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2015 Bill Beaumont Cup

{{About||the second tier of the English Counties competition|2015 County Championship Plate|the third tier of the English Counties competition|2015 County Championship Shield}}

{{Infobox rugby union season

| name = 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup (County Championship)

| image =

| date = 9 May 2015 - 31 May 2015

| countries = {{flag|England}}

| champions = Cornwall

| count = 4

| runnersup = Lancashire

| relegated = Kent, Durham County

| matches = 13

| attendance = 9803

| highest attendance = 2,800 Cornwall v Hertfordshire (23 May 2015)

| lowest attendance = 250 Cheshire v Lancashire (9 May 2015)

| tries =

| top point scorer = {{flagicon|ENG}} Matthew Shepherd
Cornwall 64

| top try scorer = {{flagicon|ENG}} Forbes Edwards
Cheshire 4

| prevseason = 2014

| nextseason = 2016

}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://jswaite.co.uk/kent-rugby.org/5_county_plate_champ.html |title=Stradwick leads Kent to county title |publisher=Kent RFU |date=1 June 2014 |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518100650/http://jswaite.co.uk/kent-rugby.org/5_county_plate_champ.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/more-sports/durham-rugby-hope-not-to-freeze-at-twickenham-in-county-championship-final-v-kent-1-6646252 |title=Durham rugby hope not to freeze at Twickenham in County Championship final v Kent |publisher=Hartlepool Mail |date=30 May 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.northmidsrfu.co.uk/north-midlands-relegated/ |title=North Midlands relegated |publisher=North Midlands RFU |date=24 May 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/northumberland-22-yorkshire-36-relegation-7169640 |title=Northumberland 22 Yorkshire 36: Relegation blow for beaten North |publisher=Chronicle Live |date=25 May 2014 }} Lancashire were the defending champions.{{cite web |url=http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/cornwall-victorious-county-championship-final/story-21172623-detail/story.html |title=Cornwall fall short in County Championship final at Twickenham |publisher=Western Morning News |date=1 June 2014 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605204810/http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Cornwall-victorious-County-Championship-final/story-21172623-detail/story.html |archive-date=5 June 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/sport/12970802.RUGBY__Gloucestershire_survive_relegation_with_vital_win_over_Kent/?ref=rss |title=RUGBY: Gloucestershire survive relegation with vital win over Kent |publisher=Gazette |date=26 May 2015 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/amateur-rugby/counties-beaten-durham-relegated-northumberland-9319089 |title=Counties beaten as Durham relegated and Northumberland miss out |publisher=Chronicle Live |date=24 May 2015 }} 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 an 18 - 13 victory. Cornish All Black scrum half Matthew Shepherd was man of the match with two tries and also finished as the competition's top scorer.{{cite web |url=http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Cornwall-v-Lancashire/story-26606326-detail/story.html |title=Cornwall win County Championship with superb win over Lancashire |publisher=West Briton |date=31 May 2015 |access-date=2016-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602193239/http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Cornwall-v-Lancashire/story-26606326-detail/story.html |archive-date=2015-06-02 |url-status=dead }}

{{horizontal TOC|nonum=yes}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.twrfc.com/news/england-v-barbarians-sunday-31-may-2015-ko-3pm-1365028.html |title=ENGLAND V BARBARIANS SUNDAY 31 MAY 2015 K.O. 3pm |publisher=Tunbridge Wells RFC |date=21 January 2015 |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518084205/http://www.twrfc.com/news/england-v-barbarians-sunday-31-may-2015-ko-3pm-1365028.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=dead }} 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

{{location map+ |England |float= |width=395 |caption= Locations of the 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup county teams|places=

{{location map~ |England |lat=53.193392|long=-2.893074|label=

Chester (Cheshire)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=50.233022|long=-5.226666|label=

Redruth (Cornwall)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=54.523610|long=-1.559457|label=

Darlington (Durham)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=54.95854 |long=-1.686243|label=

Swalwell (Durham)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=51.825303|long=-2.500957|label=

Cinderford (Gloucestershire)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=51.482306|long=-2.488160|label=

Mangotsfield (Gloucestershire)
|position=bottom}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=51.810437|long=-0.028177|label=

Ware (Hertfordshire)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=51.280233|long=1.0789088|label=

Canterbury (Kent)
|position=bottom}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=51.441883|long=0.3707590|label=

Gravesend (Kent)
|position=left}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=53.756629|long=-3.021319|label=

Lytham Saint Annes (Lancashire)
|position=left}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=53.522820|long=-1.128462|label=

Doncaster (Yorkshire)
|position=right}}

{{location map~ |England |lat=53.645792 |long=-1.785034 |label=

Huddersfield (Yorkshire)
|position=top}}

}}

class="wikitable sortable"
width=25%|County

!width=25%|Stadium(s)

!width=25%|Capacity

!width=25%|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

|1,500 (75 seats)
N/A

|Canterbury, Kent
Gravesend, Kent

Lancashire

|Woodlands Memorial Ground

|9,000

|Lytham St Annes, Lancashire

Yorkshire

|Lockwood Park
Castle Park

|1,500 (500 seats)
5,000 (1,650 seats)

|Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Group stage

=Division 1 North=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
colspan="15" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"|

{|border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

width=20% style="border:0px"|

|style="border:0px"|2015 Beaumont Cup Division 1 North Table

|width=20% style="border:0px" align=right|

|-

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="195"|County

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Played

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Won

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Drawn

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Lost

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points For

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points Against

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points Difference

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Try Bonus

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Losing Bonus

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points

|- bgcolor=#d8ffeb align=center

| 1 || style="text-align:left;" | Lancashire (Q) || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 67 || 24 || 29 || 1 || 0 || 13

|-

| 2 || style="text-align:left;" | Cheshire || 3 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 95 || 80 || 15 || 1 || 1 || 10

|-

| 3 || style="text-align:left;" | Yorkshire || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 66 || 66 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 6

|- style="background-color:#ffcccc;"

| 4 || style="text-align:left;" | Durham County (R) || 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 58 || 102 || –44 || 1 || 0 || 1

|-

|colspan="15"|

  • 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

|-| style="text-align:left;" |

|colspan="15" style="border:0px;font-size:85%;"| 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: {{cite web | url=http://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/competitions/county-championships/2014-2015/ | title=County Championships | publisher=englandrugby.com}}

|}

==Round 1==

{{rugbybox

|date = 9 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Cheshire

|score = 18 – 21

|report = [http://www.lancashirerugby.co.uk/ArticleViewer.php?PID=383 Report]

|away = Lancashire

|stadium = Hare Lane

|attendance = 250

|referee = Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 9 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Yorkshire

|score = 33 – 12

|report = [http://www.durhamrugby.com/CountyChampionship/2014-2015/Yorkshire%20vs%20Durham%209th%20May%202015.shtml Report]

|away = Durham County

|stadium = Lockwood Park, Huddersfield

|attendance = 446

|referee = Ben Davis

}}

{{cite news|title=Bill Beaumont Cup|work=The RUGBYPaper|issue=347|publisher=Rugby Paper Ltd|date=10 May 2015|pages=32–33 & 36}}{{cite web|url=http://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/competitions/county-championships/ |title=County Championships Results: 2014-15 |publisher=englandrugby.com |date=31 May 2015 }}

----

==Round 2==

{{rugbybox

|date = 16 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = Durham County

|score = 6 – 17

|report = [http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/burnleyrugbyclub/news/lancashire-beat-durham-1431413.html Report]

|away = Lancashire

|stadium = Crow Trees, Swalwell

|attendance = 320

|referee = Peter Steniford

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 16 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Yorkshire

|score = 19 – 25

|report = [http://yorkshirerfu.pitchero.com/page/county-teams/senior-xv/yorkshire-19---25-cheshire-8748/ Report]

|away = Cheshire

|stadium = Castle Park, Doncaster

|attendance = 550

|referee = Mike Harris

}}

{{cite news|title=Bill Beaumont Cup|work=The RUGBYPaper|issue=348|publisher=Rugby Paper Ltd|date=17 May 2015|pages=28–30}}

----

==Round 3==

{{rugbybox

|date = 23 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Durham County

|score = 40 – 52

|report = [http://www.cheshirerfu.co.uk/cheshire-xv-v-durham-xv-saturday-23rd-may/ Report]

|away = Cheshire (BP)

|stadium = Darlington Arena, Darlington

|attendance = 380

|referee = Matt Turvey

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 23 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Lancashire

|score = 29 – 14

|report = [http://yorkshirerfu.pitchero.com/page/county-teams/senior-xv/lancashire-29---14-yorkshire-8811/ Report]

|away = Yorkshire

|stadium = Woodlands Memorial Ground, Lytham St Annes

|attendance = 1,200

|referee = Gareth Holsgrove

}}

{{cite news|title=Bill Beaumont Cup|work=The RUGBYPaper|issue=349|publisher=Rugby Paper Ltd|date=24 May 2015|pages=24–26}}

=Division 1 South=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
colspan="15" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"|

{|border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

width=20% style="border:0px"|

|style="border:0px"|2015 Beaumont Cup Division 1 South Table

|width=20% style="border:0px" align=right|

|-

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="195"|County

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Played

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Won

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Drawn

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Lost

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points For

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points Against

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points Difference

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Try Bonus

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Losing Bonus

!bgcolor="#efefef" width="20"|Points

|- bgcolor=#d8ffeb align=center

| 1 || style="text-align:left;" | Cornwall (Q) || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 74 || 42 || 32 || 1 || 0 || 13

|-

| 2 || style="text-align:left;" | Hertfordshire || 3 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 86 || 69 || 17 || 2 || 1 || 11

|-

| 3 || style="text-align:left;" | Gloucestershire || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 53 || 75 || –22 || 0 || 0 || 4

|- style="background-color:#ffcccc;"

| 4 || style="text-align:left;" | Kent (R) || 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 46 || 73 || –27 || 0 || 1 || 1

|-

|colspan="15"|

  • 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

|-| style="text-align:left;" |

|colspan="15" style="border:0px;font-size:85%;"| 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: {{cite web | url=http://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/competitions/county-championships/2014-2015/ | title=County Championships | publisher=englandrugby.com}}

|}

==Round 1==

{{rugbybox

|date = 9 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = Gloucestershire

|score = 8 – 27

|report = [http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/s-tough-going-Gloucestershire-Cornwall-win-county/story-26474145-detail/story.html Report]

|away = Cornwall (BP)

|stadium = Dockham Road, Cinderford

|attendance = 562

|referee = Mike Hudson

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 9 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = Kent

|score = 19 – 31

|report = [http://www.gravesendrfc.co.uk/news/kent-second-best-at-canterbury-1427111.html Report]

|away = Hertfordshire (BP)

|stadium = Merton Lane, Canterbury

|attendance = 250

|referee = Luis Caviglia

}}

----

==Round 2==

{{rugbybox

|date = 16 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Hertfordshire

|score = 37 – 25

|report = [http://www.hertsrugby.co.uk/news/herts-beat-glucestershire-to-top-table-10086/ Report]

|away = Gloucestershire

|stadium = Highfields, Ware

|attendance = 620

|referee = Luke Haskins

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 16 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = (BP) Kent

|score = 16 – 22

|report = [http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/MATCH-REPORT-Kent-16-22-Cornwall/story-26514833-detail/story.html Report]

|away = Cornwall

|stadium = Milton Road, Gravesend

|attendance = 600

|referee = Calum Howard

}}

----

==Round 3==

{{rugbybox

|date = 23 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = Cornwall

|score = 25 – 18

|report = [http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/sport/12968835.RUGBY__Twickenham_for_Cornwall_again_after_25_18_win_over_Hertfordshire/ Report]

|away = Hertfordshire (BP)

|stadium = The Recreation Ground, Redruth

|attendance = 2,800

|referee = Veryan Boscawen

}}

{{rugbybox

|date = 23 May 2015

|time = 15:00

|home = Gloucestershire

|score = 20 – 11

|report = [http://gloucestershirerfu.co.uk/FCKfiles/File/COUNTY_OFFICE/20150523CC_Gloucestershire_20_Kent_11.pdf Report]

|away = Kent

|stadium = The Hayfields, Mangotsfield

|attendance = 325

|referee = Anthony Woodthorpe

}}

Final

{{rugbybox

|date = 31 May 2015

|time = 12:00

|home = Cornwall

|score = 18–13

|report = [http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Cornwall-v-Lancashire/story-26606326-detail/story.html Report]

|away = Lancashire

|try1= Shepherd (2)

|con1= Shepherd

|pen1= Shepherd, Searle

|drop1=

|try2= Stewart

|con2= Johnson

|pen2= Collins, Johnson

|stadium = Twickenham Stadium, London

|attendance = 1,500

|referee = James Sullivan

}}

width="80%"

|valign="top" width="50%"|

{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

width="20"|width="200"|
15Billy SearleCornish All Blacks
14Jon DaweCornish All Blacks
13Jake MurphyCornish All Blacks
12Nielson WebberRedruth
11Robin WedlakeRedruth
10Lewis WebbTaunton
9Matthew ShepherdCornish All Blacks
1Rupert FreestoneClifton
2Jamie SalterCornish All Blacks
3Craig WilliamsRedruth
4Tony WhittleCamborne
5Ben HiltonCornish All Blacks
6Chris FucaRedruth
7George JonesPenryn
8Kyle Marriott (capt)Redruth
colspan=3|Replacements:
16Christian JudgeCornish All Blacks
17Damien CookRedruth
18Tommy PhillipsRedruth
19James GoldsworthyCamborne
20David MankeeCamborne
22Sam ParsonsRedruth
23Barrie-John ChapmanCornish All Blacks

|valign="top" width="50%"|

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"
width="20"|width="200"|
15Warren SpraggFylde
14Jordan DorringtonFylde
13Chris BriersFylde
12Scott RawlingsFylde
11Anthony BinghamRossendale
10Steve CollinsSedgley Park
9Ryan De La HarpeFylde
1Ben BlackSedgley Park
2Alex LoneyFylde
3Adam LewisFylde
4Jonathan NugentBergerac
5Gareth RawlingsFylde
6Evan Stewart (capt)Fylde
7Steven McGinnisLoughborough Students
8Matthew LampreySedgley Park
colspan=3|Replacements:
16Louis McGowanCaldy
17Peter AlthamPreston Grasshoppers
18Philip MillsPreston Grasshoppers
19Paul ArnoldFylde
20Chris JohnsonFylde
21Oliver BrennandFylde
22Niall CrossleyHartpury College

|}

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

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
County

!Home
Games

!Total

!Average

!Highest

!Lowest

!% Capacity

style="text-align:left"| Cheshire125025025025013%
style="text-align:left"| Cornwall12,8002,8002,8002,80080%
style="text-align:left"| Durham County27003503803209%
style="text-align:left"| Gloucestershire288744456232522%
style="text-align:left"| Hertfordshire1620620620620
style="text-align:left"| Kent285042560025017%
style="text-align:left"| Lancashire11,2001,2001,2001,20013%
style="text-align:left"| Yorkshire299649855044620%

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.

{{Col-start}}

{{Col-2}}

= Top points scorers=

class="wikitable"

! Rank !! Player !! County !! Club Side !! Appearances !! Points

1{{flagicon|ENG}} Matthew ShepherdCornwallCornish All Blacks464
2{{flagicon|ENG}} Jack LavinCheshireCaldy331
3{{flagicon|ENG}} Dan WattHertfordshireOld Albanian328
4{{flagicon|ENG}} Chris JohnsonLancashireFylde321
5{{flagicon|ENG}} Forbes EdwardsCheshireCaldy320

{{Col-2}}

=Top try scorers=

class="wikitable"

! Rank !! Player !! County!! Club Side !! Appearances !! Tries

1{{flagicon|ENG}} Forbes EdwardsCheshireCaldy34
2{{flagicon|ENG}} Matthew ShepherdCornwallCornish All Blacks44
3{{flagicon|ENG}} Jordan DorringtonCheshireFylde33
4{{flagicon|ENG}} Jack LavinCheshireCaldy33
5{{flagicon|ENG}} Robin WedlakeCornwallRedruth33

{{Col-end}}

See also

References

{{reflist|2}}

External links

  • [http://www.ncarugby.org/index.php NCA Rugby] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701021407/http://www.ncarugby.org/index.php |date=2015-07-01 }}

{{Rugby union in England}}

{{County Championship seasons (rugby union)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill Beaumont Cup}}

2015