2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2

The 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2, was the 17th version of the competition that is part 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 meeting in the final at Twickenham Stadium. Leicestershire were the reigning champions, having won the 2017 final.[1][2]

For the first tier of the English Counties competition, see 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1. For the third tier of the English Counties competition, see 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3.
2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2
Countries England
Date5 May - 27 May 2018
ChampionsDurham County (1st title)
Runners-upWarwickshire
PromotedDurham County, Hampshire
RelegatedCumbria, North Midlands
Top point scorer Joel Knight (Hampshire)
45 points
Top try scorer Callum Dacey (Leicestershire)
Oliver Hodgson (Durham)
Sean Moloney (Durham)
5 tries

At the end of the group stage, Durham County won the northern group with ease despite having another strong side, and 2017 winners, Leicestershire, in their pool. They were joined by southern winners Warwickshire who beat off stiff competition from Hampshire 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.[3][4]

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 (north) and North Midlands (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 Twickenham Stadium.

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 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
2018 Bill Beaumont Division 2 North Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Durham County (Q, P)3300195221732014
2Leicestershire320110668382010
3Staffordshire310265248-183116
4Cumbria (R)300329149-120011
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background means the county qualified for the final. (P) means promoted. Updated: 19 May 2018
Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1
5 May 2018
15:00
Cumbria 5 - 64 Durham (BP)
Cumbria
Durham
Lowmoor Road, Wigton
5 May 2018
15:00
(2BP) Staffordshire 29 - 33 Leicestershire (BP)
Peel Croft, Burton upon Trent

[5]

Round 2
12 May 2018
14:30
(BP) Durham 99 – 7 Staffordshire
Durham
Hollow Drift, Durham
12 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Leicestershire 63 – 7 Cumbria
Leicestershire
Westleigh Park, Blaby

[6]

Round 3
19 May 2018
14:30
Durham 32 – 10 Leicestershire
Durham
Greenwood Road, Billingham
19 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Cumbria 17 – 22 Staffordshire
Mint Bridge Stadium, Kendal

[7]

Division 2 South
2018 Bill Beaumont Division 2 South Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Warwickshire (Q)33008741463015
2Hampshire (P)320114671752111
3Somerset310256119-63105
4North Midlands (R)300371129-58202
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background means the county qualified for the final. (P) means promoted. Updated: 19 May 2018
Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1
5 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Hampshire 56 - 35 North Midlands (BP)
North Midlands
Hampshire
Gosport Park, Gosport
5 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Warwickshire 29 - 5 Somerset
Warwickshire
Liberty Way, Nuneaton

[5]

Round 2
12 May 2018
15:00
North Midlands 12 – 27 Warwickshire (BP)
North Midlands
Warwickshire
Finstall Park, Bromsgrove
12 May 2018
15:00
Somerset 5 – 66 Hampshire (BP)
Hampshire
Hyde Park, Taunton

[6]

Round 3
19 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Somerset 46 – 24 North Midlands (BP)
North Midlands
Hyde Park, Taunton
19 May 2018
15:00
(BP) Warwickshire 31 – 24 Hampshire (BP)
Warwickshire
Hampshire
Ellis Road, Rugby

[7]

Final
27 May 2018
17:15
Durham County 46 – 12 Warwickshire
Twickenham Stadium, London

[3][4]

Promotion/Relegation aggregate table

In order to determine promotion to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 and relegation to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3, results from the 2017 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.

Competition records

Notes
  1. Despite finishing 3rd overall during two seasons, Cumbria were relegated to the 2019 County Championship Shield instead of Staffordshire.
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See also

References
  1. "DOMINANT LEICESTERSHIRE CRUISE TO DIVISION TWO FINAL WIN". England Rugby. 28 May 2017.
  2. "LEICESTERSHIRE 39 HAMPSHIRE 7". Hampshire RFU. 28 May 2017.
  3. "County Championships: As it happened". England RFU. 27 May 2018.
  4. "Durham Men triumphant at Twickenham to take Bill Beaumont Division Two Championship title". Durham County RFU. 27 May 2018.
  5. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (503). Rugby Paper Ltd. 6 May 2018. pp. 28–30.
  6. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (504). Rugby Paper Ltd. 13 May 2018. pp. 28–30.
  7. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (505). Rugby Paper Ltd. 20 May 2018. pp. 28–30.
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