# 2015 County Championship Shield

The 2015 County Championship Shield was the 11th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organized by the RFU for the tier 3 English 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 of four teams each, based roughly on regional lines, with the winner of each group plus the best runner-up going through to the semi-finals, with the winners of those games meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. At the moment there is no promotion or relegation out of or into the County Championship Shield, although the 2014 champions Surrey moved up into tier 2, having won the competition three years in a row.
After winning their respective groups and semi final matches Leicestershire faced Cumbria in the late kick off game at Twickenham Stadium. Leicestershire made up for their defeat the previous season by defeating Cumbria 34 – 17 to win their first ever Shield trophy.

## Competition format

The competition format consisted of three groups of four counties each, based roughly on regional lines where possible, with each team playing each other once. 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 played in the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015, As the lowest tier in the county championship there is no relegation while promotion is not given every season, although outstanding county performances (such as Surrey's) can lead to counties moving up to tier 2.

## Participating counties and ground locations

| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
| Berkshire | Old Bath Road | 1,250 | Sonning, Reading, Berkshire |
| Buckinghamshire | Floyd Field Manor Fields Sports Ground | N/A N/A | Buckingham, Buckinghamshire Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire |
| Cumbria | Rugby Ground Ellis Sports Ground | 1,500 (500 seats) 12,000 (2,000 seats) | Carlisle, Cumbria Workington, Cumbria |
| Dorset & Wilts | Paxcroft Bestwall Park | N/A N/A | Trowbridge, Wiltshire Wareham, Dorset |
| Essex | Goresbrook | 1,000 | Barking, London |
| Hampshire | Rugby Camp | N/A | Portsmouth, Hampshire |
| Leicestershire | The Rugby Ground Vipers Rugby Ground | N/A N/A | Market Harborough, Leicestershire Whetstone, Leicestershire |
| Middlesex | Trailfinders Sports Ground | 3,020 | West Ealing, London |
| Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | Eakring Road | 1,000 | Mansfield, Nottinghamshire |
| Oxfordshire | Greystones | N/A | Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire |
| Staffordshire | Hartwell Lane | N/A | Barlaston, Staffordshire |
| Warwickshire | Ivor Preece Field | 1,500 (250 seats) | Binley Woods, Coventry, Warwickshire |

## Group stage
### Pool 1

2015 County Championship Shield Pool 1 Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Leicestershire (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 25 | 95 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Oxfordshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 76 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Buckinghamshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 87 | −49 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Berkshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 45 | 109 | −64 | 1 | 0 | 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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Round 1

* 2 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Leicestershire | 45–14 | Buckinghamshire |
| | Report | |
* The Rugby Ground, Market Harborough
* 2 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Oxfordshire | 59–27 | Berkshire (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Greystones, Chipping Norton

#### Round 2

* 9 May 2015 15:00
| Berkshire | 5–36 | Leicestershire (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Old Bath Road, Sonning
* 9 May 2015 15:00
| Buckinghamshire | 10–29 | Oxfordshire (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Floyd Field, Buckingham

#### Round 3

* 16 May 2015 15:00
| Buckinghamshire | 14–13 | Berkshire (BP) |
* Manor Fields Sports Ground, Bletchley, Milton Keynes
* 16 May 2015 15:00
| Oxfordshire | 6–39 | Leicestershire (BP) |
* Greystones, Chipping Norton

### Pool 2

2015 County Championship Shield Pool 2 Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Cumbria (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 25 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Warwickshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 64 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Staffordshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 80 | −27 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 78 | −31 | 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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. |||||||||||||||

#### Round 1

* 2 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | 23–25 | Warwickshire |
| | Report | |
* Eakring Road, Mansfield
* 2 May 2015 15:00
| Staffordshire | 12–20 | Cumbria |
| | Report | |
* Hartwell Lane, Barlaston

#### Round 2

* 9 May 2015 15:00
| Cumbria | 20–0 | Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire |
* 9 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Warwickshire | 36–8 | Staffordshire |
| | Report | |
* The Ivor Preece Field, Binley Woods, Coventry
* ↑ Cumbria awarded a 20 – 0 win, because Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire were unable to raise a squad due to injuries.

#### Round 3

* 16 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Cumbria | 33–13 | Warwickshire |
| | Report | |
* Rugby Ground, Carlisle
* 16 May 2015 15:00
| Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | 24–33 | Staffordshire |
* The Stute, Ilkeston

### Pool 3

2015 County Championship Shield Pool 3 Table :
| | County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Dorset & Wilts (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 36 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Essex (Q) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 44 | 62 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 3 | Hampshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 83 | −32 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Middlesex | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 133 | −97 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. ↑ Essex qualify for semi finals as best ranked runner up. |||||||||||||||

#### Round 1

* 2 May 2015 15:00
| Hampshire | 5–38 | Essex (BP) |
* Rugby Camp, Portsmouth
* 2 May 2015 15:00
| Middlesex | 5–50 | Dorset & Wilts (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Trailfinders Sports Ground, West Ealing, London

#### Round 2

* 9 May 2015 15:00
| Dorset & Wilts | 24–20 | Essex (BP) |
| | Report | |
* Paxcroft, Trowbridge
* 9 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Hampshire | 35–16 | Middlesex |
| | Report | |
* Rugby Camp, Portsmouth

#### Round 3

* 16 May 2015 15:00
| Dorset & Wilts | 29–11 | Hampshire |
| | Report | |
* Bestwall Park, Wareham
* 16 May 2015 15:00
| (BP) Essex | 48–15 | Middlesex |
* Goresbrook, Barking

## Knock-out Stage
### Semi-finals

* 23 May 2015 15:00
| Leicestershire | 49–15 | Dorset & Wilts |
| | Report | |
* Vipers Rugby Ground, Whetstone
* 23 May 2015 15:00
| Cumbria | 18–17 | Essex |
| | Report | |
* Ellis Sports Ground, Workington

### Final

* 31 May 2015 15:00
| Leicestershire | 34–17 | Cumbria |
| | Report | |
* Twickenham Stadium, London