Wikipedia

Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3

For the top tier of the English Counties competition, see County Championship (rugby union). For the second tier of the English Counties competition, see Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2.

The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 (formerly County Championship Shield) is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2005 when it known as the County Championship Plate[1] (a competition which is now played by tier 2 sides)—changing to Shield by 2010 and Bill Beaumont Division 3 by 2017.[2] It is contested by third tier teams in the RFU County Championship. From 2010 Division 3 involves counties that are only able to select players from clubs at level five and below. The eight teams involved are divided roughly on geographic terms into two pools and play three games each.[3][4]

Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3
SportRugby union
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
No. of teams8
CountryEngland
Most recent
champion(s)		Oxfordshire (2023) (3rd title)
Most titlesSurrey (4)
Related
competitions		Bill Beaumont Division 1
Bill Beaumont Division 3

From 2017 promotion has been implemented in the competition (previously the only way out of the division was by invitation). As with the other county championship divisions, this occurs over two years as opposed to one, using a system of accumulative points from pool games to determine the top two teams (one from each group) that are promoted to tier 2. Likewise the bottom two teams in tier 2 (again, one in each group) are relegated into tier 3 at the end of the two-year period.

Past winners

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Year Date Winners Score Runner-up Venue Notes
2005 29 May Surrey 29–18 Somerset Twickenham Stadium, London [5][1]
2006 29 May Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 21–17 Oxfordshire Twickenham Stadium, London [6][7]
2007 25 May Durham County 30–20 Eastern Counties The New Friarage, Hartlepool [8][9]
2008 24 May Hampshire 22–12 Leicestershire Aldershot Military Stadium, Aldershot [10][11]
2009 30 May Durham County 29–14 Kent Blackwell Meadows, Darlington [12][13][14]
2010[a 1] 29 May Dorset & Wilts 36–26 Leicestershire Twickenham Stadium, London [15]
2011 28 May Dorset & Wilts 43–22 Surrey Twickenham Stadium, London [16][17]
2012 27 May Surrey 43–12 Leicestershire Twickenham Stadium, London [18]
2013 26 May Surrey 21–16 Cumbria Twickenham Stadium, London [19]
2014 1 June Surrey 39–16 Leicestershire Twickenham Stadium, London [20]
2015 31 May Leicestershire 34–17 Cumbria Twickenham Stadium, London [21]
2016 29 May Hampshire 33–11 Staffordshire Twickenham Stadium, London [22]
2017[a 2] 28 May Oxfordshire 29–29[a 3] Sussex Twickenham Stadium, London [23]
2018 27 May Dorset & Wilts 24–22 Essex Athletic Ground, London
2019 8 June Cumbria 23–13 Dorset & Wilts Twickenham Stadium, London
2020-2021 No Competition due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom[24]
2022 4 June Oxfordshire 7–5 Berkshire Athletic Ground, London
2023 3 June Oxfordshire 42-7 Essex Ealing Trailfinders, London [25]

Number of wins

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ^ Changed named from County Championship Plate to County Championship Shield.
  2. ^ Changed name from County Championship Shield to Bill Beaumont Division 3.
  3. ^ Oxfordshire won the 2017 County Championship Shield by virtue of tries scored—5 to 4.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Surrey take County Championship Plate". ESPN. 29 May 2005.
  2. ^ "County Championships renamed to honour rugby legends". England Rugby. 27 March 2017.
  3. ^ "County Championships". Archived from the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-20. Retrieved 2015-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "County Championship Plate Final 2005". englandrugby.com. 29 May 2005.
  6. ^ "County Championship Plate Final 2006". englandrugby.com. 29 May 2006.
  7. ^ "Rugby: Lions man scores try at Twickenham". Portsmouth News. 30 May 2006.
  8. ^ "County Championship Plate rugby final previews". Hartlepool Mail. 25 May 2007.
  9. ^ "The 2007 County Championship Plate Final". Durham Rugby. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  10. ^ "County Championship Plate Final 2008". englandrugby.com. 24 May 2008.
  11. ^ "'Stoke men star in historic win". Basingstoke Gazette. 27 May 2008.
  12. ^ "Durham v Kent RFU County Champianship". flickr.com. 30 May 2009.
  13. ^ "County Championship Plate Final 2009". englandrugby.com. 30 May 2009.
  14. ^ "County Chamionship [sic] Plate Final 2009 vs Kent". Durham Rugby. 30 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010.
  15. ^ http://www.rfu.com/News/2010/May/News%20Articles/300510_dorset_county_shield.aspx?a=1&y=2010[permanent dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Rugby: Dorset & Wilts enjoy Twickenham triumph".
  17. ^ "Dorset & Wilts claim Shield win". BBC News. 29 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Leicester Aim for Shield Success". RFU. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Surrey retain County Championship Shield". RFU. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  20. ^ "Surrey finish strongly to seal hat-trick". rfu.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  21. ^ "Fixtures & Results County Championships". England Rugby. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  22. ^ "Staffordshire beaten by Hampshire in County Shield final at Twickenham". Staffordshire Newsletter. 29 May 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  23. ^ "OXFORDSHIRE BECOME DIVISION THREE COUNTY CHAMPIONS". England Rugby. 28 May 2017.
  24. ^ "No Championship until 2022. "County Championship: Rugby Football Union cancels competition until 2022."". BBC Sport.
  25. ^ RFU. "Bill Beaumont Competition Results". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
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