The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 117th version of the annual, Englishrugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the top tierEnglish counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 1 having previously been known as the Bill Beaumont Cup.[1] 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 sections (each divided into two pools, for a total of four) with the winners of each meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. Cornwall were the defending champions.[2][3]
Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with East Midlands and Northumberland joining the northern section, while Kent and Devon joined the south. East Midlands (winners) and Kent (runners up) were promoted after reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Plate, while Northumberland and Devon were promoted by virtue of their performances in the competition over the past couple of seasons. It also saw a lucky escape for the likes of Yorkshire, who would have been playing tier 2 rugby this year were it not for the competition restructuring.[4][5][6]
By the end of the group stages, Lancashire and Cornwall came top of their respective pools, winning all three of their games with a bonus point in each to qualify for the final in what would be the fourth county championship final between the two sides. Lancashire possibly had the harder time of it as they edged rivals Yorkshire by just one point with neither side playing each other due to the new format, while Cornwall won all their games. In the Twickenham final, the first half started with Cornwall dominant in taking an 8-0 lead into the break - although they perhaps should have capitalized more on a Lancashire yellow card towards the end of the half. The second half was a completely different story, however, as Lancashire played some breath-taking rugby scoring three delightful tries to take the game 19-8, ending Cornwall's hope of a treble of championships, and claiming the 24th county championship title for the Red Rose.[7]
Competition format
The 2017 County Championships saw a new competition structure introduced across all three divisions. In tier 1 there were now twelve teams instead of the eight from 2016, with six counties in the northern group, and six in the southern group. To complicate matters further, each county only played three games per group instead of five. This meant that some counties had two home games, while the others had just one. The RFU plans to switch this around the following year so that teams that played one home game in 2017 will get two during the 2018 competition - it is assumed that this is against the three teams in the group they did not play the previous season.
At the end of the group stage the top teams with the best record from each group (north and south) advanced to the final held on 28 May 2017 at Twickenham Stadium. A further change will see relegation occur every two seasons instead of one, with points accumulated over the two seasons taken into consideration. This system will also apply to promoted teams in tier 2.[4]
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.Updated: 20 May 2017 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.
Notes
^*Hertfordshire were initially deducted 4 points for fielding an ineligible player against Kent on 6 May 2017. It was later reduced to a 2 point deduction.[11][12]
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.
61 - 15 Yorkshire at home to Eastern Counties on 20 May 2017
Largest away win — 45 points
56 - 11 Cornwall away to Devon on 13 May 2017
Most points scored — 61 points
61 - 15 Yorkshire at home to Eastern Counties on 20 May 2017
Most tries in a match — 9
Yorkshire at home to Eastern Counties on 20 May 2017
Most conversions in a match — 8
Yorkshire at home to Eastern Counties on 20 May 2017
Most penalties in a match — 3
Yorkshire at home to Cheshire on 6 May 2017
Most drop goals in a match — 0
Player
Most points in a match — 20
Sam Goatley for Gloucestershire at home to Devon on 6 May 2017
Most tries in a match — 4
Sam Goatley for Gloucestershire at home to Devon on 6 May 2017
Most conversions in a match — 5 (x3)
Calum Irvine for Yorkshire at home to Northumberland on 20 May 2017 James Moffat for Gloucestershire at home to Surrey on 20 May 2017 Matthew Shepherd for Cornwall at home to Hertfordshire on 20 May 2017
Most penalties in a match — 3
Calum Irvine for Yorkshire at home to Cheshire on 6 May 2017
