2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3

The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 was the 13th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organised by the RFU for the tier 3 English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 3, having previously been known as the County Championship Shield.[1] Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and below of the English rugby union league system. Due to changes to the competition across the board, the Division 3 competition was reduced to eight teams (see the section below for more detail on this), divided into two pools (north and south) with the pool winners meeting in the final to be held at Twickenham Stadium.[2] New teams to the division include Middlesex, who returned to Division 3 after missing the previous year, and Sussex who last took part in 2013.[3][4] The reigning champions, Hampshire, were one of the promoted counties who were playing in tier 2 in 2017.[5]

For the first tier of the English Counties competition, see 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1. For the second tier of the English Counties competition, see 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2.
2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
Countries England
Date6 May 2017 - 28 May 2017
ChampionsOxfordshire (1st title)
Runners-upSussex
Matches played9
Tries scored51
(average 5.7 per match)
Top point scorer Carles Casanova (Sussex)
Ed Phillips (Oxfordshire)
23 points
Top try scorer Bradley Burr (Essex)
3 tries

At the end of the pool stage Oxfordshire and Sussex topped both of their groups to qualify for the final. This was not without some controversy as Oxfordshire managed to make the final despite only playing 2 of their 3 group games. With pool 1 on a knife edge going into the final game, Oxfordshire's opponents, Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire, were unable to field a front row and the game was awarded to Oxfordshire and 5 points. By gaining the extra bonus point, Oxfordshire edged out group rivals, Buckinghamshire and Essex, who both had a superior for and against records.[6] Having said all this had Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire played it was probably likely that Oxfordshire would have won by a bonus point anyway. At the Twickenham final an exciting game finished 29-29 after 80 minutes, with Oxfordshire crowned Division 3 champions for the first time in the county's history by virtue of scoring more tries (5) than Sussex (4).[7][8]

Competition format

The Division 3 format was changed for the 2017 season. Where before there were ten teams playing in three pools, this was narrowed down to seven teams playing in two pools. The first pool had four teams with two of the counties playing two home games and the others 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. Pool 2 only had three teams due to the withdrawal of Middlesex who were supposed to take part, meaning that each team played one home game each. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium.[2]

Due to changes to the County Championships implemented for this competition, promotion between tier 3 and tier 2 has been introduced. This will be done over a two year period, with points accumulated from the pool stages determining the promoted sides (one for each group), who will be turn replaced by the bottom two sides (one from each group) from tier 2.

Participating counties and ground locations

Group stage

Division 3 Pool 1
2017 Bill Beaumont Division 3 Pool 1 Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Oxfordshire (Q)3201615562112[a 1]
2Essex32018459252111
3Buckinghamshire32017759182111
4Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire30031867-49000
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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.

Round 1
6 May 2017
15:00
(2BP) Buckinghamshire 25 - 32 Oxfordshire (BP)
Report
Brook End, Aylesbury
6 May 2017
15:00
Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 8 - 37 Essex (BP)
Report
Eakring Road, Mansfield

[9]

Round 2
13 May 2017
15:00
(BP) Buckinghamshire 30 - 10 Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire
Brook End, Aylesbury
13 May 2017
15:00
(2BP) Oxfordshire 29 - 30 Essex (BP)
Dry Leas, Henley-on-Thames

[10]

Round 3
20 May 2017
15:00
(BP) Essex 17 - 22 Buckinghamshire
Memorial Park, Newham, Greater London
20 May 2017
15:00
Oxfordshire HWO Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire
Kingsey Road, Thame
  • Oxfordshire awarded 5 point win by default as Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire were unable to field a team due to a lack of front-row forwards.[6]

[11]

Division 3 Pool 2
2017 Bill Beaumont Division 3 Pool 2 Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Sussex (Q)2200472324109
2Berkshire210143376015
3Dorset & Wilts20022858-30000
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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.

Round 1
6 May 2017
15:00
(BP) Sussex 28 - 10 Dorset & Wilts
Report
Willoughby Fields, Crawley

[9]

Round 2
13 May 2017
14:00
(BP) Berkshire 13 - 19 Sussex
Holme Park, Reading

[10]

Round 3
20 May 2017
14:30
Dorset & Wilts 18 - 30 Berkshire
Ballard’s Ash Sports Ground, Wootton Bassett

[11]

Final
28 May 2017
10:00
Oxfordshire 29-29 Sussex
Report
Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Oxfordshire champions by virtue of scoring more tries (5) than Sussex (4).[7]

Individual statistics
  • 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.

Competition records

Notes
    • Oxfordshire awarded 5 point home win against Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire who failed to show up for the final group game on 20 May 2017.
  2. Henry Bird may have also played in Essex's 17-22 loss to Buckinghamshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.
  3. Marcus Bloomberg may have also played in Essex's 37-8 win over Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.
  4. Ed Bowden may have also played in Sussex's 19-13 win over Berkshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.
  5. Max Morris may have also played in Sussex's 19-13 win over Berkshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.
  6. Tom Simpson may have also played in Essex's 17-22 Loss to Buckinghamshire but press coverage is very poor so it not certain if he played in this game.

See also

References
  1. "County Championships renamed to honour rugby legends". England Rugby. 27 March 2017.
  2. "Full Men's County Championship fixture list 2016-17" (PDF). England Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  3. "Sussex have confirmed entry of a Senior Men XV in the County Championship for 2016-17 season". Sussex RFU. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  4. "County Championships 2016-17". England Rugby. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  5. "Staffordshire beaten by Hampshire in County Shield final at Twickenham". Staffordshire Newsletter. 29 May 2016.
  6. "Bucks denied top spot by Oxford walkover". The RUGBYPaper (453). Rugby Paper Ltd. 21 May 2017. p. 25.
  7. "OXFORDSHIRE BECOME DIVISION THREE COUNTY CHAMPIONS". England Rugby. 28 May 2017.
  8. "RUGBY UNION: Oxfordshire beat Sussex in dramatic Twickenham final". Oxford Mail. 28 May 2017.
  9. "Division Three Round-up". The RUGBYPaper (451). Rugby Paper Ltd. 7 May 2017. pp. 30 & 34.
  10. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (452). Rugby Paper Ltd. 14 May 2017. pp. 30–31.
  11. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (453). Rugby Paper Ltd. 21 May 2017. pp. 24–25 & 30.
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