2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3

The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 was the 15th version of the competition that is part of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organised by the Rugby Football Union (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 two regional pools (north/south) with the winners of each pool meeting in the final at Twickenham Stadium, London.

2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
Countries	England
Date	4 May 2019 – 8 June 2019
Champions	Cumbria (1st title)
Runners-up	Dorset & Wilts
Top point scorer	Mark Ireland (Cumbria) 57 points
Top try scorer	Ross Williams (Dorset & Wilts) 5 tries

At the end of the group stage, Cumbria won three out of three to stop Pool 1 ahead of Oxfordshire, who they defeated in the final game, while Dorset & Wilts made their second successive final by also winning all three of their games. In the Twickenham final it was Cumbria who emerged victorious, defeating Dorset & Wilts convincingly, 23-13, with tournament top scorer, Mark Ireland, kicking 13 of their points.[1] For Cumbria it was their first Division 3 title in three attempts and first county championship silverware since 1997, while Dorset & Wilts failed to retain their title and make it a fourth win in the competition.

Competition format

The competition format is 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 have taken 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. The shield competition has increased from six to eight teams as two counties, Middlesex and Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire, have returned to the county championships after an absence of several years.[2][3] At the end of the pool stage the top teams with the best record from each pool advance to the final held on 26 May 2019 which will once more be held back at Twickenham Stadium in London, having been held at the Athletic Ground in nearby Richmond the previous season.

Promotion occurs every two seasons, with accumulated points taken into consideration. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Essex and Sussex were promoted to tier 2 with Cumbria and North Midlands dropping down to replace them in tier 3.[4][5][6] There will now be no promotion until the end of the 2020 competition.

Participating counties and ground locations

County Stadium(s) Capacity City/Area Berkshire Holme Park Sonning, Berkshire Buckinghamshire Ostler's Field Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire Cumbria Bower Park Aspatria, Cumbria Dorset & Wilts Slaughtergate The Sports Club 1,000   Gillingham, Dorset Devizes, Wiltshire Middlesex MacFarlane Lane Isleworth, London North Midlands[7][8] Finstall Park Wassell Grove Bromsgrove, Worcestershire Hagley, Worcestershire Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire The Rugby Ground 1,000 (60 seats) Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Marston Ferry Road Oxford, Oxfordshire

Sonning (Berks) Weston Turville (Bucks) Aspatria (Cumbria) Devizes (D & W) Gillingham (D & W) Isleworth (Middlesex) Bromsgrove (N Midlands) Hagley (N Midlands) Newark (NLD) Oxford (Oxon) Locations of the 2019 Division 3 county teams

Group stage

Division 3 North

2019 Bill Beaumont Division 3 North Table
	County	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Cumbria (Q)	3	3	0	0	97	56	41	1	0	13
2	Oxfordshire	3	2	0	1	72	46	26	1	0	9
3	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	3	1	0	2	70	92	-22	2	1	7
4	North Midlands	3	0	0	3	61	106	-45	1	1	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 final. Updated: 18 May 2019 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1

4 May 2019 15:00

North Midlands	21 – 30	Cumbria
	North Midlands Cumbria

Finstall Park, Bromsgrove

4 May 2019 15:00

Oxfordshire	19 – 12	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire (1 BP)
	Oxfordshire NLD

Marston Ferry Road, Oxford

[9][10]

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Round 2

11 May 2019 15:00

(1 BP) Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	25 – 41	Cumbria (1 BP)
	NLD Cumbria

The Rugby Ground, Newark-on-Trent

11 May 2019 15:00

(1 BP) Oxfordshire	43 – 8	North Midlands
	Oxfordshire North Midlands

Marston Ferry Road, Oxford

[9][11]

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Round 3

18 May 2019 15:00

Cumbria	26 – 10	Oxfordshire
	Cumbria Oxfordshire

Bower Park, Aspatria

18 May 2019 15:00

(2 BP) North Midlands	32 – 33	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire (1 BP)
	North Midlands NLD

Wassell Grove, Hagley

[9][12]

Division 3 South

2019 Bill Beaumont Division 3 South 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	145	63	82	2	0	14
2	Berkshire	3	2	0	1	137	90	47	3	0	11
3	Middlesex	3	1	0	2	56	58	-2	1	1	6
4	Buckinghamshire	3	0	0	3	31	158	-127	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 final. Updated: 18 May 2019 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1

4 May 2019 14:30

Buckinghamshire	10 – 26	Middlesex (1 BP)
	Middlesex

Ostler's Field, Weston Turville

4 May 2019 15:00

(1 BP) Dorset & Wilts	57 – 45	Berkshire (1 BP)
	Dorset & Wilts

Slaughtergate, Gillingham

[13][10]

