2016_County_Championship_Plate
The 2016 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 15th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organised 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 North or National League 2 South). The counties were 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 included Kent and Durham County 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]
| 2016 County Championship Plate | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England |
| Date | 7 May 2016 - 29 May 2016 |
| Champions | East Midlands (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Kent |
| Attendance | 3,596 (average 320 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 820 Devon v Somerset (7 May 2016) |
| Lowest attendance | 80 Durham County v Leicestershire (7 May 2016) |
| Top point scorer | Joe Daniel East Midlands 38 |
| Top try scorer |  Maama MolitikaEast Midlands 6 |
At the end of the pool stage, pool winners East Midlands (north) and Kent (south) met in the final at Twickenham. Despite it being their first final against regulars Kent, East Midlands won 33-27, with former Tongan international, Maama Molitika, scoring three tries in the game. He would finish as the competition's top try scorer.[4][5]
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.
Due to changes to the County Championships to be implemented for the 2017 competition, four teams instead of two would be promoted to the top tier. This meant that the two group winners would be joined by two other teams from the plate competition based on how well they have done over the past couple of seasons.[6]
| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | Bitton Park Sports Ground | 1,210 | Teignmouth, Devon |
| Durham County | Crow Trees[a 1] Brinkburn |
2,000 (400 seats) 1,000 (76 seats) |
Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Hartlepool, County Durham |
| East Midlands | Rushmere Road Fortress Fengate |
N/A N/A |
Northampton, Northamptonshire Peterborough, Cambridgeshire |
| Kent | Merton Lane Priestfields |
N/A N/A |
Canterbury, Kent Rochester, Kent |
| Leicestershire | Hinckley Road | N/A | Leicester Forest East, Leicestershire |
| North Midlands | Heathbrook | N/A | Kingswinford, West Midlands |
| Northumberland | Grange House Field | 1,000 | Morpeth, Northumberland |
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 | Taunton, Somerset |
Division 2 North
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Midlands (P) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 36 | 54 | 2 | 0 | 14 | ||||||
| 2 | Leicestershire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 73 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||
| 3 | Northumberland (P)[b 1] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 58 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||||||
| 4 | Durham County | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 104 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 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: 12 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
- Notes
Round 1
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| Northumberland | 7 - 17 | East Midlands |
| Report |
| Grange House Field, Morpeth Attendance: 252 Referee: Callum Sharp |
| 7 May 2016 15:15 |
| (BP) Durham County | 28 - 38 | Leicestershire (BP) |
| Report |
| Crow Trees, Swalwell[7] Attendance: 80 Referee: Ben Rayner |
Round 2
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| Durham County | 29 - 38 | Northumberland (BP) |
| Report |
| Brinkburn, Hartlepool Attendance: 297 Referee: Chris Dennis |
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| (BP) East Midlands | 45 - 10 | Leicestershire |
| Rushmere Road, Northampton Attendance: 320 Referee: Neil Chivers |
Round 3
| 21 May 2016 14:30 |
| Leicestershire | 12 - 0 | Northumberland |
| Report |
| Hinckley Road, Leicester Forest East Attendance: 250 Referee: Robert Teare |
| 21 May 2016 15:00 |
| (BP) East Midlands | 28 - 19 | Durham County |
| Report |
| Fortress Fengate, Peterborough Attendance: 450 Referee: Simon Harding |
Division 2 South
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent (P) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 62 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||||
| 2 | Devon (P)[c 1] | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 97 | 57 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| 3 | Somerset | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 68 | -18 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
| 4 | North Midlands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 107 | -54 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 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: 21 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
- Notes
Round 1
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| (BP) Devon | 39 - 10 | Somerset |
| Report |
| Bitton Park Sports Ground, Teignmouth Attendance: 820 Referee: Adam Leal |
| 7 May 2016 15:00 |
| (BP) Kent | 43 - 28 | North Midlands (BP) |
| Kent Report North Midlands Report |
| Merton Lane, Canterbury Attendance: 230 Referee: Daniel Collins |
Round 2
| 14 May 2016 15:00 |
| North Midlands | 18 - 50 | Devon (BP) |
| Report |
| Heathbrook, Kingswinford Attendance: 203 Referee: Matt Turvey |
Round 3
| 21 May 2016 14:30 |
| Somerset | 14 - 7 | North Midlands (BP) |
| Report |
| Hyde Park, Taunton Attendance: 150 Referee: Luis Caviglia |
| 21 May 2016 15:00 |
| (BP) Kent | 29 - 8 | Devon |
| Report |
| Priestfields, Rochester Attendance: 284 Referee: David Clarkson |
- Does not include final at Twickenham which is a neutral venue and involves teams from all three county divisions on the same day
| County | Home Games |
Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | 1 | 820 | 820 | 820 | 820 | 68% |
| Durham County | 2 | 377 | 189 | 297 | 80 | 17% |
| East Midlands | 2 | 770 | 385 | 450 | 320 | |
| Kent | 2 | 514 | 257 | 284 | 230 | |
| Leicestershire | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | |
| North Midlands | 1 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 203 | |
| Northumberland | 1 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 25% |
| Somerset | 2 | 410 | 205 | 260 | 150 | 10% |
- 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
|
- "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. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
- "Rugby: Bedfordshire players inspire East Midlands to Twickenham triumph". Bedfordshire News. 29 May 2016.
- "East Midlands win County Champs Division 2 Plate". England Rugby. 29 May 2016.
- "Full Men's County Championship fixture list 2016-17" (PDF). England Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- "Durham Senior XV start to the 2016 campaign is disappointing". Durham RFU. 7 May 2016.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 399. Rugby Paper Ltd. 8 May 2016. pp. 28–29 & 34.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 400. Rugby Paper Ltd. 15 May 2016. pp. 30–31 & 36.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 401. Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 May 2016. pp. 30–31 & 32.
- NCA Rugby Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine