At the end of the group stage, Leicestershire were dominant in Pool 1, winning all three games (albeit one which was a walkover), including an impressive win against a strong East Midlands side, while Surrey were equally impressive in topping Pool 2, also winning three out of three. In the final, Leicestershire finished as convincing winners with an emphatic 38 – 13 victory over Surrey, in what was their second division title in three years.
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. At the end of the group stage the top teams with the best record from each group (north and south) advance to the final held on 2 June 2019 at Twickenham Stadium.
Promotion and relegation occurs every two seasons, with accumulated points taken into consideration. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Durham (north) and Hampshire (south) were promoted to Division 1, replacing East Midlands (north) and Surrey (south) who dropped down into Division 2.[1]Cumbria and North Midlands were relegated into Division 3, being replaced by promoted sides, Essex and Sussex.[2][3][4] There will now be no promotion or relegation until the end of the 2020 competition.
The match was scratched and Leicestershire were awarded a five point win after Staffordshire could not raise a side; Staffordshire were also deducted five points.
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 also include final. Unfortunately due to poor press reporting the majority of scorers outside of the East Midlands, Leicestershire and Surrey teams are unknown.
England
