2016 County Championship Plate
| 2016 County Championship Plate | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 England |
| Date | 7 May 2016 - 29 May 2016 |
|
← 2015 2017 → | |
The 2016 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, is the 11th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the tier 2 English counties. 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 League 2 South or National League 2 North). The counties are divided into two regional pools (north/south) with four teams in each and the winners of each pool meet in the final to be held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the division include Kent and Durham who were relegated from the 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup while Leicestershire were promoted as the winners of the 2015 County Championship Shield.[1][2][3]
Competition format
The competition format is two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. This means that two teams in the pool have two home games, while the other two had just one. The top side in each group goes through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium, with both teams also being promoted to the top tier for the following season. Typically there was no relegation although teams have dropped out/been invited to join the division.
Participating Counties and ground locations
| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | Bitton Park Sports Ground | Teignmouth, Devon | |
| Durham | Eastwood Gardens Brinkburn |
76 (seated) |
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Hartlepool, County Durham |
| East Midlands | Rushmere Road Fortress Fengate |
Northampton, Northamptonshire Peterborough, Cambridgeshire | |
| Kent | Merton Lane Priestfields |
Canterbury, Kent Rochester, Kent | |
| Leicestershire | Hinckley Road | Leicester Forest East, Leicestershire | |
| North Midlands | Heathbrook | Kingswinford, West Midlands | |
| Northumberland | Mitford Road | Morpeth, Northumberland | |
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 | Taunton, Somerset |
Group stage
Division 1 North
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | East Midlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | Leicestershire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 4 | Northumberland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 North of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 5 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| Devon | v | Somerset |
|---|---|---|
| Bitton Park Sports Ground, Teignmouth |
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| Kent | v | North Midlands |
|---|---|---|
| Merton Lane, Canterbury |
Round 2
| 14 May 2016 14:30 |
| Somerset | v | Kent |
|---|---|---|
| Hyde Park, Taunton |
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| North Midlands | v | Devon |
|---|---|---|
| Heathbrook, Kingswinford |
Round 3
| 21 May 2016 14:30 |
| Somerset | v | North Midlands |
|---|---|---|
| Hyde Park, Taunton |
| 21 May 2016 15:00 |
| Kent | v | Devon |
|---|---|---|
| Priestfields, Rochester |
Division 1 South
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Kent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | North Midlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 4 | Somerset | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 South of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 5 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| Durham | v | Leicestershire |
|---|---|---|
| Eastwood Gardens, Gateshead |
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| Northumberland | v | East Midlands |
|---|---|---|
| Mitford Road, Morpeth |
Round 2
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| Durham | v | Northumberland |
|---|---|---|
| Brinkburn, Hartlepool |
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| East Midlands | v | Leicestershire |
|---|---|---|
| Rushmere Road, Northampton |
Round 3
| 21 May 2016 14:30 |
| Leicestershire | v | Northumberland |
|---|---|---|
| Hinckley Road, Leicester Forest East |
| 21 May 2016 15:00 |
| East Midlands | v | Durham |
|---|---|---|
| Fortress Fengate, Peterborough |
Final
| 29 May 2016 |
| v | ||
|---|---|---|
| Twickenham Stadium, London |
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
| Club | Home Games |
Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Individual statistics
- Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also 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
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Top try scorers
|
See also
References
- ↑ "RUGBY: Gloucestershire survive relegation with vital win over Kent". Gazette. 26 May 2015.
- ↑ "Counties beaten as Durham relegated and Northumberland miss out". Chronicle Live. 24 May 2015.
- ↑ "Rugby: Leicestershire lift County Championship Shield after win over Cumbria at Twickenham". Leicester Mercury. 1 June 2015.