Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 Explained

Current Season:2024 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
Sport:Rugby union
Teams:8
Country:England
Champion:Oxfordshire (2023) (3rd title)
Most Champs:Surrey (4)
Related Comps:Bill Beaumont Division 1
Bill Beaumont Division 3

The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 (formerly County Championship Shield) is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2005 when it known as the County Championship Plate[1] (a competition which is now played by tier 2 sides)—changing to Shield by 2010 and Bill Beaumont Division 3 by 2017.[2] It is contested by third tier teams in the RFU County Championship. From 2010 Division 3 involves counties that are only able to select players from clubs at level five and below. The eight teams involved are divided roughly on geographic terms into two pools and play three games each.[3] [4]

From 2017 promotion has been implemented in the competition (previously the only way out of the division was by invitation). As with the other county championship divisions, this occurs over two years as opposed to one, using a system of accumulative points from pool games to determine the top two teams (one from each group) that are promoted to tier 2. Likewise the bottom two teams in tier 2 (again, one in each group) are relegated into tier 3 at the end of the two-year period.

Past winners

YearDateWinnersScoreRunner-upVenueNotes
2005 29 May 29–18 [5]
2006 29 May 21–17 [6] [7]
2007 25 May 30–20 [8] [9]
2008 24 May 22–12 [10] [11]
2009 30 May 29–14 [12] [13] [14]
2010 29 May 36–26 [15]
2011 28 May 43–22 [16] [17]
2012 27 May 43–12 [18]
26 May 21–16 Twickenham Stadium, London[19]
1 June 39–16 [20]
31 May 34–17 [21]
29 May 33–11 [22]
28 May 29–29 [23]
27 May 24–22
8 June 23–13
2020-2021No Competition due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom[24]
4 June 7–5
20233 JuneOxfordshire42-7EssexEaling Trailfinders, London[25]

Number of wins

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Surrey take County Championship Plate . ESPN . 29 May 2005.
  2. Web site: County Championships renamed to honour rugby legends . England Rugby. 27 March 2017.
  3. Web site: County Championships . 2012-09-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120928212442/http://www.rfu.com/ManagingRugby/CompetitionsAndTournaments/CountyChampionships.aspx . 2012-09-28 .
  4. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-05-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120520085040/http://www.rfu.com/~/media/Files/2011/Fixtures_Results/201011%20CC%20RESULTS.ashx . 2012-05-20 .
  5. Web site: County Championship Plate Final 2005 . englandrugby.com . 29 May 2005.
  6. Web site: County Championship Plate Final 2006 . englandrugby.com . 29 May 2006.
  7. Web site: Rugby: Lions man scores try at Twickenham . Portsmouth News . 30 May 2006.
  8. Web site: County Championship Plate rugby final previews . Hartlepool Mail . 25 May 2007.
  9. Web site: The 2007 County Championship Plate Final . Durham Rugby . 28 May 2007 . 19 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150520215028/http://durhamrugby.com/News/news_story.php?story=375 . 20 May 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  10. Web site: County Championship Plate Final 2008 . englandrugby.com . 24 May 2008.
  11. Web site: 'Stoke men star in historic win . Basingstoke Gazette . 27 May 2008.
  12. Web site: Durham v Kent RFU County Champianship . flickr.com . 30 May 2009.
  13. Web site: County Championship Plate Final 2009 . englandrugby.com . 30 May 2009.
  14. Web site: County Chamionship [sic] Plate Final 2009 vs Kent |publisher=Durham Rugby |date=30 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518141732/http://www.durhamrugby.com/News/news_story.php?story=380 |archive-date=18 May 2010 ].
  15. http://www.rfu.com/News/2010/May/News%20Articles/300510_dorset_county_shield.aspx?a=1&y=2010{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  16. Web site: Rugby: Dorset & Wilts enjoy Twickenham triumph.
  17. News: Dorset & Wilts claim Shield win . BBC News . 29 May 2011.
  18. Web site: Leicester Aim for Shield Success . RFU . 27 May 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140602201129/http://www.rfu.com/news/2014/may/news-articles/270514_leicestershire_shield_final . 2 June 2014 .
  19. Web site: Surrey retain County Championship Shield . RFU . 27 May 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130608021735/http://www.rfu.com/news/2013/may/news-articles/270513_surrey_shield . 8 June 2013 .
  20. Web site: Surrey finish strongly to seal hat-trick . rfu.com . 4 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140607010805/http://www.rfu.com/news/2014/june/news-articles/010614_surrey_ . 7 June 2014 .
  21. Web site: Fixtures & Results County Championships. England Rugby. 31 May 2015.
  22. Web site: Staffordshire beaten by Hampshire in County Shield final at Twickenham . Staffordshire Newsletter . 29 May 2016 .
  23. Web site: OXFORDSHIRE BECOME DIVISION THREE COUNTY CHAMPIONS. England Rugby. 28 May 2017 .
  24. News: No Championship until 2022. "County Championship: Rugby Football Union cancels competition until 2022.". BBC Sport .
  25. Web site: RFU . Bill Beaumont Competition Results . 2024-05-05 . www.englandrugby.com.

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