2017_Bill_Beaumont_Cup
The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 117th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the top tier English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 1 having previously been known as the Bill Beaumont Cup.[1] 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 (each divided into two pools, for a total of four) with the winners of each meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. Cornwall were the defending champions.[2][3]
Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with East Midlands and Northumberland joining the northern section, while Kent and Devon joined the south. East Midlands (winners) and Kent (runners up) were promoted after reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Plate, while Northumberland and Devon were promoted by virtue of their performances in the competition over the past couple of seasons. It also saw a lucky escape for the likes of Yorkshire, who would have been playing tier 2 rugby this year were it not for the competition restructuring.[4][5][6]
By the end of the group stages, Lancashire and Cornwall came top of their respective pools, winning all three of their games with a bonus point in each to qualify for the final in what would be the fourth county championship final between the two sides. Lancashire possibly had the harder time of it as they edged rivals Yorkshire by just one point with neither side playing each other due to the new format, while Cornwall won all their games. In the Twickenham final, the first half started with Cornwall dominant in taking an 8-0 lead into the break - although they perhaps should have capitalized more on a Lancashire yellow card towards the end of the half. The second half was a completely different story, however, as Lancashire played some breath-taking rugby scoring three delightful tries to take the game 19-8, ending Cornwall's hope of a treble of championships, and claiming the 24th county championship title for the Red Rose.[7]
