Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2
The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2002 as the County Championship Shield - changing to Plate by 2010 and then to Bill Beaumont Division 2 by 2017. Division 2 is contested for by second tier teams in the RFU County Championship. Each county draws its players from rugby union clubs from the third tier and below of the English rugby union league system.
Division 2 is split into two regional groups and with each team playing one or two home games and the top teams in each group meeting in the final to be held at Twickenham Stadium along with other county divisional finals. Since 2017 promotion and relegation occurs over two years as opposed to one, using a system of accumulative points from pool games to determine who goes up or down. Currently the top two sides in Division 2 over the two years go up to tier 1 while the bottom two sides are relegated to tier 3.
Past winners
Year | Date | Winners | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Attendance/Notes |
2002 | 2 June | Warwickshire | 34 - 12 | Berkshire | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2003 | 25 May | Northumberland | 27 - 8 | Oxfordshire | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2004 | 29 May | North Midlands | 58 - 5 | Eastern Counties | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2005 | 29 May | Hertfordshire | 20 - 13 | North Midlands | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2006 | 29 May | Cheshire | 32 - 17 | Middlesex | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2007 | 27 May | Warwickshire | 22 - 8 | Somerset | Butts Park Arena, Coventry | |
2008 | 31 May | Northumberland | 25 – 11 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium, London | 1,500 |
2009 | 30 May | Cheshire | 30 - 22 | Hertfordshire | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2010 | 29 May | Kent | 33 - 27 | Warwickshire | Rectory Field, London | |
2011 | 28 May | Northumberland | 31 - 17 | North Midlands | Greensfield, Alnwick | |
2012 | No Final | |||||
2013 | 26 May | Northumberland | 45 - 10 | North Midlands | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2014 | 1 June | Kent | 31 - 23 | Durham County | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2015 | 31 May | Surrey | 17 - 3 | Eastern Counties | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2016 | 29 May | East Midlands | 33 - 27 | Kent | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2017 | 28 May | Leicestershire | 39 - 7 | Hampshire | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2018 | 27 May | Durham County | 46 - 12 | Warwickshire | Twickenham Stadium, London | |
2019 | 8 June | Leicestershire | 38 - 13 | Surrey | Twickenham Stadium, London |
Number of wins
- Northumberland
- Cheshire
- Kent
- Leicestershire
- Warwickshire
- Durham County
- East Midlands
- Hertfordshire
- North Midlands
- Surrey