2015_County_Championship_Shield
The 2015 County Championship Shield was the 11th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organized by the RFU for the tier 3 English counties. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and below of the English rugby union league system. The counties were divided into three pools of four teams each, based roughly on regional lines, with the winner of each group plus the best runner-up going through to the semi-finals, with the winners of those games meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. At the moment there is no promotion or relegation out of or into the County Championship Shield, although the 2014 champions Surrey moved up into tier 2, having won the competition three years in a row.[1][2]
| 2015 County Championship Shield | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England |
| Date | 2 May 2015 - 31 May 2015 |
| Champions | Leicestershire (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Cumbria |
After winning their respective groups and semi final matches Leicestershire faced Cumbria in the late kick off game at Twickenham Stadium. Leicestershire made up for their defeat the previous season by defeating Cumbria 34 – 17 to win their first ever Shield trophy.[3]
The competition format consisted of three groups of four counties each, based roughly on regional lines where possible, with each team playing each other once. The top side of each group automatically qualified for the semi-finals, as did the best group runner-up. The winners of the semi-finals played in the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015,[4] As the lowest tier in the county championship there is no relegation while promotion is not given every season, although outstanding county performances (such as Surrey's) can lead to counties moving up to tier 2.
| County | Stadium(s) | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | Old Bath Road | 1,250 | Sonning, Reading, Berkshire |
| Buckinghamshire | Floyd Field Manor Fields Sports Ground |
N/A N/A |
Buckingham, Buckinghamshire Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire |
| Cumbria | Rugby Ground Ellis Sports Ground |
1,500 (500 seats) 12,000 (2,000 seats) |
Carlisle, Cumbria Workington, Cumbria |
| Dorset & Wilts | Paxcroft Bestwall Park |
N/A N/A |
Trowbridge, Wiltshire Wareham, Dorset |
| Essex | Goresbrook | 1,000 | Barking, London |
| Hampshire | Rugby Camp | N/A | Portsmouth, Hampshire |
| Leicestershire | The Rugby Ground Vipers Rugby Ground |
N/A N/A |
Market Harborough, Leicestershire Whetstone, Leicestershire |
| Middlesex | Trailfinders Sports Ground | 3,020 | West Ealing, London |
| Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | Eakring Road | 1,000 | Mansfield, Nottinghamshire |
| Oxfordshire | Greystones | N/A | Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire |
| Staffordshire | Hartwell Lane | N/A | Barlaston, Staffordshire |
| Warwickshire | Ivor Preece Field | 1,500 (250 seats) | Binley Woods, Coventry, Warwickshire |
Pool 1
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leicestershire (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 25 | 95 | 3 | 0 | 15 | ||||||
| 2 | Oxfordshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 76 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| 3 | Buckinghamshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 87 | −49 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| 4 | Berkshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 45 | 109 | −64 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| Buckinghamshire | 14–13 | Berkshire (BP) |
| Manor Fields Sports Ground, Bletchley, Milton Keynes |
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| Oxfordshire | 6–39 | Leicestershire (BP) |
| Greystones, Chipping Norton |
Pool 2
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cumbria (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 25 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 13 | ||||||
| 2 | Warwickshire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 64 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||
| 3 | Staffordshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 80 | −27 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| 4 | Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 78 | −31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
Round 2
| 9 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Warwickshire | 36–8 | Staffordshire |
| Report |
| The Ivor Preece Field, Binley Woods, Coventry |
Round 3
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire | 24–33 | Staffordshire |
| The Stute, Ilkeston |
Pool 3
| |||||||||||||||||
| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorset & Wilts (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 36 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 13 | ||||||
| 2 | Essex (Q)[n 1] | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 44 | 62 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||||
| 3 | Hampshire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 83 | −32 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||||||
| 4 | Middlesex | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 133 | −97 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background means the county qualified for the Shield semi finals. Updated: 16 May 2015 Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.
| |||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 2 May 2015 15:00 |
| Hampshire | 5–38 | Essex (BP) |
| Rugby Camp, Portsmouth |
| 2 May 2015 15:00 |
| Middlesex | 5–50 | Dorset & Wilts (BP) |
| Report |
| Trailfinders Sports Ground, West Ealing, London |
Round 2
Round 3
| 16 May 2015 15:00 |
| (BP) Essex | 48–15 | Middlesex |
| Goresbrook, Barking |
Semi-finals
Final
- "Surrey make it three County Championship Shield titles in a row at Twickenham". Dorking Advertiser. 1 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- "Surrey Enters The Bill Beaumont Cup". Surrey Rugby. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
- "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.
- "ENGLAND V BARBARIANS SUNDAY 31 MAY 2015 K.O. 3pm". Tunbridge Wells RFC. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- "County Championships Results: 2015". englandrugby.com. 31 May 2015.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 347. Rugby Paper Ltd. 10 May 2015. p. 33.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 348. Rugby Paper Ltd. 17 May 2015. p. 29.
- "Cumbria Game Called Off". NLDRFU – Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire & Derbyshire Rugby. 8 May 2015.
- "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper. No. 349. Rugby Paper Ltd. 24 May 2015. p. 25.
- NCA Rugby Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine