 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 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 ...

competitions, although in East Midlands' case they actually took voluntary relegation due to difficulties in getting the top eligible clubs in their union to provide players for future competitions. They are replaced by

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

(north) and

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, ...

(south), who were the highest ranked counties during the

and

Division 2 competitions, with Durham being the 2018 champions. This also means that there will be no promotion or relegation until the end of the 2020 competition.

Participating counties and ground locations

Group stage

Division 1 North

Round 1

----

Round 2

----

Round 3

Division 1 South

Round 1

----

Round 2

----

Round 3

Final

Total season attendances

*Does not include final at Twickenham which is a neutral venue and involves teams from all three county divisions on the same day

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 also include final.

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Competition records

Team

;Largest home win — 56 points 59 – 3 Yorkshire at home to Northumberland on 4 May 2019 ;Largest away win — 66 points 73 – 7 Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019 ;Most points scored — 73 points 73 – 7 Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019 ;Most tries in a match — 11 Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019 ;Most penalties in a match — 4 Yorkshire away to Lancashire on 18 May 2019 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 Lancashire at home to Yorkshire on 18 May 2019

Attendances

;Highest — 3,500 Cheshire v Cornwall on 2 June 2019 (Final) ;Lowest — 247 Cheshire at home to Eastern Counties on 4 May 2019 ;Highest Average Attendance — 1,780 Cornwall ;Lowest Average Attendance — 250 Kent

Player

;Most points in a match — 29 Leo Fielding for Gloucestershire at home to Devon on 4 May 2019 ;Most tries in a match — 3 (3) Leo Fielding for Gloucestershire at home to Devon on 4 May 2019
Tom Grimes for Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019
Henry Roberts for Yorkshire at home to Northumberland on 4 May 2019 ;Most conversions in a match — 9 Chris Johnson for Lancashire away to Durham County on 4 May 2019 ;Most penalties in a match — 4 Lewis Minikin for Yorkshire away to Lancashire on 18 May 2019 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 Chris Johnson for Lancashire at home to Yorkshire on 18 May 2019

Notes

References

External links

NCA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill Beaumont Cup

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Competition format

Participating counties and ground locations

Group stage

Division 1 North

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 1 South

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Final

Total season attendances

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Competition records

Team

Attendances

Player

Notes

See also

References

External links