Sport Rugby union Inaugural season 2002 Country England | Founded 2002 No. of teams 8 | |
Most recent
champion(s) East Midlands (2016) (1st title) | ||
The County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Division 2, is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2002 as the County Championship Shield (a competition which is now played by tier 3 sides) - changing to its current name by 2010. The Plate is contested for by second tier teams in the RFU County Championship. The top eight counties are split into two regions of four teams, north and south, and play for the Bill Beaumont Cup. The same format is used for the Plate with each team playing one or two home games and the top teams in each group meeting in the final to be held at Twickenham Stadium along with other county divisional finals. There is also a system of promotion/relegation between this tier and top tier, with the two finalists moving to their respective regional groups in division one, where they replace the two bottom teams. Currently there is no relegation to tier 3 although in recent years Surrey have moved up after winning three Shield competitions in a row and Leicestershire moved up after winning the 2015 Shield final. From 2010 the County Championship Plate involves counties that are only able to select players from clubs at level five and below.