2015 Bill Beaumont Cup
| 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup (County Championship) | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England |
| Date | 9 May 2015 - 31 May 2015 |
| Champions | Cornwall (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Lancashire |
| Relegated | Kent, Durham County |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Attendance | 9,803 (average 754 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 2,800 Cornwall v Hertfordshire (23 May 2015) |
| Lowest attendance | 250 Cheshire v Lancashire (9 May 2015) |
| Top point scorer | Matthew Shepherd Cornwall 64 |
| Top try scorer | Forbes Edwards Cheshire 4 |
The 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 115th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier 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 were divided into two regional pools with the winners of each pool meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the competition were the two finalists from the 2014 County Championship Plate – Kent (winners) and Durham County (runners-up) who replaced North Midlands and Northumberland.[1][2][3][4] Lancashire were the defending champions.[5]
At the end of the group stage, Lancashire won the northern division with relative ease to book their place in the final for the seventh successive year while Cornwall joined them, squeezing through by defeating Hertfordshire in the last game of the southern group having trailed 18 - 6 at half time. Both Durham County and Kent made an instant return to the 2016 County Championship Plate after being relegated by coming bottom of their respective groups.[6][7] The 2015 final was a repeat of the previous two seasons with Cornwall this time turning the tables on holders Lancashire and winning their first county title since 1999 in a 18 - 13 victory. Cornish All Black scrum half Matthew Shepherd was man of the match with two tries and also finished as the competitions top scorer.[8]
Competition format
The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. This meant that two teams in the pool had two home games, while the other two had just one. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015.[9] The bottom side in each group was relegated to the second tier of the county championships for the following season, with the finalists from that division replacing them.
Participating Counties and ground locations
| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | Hare Lane | 2,000 | Chester, Cheshire |
| Cornwall | Recreation Ground | 3,500 (580 seats) | Redruth, Cornwall |
| Durham County | Crow Trees The Darlington Arena |
2,000 25,000 |
Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Darlington, County Durham |
| Gloucestershire | Dockham Road The Hayfields |
2,500 N/A |
Cinderford, Gloucestershire Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire |
| Hertfordshire | Highfields | N/A | Ware, Hertfordshire |
| Kent | Merton Lane Rectory Field |
N/A N/A |
Canterbury, Kent Gravesend, Kent |
| Lancashire | Woodlands Memorial Ground | 9,000 | Lytham St Annes, Lancashire |
| Yorkshire | Lockwood Park Castle Park |
1,500 5,000 |
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
Group stage
Division 1 North
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lancashire (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 24 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 13 | ||||||
| 2 | Cheshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 95 | 80 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||||||
| 3 | Yorkshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 66 | 66 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Durham County (R) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 58 | 102 | –44 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final. Pink background means the county were demoted to Division 2 North of the County Championship Plate for the following season. Updated: 12 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Cheshire | 18 – 21 | Lancashire |
| Report |
| Hare Lane Attendance: 250 Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts |
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Yorkshire | 33 – 12 | Durham County |
| Report |
| Lockwood Park, Huddersfield Attendance: 446 Referee: Ben Davis |
Round 2
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| Durham County | 6 – 17 | Lancashire |
| Report |
| Crow Trees, Swalwell Attendance: 320 Referee: Peter Steniford |
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Yorkshire | 19 – 25 | Cheshire |
| Report |
| Castle Park, Doncaster Attendance: 550 Referee: Mike Harris |
Round 3
| 23 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Durham County | 40 – 52 | Cheshire (BP) |
| Report |
| Darlington Arena, Darlington Attendance: 380 Referee: Matt Turvey |
| 23 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Lancashire | 29 – 14 | Yorkshire |
| Report |
| Woodlands Memorial Ground, Lytham St Annes Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Gareth Holsgrove |
Division 1 South
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwall (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 42 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 13 | ||||||
| 2 | Hertfordshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 69 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||||
| 3 | Gloucestershire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 75 | –22 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| 4 | Kent (R) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 73 | –27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the final. Pink background means the county were en demoted to Division 2 South of the County Championship Plate for the following season. Updated: 12 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| Gloucestershire | 8 – 27 | Cornwall (BP) |
| Report |
| Dockham Road, Cinderford Attendance: 562 Referee: Mike Hudson |
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| Kent | 19 – 31 | Hertfordshire (BP) |
| Report |
| Merton Lane, Canterbury Attendance: 250 Referee: Luis Caviglia |
Round 2
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Hertfordshire | 37 – 25 | Gloucestershire |
| Report |
| Highfields, Ware Attendance: 620 Referee: Luke Haskins |
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Kent | 16 – 22 | Cornwall |
| Report |
| Milton Road, Gravesend Attendance: 600 Referee: Calum Howard |
Round 3
| 23 May 2015 15:00 |
| Cornwall | 25 – 18 | Herfordshire (BP) |
| Report |
| The Recreation Ground, Redruth Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Veryan Boscawen |
| 23 May 2015 15:00 |
| Gloucestershire | 20 – 11 | Kent |
| Report |
| The Hayfields, Mangotsfield Attendance: 325 Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe |
Final
| 31 May 2015 12:00 |
| Cornwall | 18 - 13 | Lancashire |
| Report |
| Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 1,500 Referee: James Sullivan |
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
| County | Home Games |
Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 13% |
| Cornwall | 1 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 80% |
| Durham County | 2 | 700 | 350 | 380 | 320 | 9% |
| Gloucestershire | 2 | 887 | 444 | 562 | 325 | 22% |
| Hertfordshire | 1 | 620 | 620 | 620 | 620 | |
| Kent | 2 | 850 | 425 | 600 | 250 | |
| Lancashire | 1 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 13% |
| Yorkshire | 2 | 996 | 498 | 550 | 446 | 20% |
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
|
Top try scorers
|
See also
References
- ^ "Stradwick leads Kent to county title". Kent RFU. 1 June 2014.
- ^ "Durham rugby hope not to freeze at Twickenham in County Championship final v Kent". Hartlepool Mail. 30 May 2014.
- ^ "North Midlands relegated". North Midlands RFU. 24 May 2014.
- ^ "Northumberland 22 Yorkshire 36: Relegation blow for beaten North". Chronicle Live. 25 May 2014.
- ^ "Cornwall fall short in County Championship final at Twickenham". Western Morning News. 1 June 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Cornwall win County Championship with superb win over Lancashire". West Briton. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-06-02. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "ENGLAND V BARBARIANS SUNDAY 31 MAY 2015 K.O. 3pm". Tunbridge Wells RFC. 21 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 347. Rugby Paper Ltd. 10 May 2015. pp. 32–33 & 36.
- ^ a b c d e f g "County Championships Results: 2014-15". englandrugby.com. 31 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 348. Rugby Paper Ltd. 17 May 2015. pp. 28–30.
- ^ a b "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 349. Rugby Paper Ltd. 24 May 2015. pp. 24–26.