| 2015 County Championship Plate | |
| Date: | 15 May 2016 - 31 May 2015 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Runnersup: | Eastern Counties |
| Highest Attendance: | 640 Devon v North Midlands (16 May 2015) |
| Attendance: | 2,310 (average 247 per match) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 112 North Midlands v Surrey (9 May 2015) |
| Top Point Scorer: | Matt Noble Surrey 39 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Ryan Jeffrey Surrey 6 |
| Prevseason: | 2014 |
| Nextseason: | 2016 |
The 2015 County Championship Plate, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division 2, was the 14th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the tier 2 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 South or National League 2 North). The counties were divided into two regional pools (north/south) with three teams in the north division and four in the south, with the winners of each pool meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the division included North Midlands and Northumberland who were demoted from the 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup while Surrey came up from the 2014 County Championship Shield having beaten Leicestershire the previous year in the Shield final having won the competition three years in a row.[1] [2] [3] [4]
At the end of the group stage the northern division was won by Eastern Counties who edged out Northumberland while the southern division was won with ease by Surrey who steamrolled through their group. The counties went through to the final and as group winners will be promoted to the top tier with Surrey making it two promotions in a row. Surrey then defeated Eastern Counties in the early kickoff at Twickenham Stadium, winning 17 – 3, in what was their fourth consecutive Twickenham appearance.[5] In terms of individual player performances the top try scorer was Surrey's Ryan Jeffrey who got six tries in the tournament – all coming in the one game against North Midlands.
The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. In the north group each team played one home game (there were three teams in the group) while in the south group, two teams in the group had two home games, while the other two had just the one. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015,[6] with both teams also being promoted to the top tier for the following season. Typically there was no relegation although teams have dropped out of the division in the past.
| width=25% | County | width=25% | Stadium(s) | width=25% | Capacity | width=25% | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | Putnoe Woods | 500 | Bedford, Bedfordshire | ||||
| Eastern Counties | University Football Ground | 1,500 | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire | ||||
| Devon | Astley Park Showground | 1,800 1,120 (120 seats) | Brixham, Devon Okehampton, Devon | ||||
| North Midlands | Stourton Park | 3,500 (499 seats) | Stourbridge, West Midlands | ||||
| Northumberland | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear | ||||
| Somerset | Hyde Park | 2,000 (198 seats) | Taunton, Somerset | ||||
| Surrey | 2,000 | Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey | |||||
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| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||||||
| 1 | Eastern Counties (P) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 37 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Northumberland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 36 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 3 | East Midlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 74 | −46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
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| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 North of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 13 May 2015 Source: Web site: County Championships . englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| County | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||||||
| 1 | Surrey (P) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 81 | 71 | 3 | 0 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 99 | 103 | −4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Somerset | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 86 | 138 | −52 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Devon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 101 | −13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||
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| Green background means the county qualified for the final and is also promoted to the Division 1 South of the Bill Beaumont Cup for the following season. Updated: 13 May 2015 Source: Web site: County Championships . englandrugby.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| County | Home Games | Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | 2 | 882 | 441 | 640 | 242 | 29% |
| Eastern Counties | 1 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 17% |
| East Midlands | 1 | 152 | 152 | 152 | 152 | 30% |
| North Midlands | 2 | 287 | 144 | 175 | 112 | 4% |
| Northumberland | 1 | 258 | 258 | 258 | 258 | 3% |
| Somerset | 1 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 203 | 10% |
| Surrey | 1 | 278 | 278 | 278 | 278 | 14% |
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 39 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 36 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 30 | |||
| 4 | 3 | 26 | |||
| 5 | 3 | 22 | |||
| Rank | Player | County | Club Side | Appearances | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 3 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | |||