# 2013 County Championship Plate

The 2013 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 12th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organized 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 South or National League 2 North). The counties were divided into two regional pools (north/south) with three teams in the north division and three in the south, with the winners of each pool meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. New teams to the division included Northumberland (north)) and North Midlands (south) who were relegated from the 2012 Bill Beaumont Cup.
Both Northumberland and North Midlands would make an instant return to the 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup as they won their respective pools, with North Midlands having a more difficult time of it as they were run close by Somerset. In the final at Twickenham, Northumberland proved to be a class apart, scoring six tries as they beat North Midlands 45–10 to claim their 4th title in the plate competition.

## Competition format

The competition format involved six teams divided into two regional group stages of three teams each, divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 26 May 2013.

## Participating Counties and ground locations

| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
| Devon | Coronation Road | 750 | Tiverton, Devon |
| East Midlands | Greens Norton Road | N/A | Towcester, Northamptonshire |
| Eastern Counties | Grantchester Road | 2,200 (200 seats) | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire |
| North Midlands | Stourton Park | 3,500 (499 seats) | Stourbridge, West Midlands |
| Northumberland | Greensfield | 1,200 (200 in stand) | Alnwick, Northumberland |
| Somerset | Bath Road | 5,000 | Bridgwater, Somerset |

## Group stage
### Division 1 North

2013 Beaumont Cup Division 1 North Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Northumberland (P) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 20 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | East Midlands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Eastern Counties | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 57 | -34 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams 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 and is also promoted to the Division 1 North of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 18 May 2013 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Round 1

* 4 May 2013 15:00
| East Midlands | 14 - 34 | Northumberland (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Greens Norton Road, Towcester Attendance: 360 Referee: Andrew Rawson

#### Round 2

* 11 May 2013 15:00
| (BP) Eastern Counties | 17 - 23 | East Midlands |
* Grantchester Road, Cambridge Attendance: 194 Referee: Alexis Manley

#### Round 3

* 18 May 2013 14:00
| (BP) Northumberland | 34 - 6 | Eastern Counties |
* Greensfield, Alnwick Attendance: 140 Referee: Wayne Falla

### Division 2 South

2013 Beaumont Cup Division 1 South Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | North Midlands (P) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 70 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | Somerset | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 51 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Devon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 80 | -35 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams 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 and is also promoted to the Division 1 South of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 18 May 2013 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Round 1

* 4 May 2013
| (BP) North Midlands | 50 - 34 | Devon (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Stourton Park, Stourbridge Attendance: 143 Referee: Daniel Parott

#### Round 2

* 11 May 2013
| Devon | 11 - 30 | Somerset (BP) |
* Coronation Park, Tiverton Attendance: 204 Referee: Phil Watters

#### Round 3

* 18 May 2013
| (2BP) Somerset | 36 - 40 | North Midlands (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Bath Road, Bridgwater Attendance: 230 Referee: Tom Davis

## Final

* 26 May 2013 9:30
| Northumberland | 45 - 10 | North Midlands |
| | Report | |
* Twickenham Stadium, London Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

## 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 |
| Devon | 1 | 204 | 204 | 204 | 204 | 29% |
| East Midlands | 1 | 360 | 360 | 360 | 360 | |
| Eastern Counties | 1 | 194 | 194 | 194 | 194 | 9% |
| North Midlands | 1 | 143 | 143 | 143 | 143 | 4% |
| Northumberland | 1 | 140 | 140 | 140 | 140 | 12% |
| Somerset | 1 | 230 | 230 | 230 | 230 | 5% |

## 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.