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2016 County Championship Plate
Countries	England
Date	7 May 2016 - 29 May 2016
Champions	East Midlands (1st title)
Runners-up	Kent
Attendance	3,596 (average 320 per match)
Highest attendance	820 Devon v Somerset (7 May 2016)
Lowest attendance	80 Durham County v Leicestershire (7 May 2016)
Top point scorer	Joe Daniel East Midlands 38
Top try scorer	Maama Molitika East Midlands 6
← 20152017 →

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.

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.

Competition format

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.

Participating Counties and ground locations

1. Durham were originally meant to play their first county game at Eastwood Gardens, home of Gateshead, but a late switch in venue meant that they would play at Blaydon's home ground of Crow Trees instead.

Group stage

Division 2 North

Notes

1. *Northumberland would be promoted to tier 1 for the 2017 season due to competition restructuring, based on performances over the past couple of seasons.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 2 South

Notes

1. *Devon would be promoted to tier 1 for the 2017 season due to competition restructuring, based on performances over the past couple of seasons.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Final

Total season attendances

• Does not include final at Twickenham which is a neutral venue and involves teams from all three county divisions on the same day

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.

Top points scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Points 1 Joe Daniel East Midlands Kettering 4 38 2 Maama Molitika East Midlands Ampthill 4 30 3 Josh Bragman Durham County Hull 3 26 4 Brad Barnes Somerset Clifton 2 25 5 Jordan Petherbridge Devon Barnstaple 2 22

Top try scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Tries 1 Maama Molitika East Midlands Ampthill 4 6 2 Callum Mackenzie Durham County Darlington Mowden Park 3 4 3 Dan Williams Devon Torquay Athletic 2 3 Ben Haigh Northumberland Tynedale 3 3 Terry Read Kent Canterbury 3 3

See also

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. "RUGBY: Gloucestershire survive relegation with vital win over Kent". Gazette. 26 May 2015.
2. "Counties beaten as Durham relegated and Northumberland miss out". Chronicle Live. 24 May 2015.
3. "Rugby: Leicestershire lift County Championship Shield after win over Cumbria at Twickenham". Leicester Mercury. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
4. ^ "Rugby: Bedfordshire players inspire East Midlands to Twickenham triumph". Bedfordshire News. 29 May 2016.
5. ^ "East Midlands win County Champs Division 2 Plate". England Rugby. 29 May 2016.
6. ^ "Full Men's County Championship fixture list 2016-17" (PDF). England Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
7. ^ "Durham Senior XV start to the 2016 campaign is disappointing". Durham RFU. 7 May 2016. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
8. ^ "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 399. Rugby Paper Ltd. 8 May 2016. pp. 28–29 & 34.
9. ^ "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 400. Rugby Paper Ltd. 15 May 2016. pp. 30–31 & 36.
10. ^ "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 401. Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 May 2016. pp. 30–31 & 32.

External links

• NCA Rugby Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine

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Other	English rugby union system Timeline of rugby union on UK television

• County Championship Plate
• 2015–16 County Championship