The 2016 County Championship Shield was the 12th version of the annual Englishrugby unionCounty Championship, organized by the RFU for the tier 3English counties. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and below of the English rugby union league system. The counties were divided into three pools - one pool with four teams, the others with three teams each, with the winner of each group plus the best runner-up going through to the semi-finals, and the winners of those games meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. At the moment there is no definitive promotion or relegation out of or into the County Championship Shield although the 2015 winners Leicestershire went up to join tier 2 while Middlesex did not take part in the 2016 competition.[1]
After winning their respective pools and semi-final games, Staffordshire and Hampshire met in the final. In the end it was Hampshire who finished as the champions, defeating Staffordshire, 33-11.[2]
Competition format
The competition format consisted of three groups (one with four teams, two with three teams), based roughly on regional lines where possible. The four team group consisted of six games, with two teams playing two home games and the others one home game each, while the three team groups saw each team play one home game. The top side of each group automatically qualified for the semi-finals, as did the best group runner-up. The winners of the semi-finals met in the final at Twickenham Stadium held on May 29 April 2016. As the lowest tier in the county championship there was no relegation while promotion is not given every season, although outstanding county performances can lead to counties moving up to tier 2.
England
