| 2016 County Championship Plate | |
| Date: | 7 May 2016 - 29 May 2016 |
| Champions: | East Midlands |
| Count: | 1 |
| Highest Attendance: | 820 Devon v Somerset (7 May 2016) |
| Attendance: | 3,596 (average 320 per match) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 80 Durham County v Leicestershire (7 May 2016) |
| Top Point Scorer: | Joe Daniel East Midlands 38 |
| Top Try Scorer: |  Maama MolitikaEast Midlands 6 |
| Prevseason: | 2015 |
| Nextseason: | 2017 |
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.[1] [2] [3]
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.[4] [5]
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.[6]
| width=25% | County | width=25% | Stadium(s) | width=25% | Capacity | width=25% | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | Bitton Park Sports Ground | 1,210 | Teignmouth, Devon | ||||
| Durham County | 2,000 (400 seats) 1,000 (76 seats) | ||||||
| East Midlands | Rushmere Road Fortress Fengate | N/A N/A | Northampton, Northamptonshire Peterborough, Cambridgeshire | ||||
| Kent | Merton Lane Priestfields | N/A N/A | Canterbury, Kent Rochester, Kent | ||||
| Leicestershire | Hinckley Road | N/A | Leicester Forest East, Leicestershire | ||||
| North Midlands | Heathbrook | N/A | Kingswinford, West Midlands | ||||
| Northumberland | Grange House Field | 1,000 | Morpeth, Northumberland | ||||
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 | Taunton, Somerset | ||||
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| 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 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 73 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Northumberland (P) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 58 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 104 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
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| 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: Web site: County Championships . englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 68 | -18 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 107 | -54 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
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| 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: Web site: County Championships . englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | |
| Leicestershire | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | |
| North Midlands | 1 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 203 | |
| Northumberland | 1 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 25% |
| Somerset | 2 | 410 | 205 | 260 | 150 | 10% |
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 38 | |||
| 2 | 4 | 30 | |||
| 3 | 3 | 26 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 25 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 22 | |||
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 3 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||