# 2016 County Championship Plate

The 2016 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 15th version 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 meet in the final to be held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the division included Kent and Durham County who were relegated from the 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup while Leicestershire were promoted as the winners of the 2015 County Championship Shield.
At the end of the pool stage, pool winners East Midlands (north) and Kent (south) met in the final at Twickenham. Despite it being their first final against regulars Kent, East Midlands won 33-27, with former Tongan international, Maama Molitika, scoring three tries in the game. He would finish as the competition's top try scorer.

## Competition format

The competition format is two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. This means that two teams in the pool have two home games, while the other two had just one. The top side in each group goes through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium, with both teams also being promoted to the top tier for the following season. Typically there was no relegation although teams have dropped out/been invited to join the division.
Due to changes to the County Championships to be implemented for the 2017 competition, four teams instead of two would be promoted to the top tier. This meant that the two group winners would be joined by two other teams from the plate competition based on how well they have done over the past couple of seasons.

## Participating Counties and ground locations

| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
| Devon | Bitton Park Sports Ground | 1,210 (210 seats) | Teignmouth, Devon |
| Durham County | Crow Trees Brinkburn | 2,000 (400 seats) 1,000 (76 seats) | Swalwell, Tyne and Wear Hartlepool, County Durham |
| East Midlands | Rushmere Road Fortress Fengate | N/A N/A | Northampton, Northamptonshire Peterborough, Cambridgeshire |
| Kent | Merton Lane Priestfields | 1,500 (75 seats) N/A | Canterbury, Kent Rochester, Kent |
| Leicestershire | Hinckley Road | N/A | Leicester Forest East, Leicestershire |
| North Midlands | Heathbrook | 2,260 (260 seats) | Kingswinford, West Midlands |
| Northumberland | Grange House Field | 1,000 | Morpeth, Northumberland |
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 (198 seats) | Taunton, Somerset |
* ↑ Durham were originally meant to play their first county game at Eastwood Gardens, home of Gateshead, but a late switch in venue meant that they would play at Blaydon's home ground of Crow Trees instead.

## Group stage
### Division 2 North

2016 Beaumont Cup Division 2 North Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | East Midlands (P) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 36 | 54 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | Leicestershire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 73 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Northumberland (P) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 58 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Durham County | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 104 | -28 | 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 North of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 12 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Notes

* ↑ Northumberland would be promoted to tier 1 for the 2017 season due to competition restructuring, based on performances over the past couple of seasons.

#### Round 1

* 7 May 2016 15:00
| Northumberland | 7 - 17 | East Midlands |
| | Report | |
* Grange House Field, Morpeth Attendance: 252 Referee: Callum Sharp
* 7 May 2016 15:15
| (BP) Durham County | 28 - 38 | Leicestershire (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Crow Trees, Swalwell Attendance: 80 Referee: Ben Rayner

#### Round 2

* 14 May 2016 15:00
| Durham County | 29 - 38 | Northumberland (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Brinkburn, Hartlepool Attendance: 297 Referee: Chris Dennis
* 14 May 2016 15:00
| (BP) East Midlands | 45 - 10 | Leicestershire |
* Rushmere Road, Northampton Attendance: 320 Referee: Neil Chivers

#### Round 3

* 21 May 2016 14:30
| Leicestershire | 12 - 0 | Northumberland |
| | Report | |
* Hinckley Road, Leicester Forest East Attendance: 250 Referee: Robert Teare
* 21 May 2016 15:00
| (BP) East Midlands | 28 - 19 | Durham County |
| | Report | |
* Fortress Fengate, Peterborough Attendance: 450 Referee: Simon Harding

### Division 2 South

2016 Beaumont Cup Division 2 South Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Kent (P) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 62 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | Devon (P) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 97 | 57 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Somerset | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 68 | -18 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | North Midlands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 107 | -54 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 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: 21 May 2016 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Notes

* ↑ Devon would be promoted to tier 1 for the 2017 season due to competition restructuring, based on performances over the past couple of seasons.

#### Round 1

* 7 May 2016 15:00
| (BP) Devon | 39 - 10 | Somerset |
| | Report | |
* Bitton Park Sports Ground, Teignmouth Attendance: 820 Referee: Adam Leal
* 7 May 2016 15:00
| (BP) Kent | 43 - 28 | North Midlands (BP) |
| | Kent Report North Midlands Report | |
* Merton Lane, Canterbury Attendance: 230 Referee: Daniel Collins

#### Round 2

* 14 May 2016 14:30
| Somerset | 26 - 22 | Kent (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Hyde Park, Taunton Attendance: 260 Referee: Don Conway
* 14 May 2016 15:00
| North Midlands | 18 - 50 | Devon (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Heathbrook, Kingswinford Attendance: 203 Referee: Matt Turvey

#### Round 3

* 21 May 2016 14:30
| Somerset | 14 - 7 | North Midlands (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Hyde Park, Taunton Attendance: 150 Referee: Luis Caviglia
* 21 May 2016 15:00
| (BP) Kent | 29 - 8 | Devon |
| | Report | |
* Priestfields, Rochester Attendance: 284 Referee: David Clarkson

## Final

* 29 May 2016
| East Midlands | 33 - 27 | Kent |
| | Report | |
* Twickenham Stadium, London

## 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 | 820 | 820 | 820 | 820 | 68% |
| Durham County | 2 | 377 | 189 | 297 | 80 | 17% |
| East Midlands | 2 | 770 | 385 | 450 | 320 | |
| Kent | 2 | 514 | 257 | 284 | 230 | 15% |
| Leicestershire | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | |
| North Midlands | 1 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 9% |
| Northumberland | 1 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 25% |
| Somerset | 2 | 410 | 205 | 260 | 150 | 10% |

## 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.