2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1
Countries	England
Date	4 May 2019 - 2 June 2019
Champions	Cornwall (6th title)
Runners-up	Cheshire
Matches played	19
Attendance	13,403 (average 705 per match)
Highest attendance	3,500 Cheshire v Cornwall (2 June 2019)
Lowest attendance	247 Cheshire v Eastern Counties (4 May 2019)
Tries scored	153 (average 8.1 per match)
Top point scorer	Lewis Minikin (Yorkshire) 50 points
Top try scorer	Leo Fielding (Gloucestershire) Tom Grimes (Lancashire) Alex Ducker (Cornwall) 4 tries each

The 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 119th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for the top tier 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 sections with the winners of each meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. Lancashire were the reigning champions having defeated Hertfordshire in the previous year's final.^[1][2]

At the end of the group stage, Cheshire overcame stiff challenges from Lancashire and Yorkshire to top Division 1 North. Although they beat Yorkshire in a razor tight game during round 2, they had to rely on the same side to beat favourites Lancashire on the final match day, before they were assured of a place in the competition final. The tournament structure was perhaps slightly unkind to Yorkshire as they had to play the top two sides, while Cheshire and Lancashire avoided playing one another. Cornwall made amends for a terrible tournament the previous year by topping Division 1 South with an resounding victory over Hertfordshire being probably the most impressive of their three wins. Again, due to the rather bizarre tournament structure the top two sides in the group did not meet, although Gloucestershire failed to get the 100% record needed to qualify for the final, thanks to a defeat against Kent.

In an incredibly tight Twickenham final Cornwall defeated Cheshire 14–12. Cornwall had a 7–0 lead at the end of the first half thanks to a solo Alex Ducker converted try (his 4th of the tournament), when a moment of madness just before half-time saw Cornish scrum-half, Jack Oulton, red carded for an off-the-ball incident. The second half was all Cheshire as they looked to get back into the game against the 14 men of Cornwall, scoring two tries to eventually take a 12–7 lead with 10 minutes remaining. With a Cheshire win looking imminent, Cornwall were awarded a penalty inside the Cheshire 22. What followed was a series of Cornwall penalties and scrums, as Cheshire were reduced to 13 men for repeated infringements as the game went into injury time. Eight minutes into injury, the ball finally left the scrum and was found by Cornwall's Seti Raumakita, who dodged several tackles to go over for a try to make it 12-12. With the last kick of the game Matthew Shepherd held his nerve to kick the conversion and win Cornwall the 2019 County Championship, and their sixth overall.^[3]

Competition format

The 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 consists of twelve county sides, with six counties in the northern group, and six in the southern group. Each county plays three games per group, which means that certain counties get two home games, while others just the one home game. 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. It is the top tier of county championship rugby.

Promotion into the division and relegation from it occurs every two seasons, with accumulated points taken into consideration. At the end of the 2017–18 season, East Midlands (north) and Surrey (south) were relegated due to pool results accumulated over the 2017 and 2018 competitions, although in East Midlands' case they actually took voluntary relegation due to difficulties in getting the top eligible clubs in their union to provide players for future competitions. They are replaced by Durham (north) and Hampshire (south), who were the highest ranked counties during the 2017 and 2018 Division 2 competitions, with Durham being the 2018 champions.^[4] This also means that there will be no promotion or relegation until the end of the 2020 competition.

Participating counties and ground locations

County Stadium(s) Capacity City/Area Cheshire Heywood Road Upper Park 3,387   Sale, Greater Manchester Birkenhead, Wirral Cornwall The Recreation Ground 3,500 (580 seats) Redruth, Cornwall Devon Astley Park Showground 1,800 (300 in stand) 1,120 (120 seats) Brixham, Devon Okehampton, Devon Durham County Ashbrooke Sunderland, Tyne and Wear Eastern Counties The Haberden Grantchester Road 3,000 (135 seats) 1,250 (200 seats) Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Gloucestershire Dockham Road Station Road 2,500 2,500 (400 seats) Cinderford, Gloucestershire Patchway, Bristol Hampshire Gosport Park Hook's Lane 1,500 (500 seats) Gosport, Hampshire Havant, Hampshire Hertfordshire Highfields Ware, Hertfordshire Kent Priestfields Rochester, Kent Lancashire Woodlands Memorial Ground 9,000 Lytham St Annes, Lancashire Northumberland Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear Yorkshire Wagon Lane Laund Hill 4,000 2,000 (1,00 seats) Bingley, West Yorkshire Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Birkenhead (Cheshire) Sale (Cheshire) Redruth (Cornwall) Brixham (Devon) Okehampton (Devon) Sunderland (Durham) Bury St Edmunds (Eastern Counties) Cambridge (Eastern Counties) Cinderford (Gloucestershire) Patchway (Gloucestershire) Gosport (Hampshire) Havant (Hampshire) Ware (Hertforshire) Rochester (Kent) Lytham St Annes (Lancashire) Newcastle upon Tyne (Northumberland) Bradford (Yorkshire) Huddersfield (Yorkshire) Locations of the 2019 Division 1 county teams

Group stage

Final

^[3]

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 also include final.

Top points scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Points 1 Lewis Minikin Yorkshire Hull Ionians 3 50 2 Leo Fielding Gloucestershire Blackheath 2 44 3 Chris Johnson Lancashire Huddersfield 3 34 4 Thomas Morton Cheshire Macclesfield 4 36 5 Fraser Honey Cornwall Plymouth Albion 4 29 [6][7][8][3]

Top try scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Tries 1 Leo Fielding Gloucestershire Blackheath 2 4 Tom Grimes Lancashire Fylde 3 4 Alex Ducker Cornwall Camborne 4 4 2 Nick Hankin Hertfordshire Bishop's Stortford 2 3 Ricky McIntosh Kent Canterbury 2 3 Alex Pickersgill Kent Blackheath 2 3 Alex Ricci Hertfordshire Old Albanian 2 3 Henry Roberts Yorkshire Rotherham Titans 2 3 Tom Carleton Lancashire Fylde 3 3 Sam Goatley Gloucestershire Clifton 3 3 Brad Howe Cornwall Redruth 4 3 [6][7][8][3]

Competition records

Notes

See also

• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

External links

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