| 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 | |
| Date: | 5 May - 27 May 2018 |
| Promoted: | Durham County, Hampshire |
| Count: | 1 |
| Runnersup: | Warwickshire |
| Relegated: | Cumbria, North Midlands |
| Top Point Scorer: | Joel Knight (Hampshire) 45 points |
| Top Try Scorer: | Callum Dacey (Leicestershire) Oliver Hodgson (Durham) Sean Moloney (Durham) 5 tries |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2, was the 17th version of the competition that is part 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 meeting in the final at Twickenham Stadium. Leicestershire were the reigning champions, having won the 2017 final.[1] [2]
At the end of the group stage, Durham County won the northern group with ease despite having another strong side, and 2017 winners, Leicestershire, in their pool. They were joined by southern winners Warwickshire who beat off stiff competition from Hampshire to qualify. At the Twickenham final, Durham showed that they were best side in the division by comfortably beating Warwickshire, 46-12, for what would be the county's first ever Division 2 victory and first county silverware since 2009.[3] [4]
By showing the best form over two years, Durham County were promoted from the northern group, just edging Leicestershire by virtue of a better for/against record, while Hampshire were promoted from the southern group despite missing out on the final. Both counties will play in the 2019 Bill Beaumont Cup. At the opposite end of the tables, Cumbria (north) and North Midlands (south) were relegated to the 2019 County Championship Shield. In the case of Cumbria they actually finished above Staffordshire on points/for against over the two years, but still went down for reasons that are not yet clear.
The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south with four teams in each group. This means that two teams in the pool had two home games, while the other two had just one. The RFU took fixtures from the previous year into account so that county sides that only played one home game in that competition now get two games and vice versa. At the end of the group stage the top teams with the best record from each group (north and south) advance to the final held on 27 May 2018 at Twickenham Stadium.
A continuation from the 2017 competition was that promotion/relegation occurred every two seasons instead of one, with points accumulated over the two seasons (2017 and 2018) taken into consideration. The two highest ranked counties (one from the north/one from the south) were promoted into the 2019 Bill Beaumont Cup competition, replacing the lowest ranked aggregate sides who dropped down into Division 2. Relegation was also introduced with the bottom two ranked sides (again one north/one south) over the two years dropping to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 and being replaced by the top two teams from the 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3.
| width=25% | County | width=25% | Stadium(s) | width=25% | Capacity | width=25% | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumbria | N/A 3,500 (258 seats) | Wigton, Cumbria Kendal, Cumbria | |||||
| Durham County | Hollow Drift Greenwood Road | 1,500 (500 seats) N/A | Durham, County Durham Billingham, County Durham | ||||
| Hampshire | Gosport Park | N/A | Gosport, Hampshire | ||||
| Leicestershire | Westleigh Park | 2,000 | Blaby, Leicestershire | ||||
| North Midlands | Finstall Park | N/A | Bromsgrove, Worcestershire | ||||
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 | Taunton, Somerset | ||||
| Staffordshire | Peel Croft | 5,500 | Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire | ||||
| Warwickshire | Liberty Way Webb Ellis Road | 4,314 1,000 | Nuneaton, Warwickshire Rugby, Warwickshire | ||||
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| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||||||
| 1 | Durham County (Q, P) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 195 | 22 | 173 | 2 | 0 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 68 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 248 | -183 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Cumbria (R) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 149 | -120 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
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| Green background means the county qualified for the final. (P) means promoted. Updated: 19 May 2018 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 | Warwickshire (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 41 | 46 | 3 | 0 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Hampshire (P) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 146 | 71 | 75 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 56 | 119 | -63 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 4 | North Midlands (R) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 71 | 129 | -58 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
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| Green background means the county qualified for the final. (P) means promoted. Updated: 19 May 2018 Source: Web site: County Championships . englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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In order to determine promotion to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 and relegation to the 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3, results from the 2017 and 2018 competitions will be combined, with the highest and lowest ranked sides from each group being promoted or relegated.
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| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||||||
| 1 | Durham County (P) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 312 | 96 | 216 | 5 | 0 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 258 | 107 | 151 | 5 | 0 | 25 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Cumbria (R) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 90 | 285 | -195 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 108 | 372 | -264 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||
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| Green background means the county is promoted. Pink background means the county were demoted to Division 3 for the following season. Updated: 19 May 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||||||
| 1 | Hampshire (P) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 283 | 130 | 153 | 5 | 0 | 23 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 167 | 179 | -12 | 4 | 0 | 18 | |||||||||||
| 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 173 | 189 | -16 | 4 | 0 | 18 | |||||||||||
| 4 | North Midlands (R) | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 160 | 285 | -125 | 4 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||
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| Green background means the county is promoted. Pink background means the county were demoted to Division 3 for the following season. Updated: 19 May 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 45 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 26 | |||
| 3 | 3 | 25 | |||
| 3 | 25 | ||||
| 3 | 25 | ||||
| 4 | 25 | ||||
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 5 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 4 | ||||