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Round 2

11 May 2019 14:30

(1 BP) Dorset & Wilts	68 – 0	Buckinghamshire
	Dorset & Wilts

The Sports Club, Devizes

11 May 2019 15:00

(1 BP) Berkshire	28 – 12	Middlesex
	Middlesex

Holme Park, Sonning

[13][11]

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Round 3

18 May 2019 14:30

Buckinghamshire	21 – 64	Berkshire (1 BP)

Ostler's Field, Weston Turville

18 May 2019 15:00

(1 BP) Middlesex	18 – 20	Dorset & Wilts
	Dorset & Wilts

MacFarlane Lane, Isleworth, London

[13][12]

Final

8 June 2019 11:00

Cumbria	23 – 13	Dorset & Wilts

Twickenham Stadium, London

[1]

Individual statistics

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Statistics also include final.

Top points scorers Rank Player County Club Side Points 1 Mark Ireland Cumbria Sheffield Tigers 57 2 Sam Baker Dorset & Wilts Taunton Titans 41 3 Dan Thorne Berkshire Newbury Blues 39 4 Ross Williams Dorset & Wilts Warminster 25 5 Rhys Harrhy North Midlands Bournville 21 [10][11][12][1]

Top try scorers Rank Player County Club Side Tries 1 Ross Williams Dorset & Wilts Warminster 5 2 Doug Billam Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire Paviors 4 Gabe Hill Berkshire Bracknell 4 3 Connor Hayhow Berkshire Rosslyn Park 3 Harry Huddlestone Cumbria Kirkby Lonsdale 3 Laisiasa Vinakadina Dorset & Wilts Warminster 3 [10][11][12][1]

Competition records

Team Largest home win — 68 points 68 – 0 Dorset & Wilts at home to Buckinghamshire on 11 May 2019 Largest away win — 43 points 64 – 21 Berkshire away to Buckinghamshire on 18 May 2019 Most points scored — 68 points 68 – 0 Dorset & Wilts at home to Buckinghamshire on 11 May 2019 Most tries in a match — 10 (2) Dorset & Wilts at home to Buckinghamshire on 11 May 2019 Berkshire away to Buckinghamshire on 18 May 2019 Most conversions in a match — 9 Dorset & Wilts at home to Buckinghamshire on 11 May 2019 Most penalties in a match — 3 (4) Cumbria away to North Midlands on 4 May 2019 North Midlands at home to Cumbria on 4 May 2019 Cumbria at home to Oxfordshire on 18 May 2019 Cumbria versus Dorset & Wilts on 8 June 2019 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Cumbria at home to Oxfordshire on 18 May 2019 [10][11][12][1]

Player Most points in a match — 19 Dan Thorne for Berkshire away to Buckinghamshire on 18 May 2019 Most tries in a match — 3 (3) Doug Billam for Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire at home to Cumbria on 11 May 2019 Connor Hayhow for Berkshire away to Buckinghamshire on 18 May 2019 Gabe Hill for Berkshire away to Buckinghamshire on 18 May 2019 Most conversions in a match — 9 Sam Baker for Dorset & Wilts at home to Buckinghamshire on 11 May 2019 Most penalties in a match — 3 (4) Rhys Harrhy for North Midlands at home to Cumbria on 4 May 2019 Mark Ireland for Cumbria away to North Midlands on 4 May 2019 Mark Ireland for Cumbria at home to Oxfordshire on 18 May 2019 Mark Ireland for Cumbria versus Dorset & Wilts on 8 June 2019 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Glen Weightman for Cumbria at home to Oxfordshire on 18 May 2019 [10][11][12][1]

Notes

See also

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. "NO SECOND TITLE". Sports Independent. The Independent. 9 June 2019. p. 37.
2. "NLD SENIOR XV". NLD RFU. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
3. "TEAM MIDDLESEX". Middlesex Rugby. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
4. "County events schedule". Essex RFU (Pitchero). Retrieved 8 February 2019.
5. "County Championships". Sussex Rugby (Pitchero). Retrieved 8 February 2019.
6. "County Championship draws made". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
7. "County Championship venues confirmed". North Midlands RFU. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
8. "Venue change for County Championship match". North Midlands RFU. 16 April 2019.
9. "Bill Beaumont Division 3 - Pool 1". England Rugby. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
10. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (555). Rugby Paper Ltd. 5 May 2019. pp. 28–30.
11. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (556). Rugby Paper Ltd. 12 May 2019. pp. 22–23 & 26.
12. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (557). Rugby Paper Ltd. 19 May 2019. pp. 22–23 & 26.
13. "Bill Beaumont Division 3 - Pool 2". England Rugby. Retrieved 8 February 2019.

External links

• NCA Rugby