2015 Bill Beaumont Cup


The 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 115th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the 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. The counties were divided into two regional pools with the winners of each pool meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. New counties to the competition were the two finalists from the 2014 County Championship PlateKent and Durham County who replaced North Midlands and Northumberland. Lancashire were the defending champions.
At the end of the group stage, Lancashire won the northern division with relative ease to book their place in the final for the seventh successive year while Cornwall joined them, squeezing through by defeating Hertfordshire in the last game of the southern group having trailed 18 - 6 at half time. Both Durham County and Kent made an instant return to the 2016 County Championship Plate after being relegated by coming bottom of their respective groups. The 2015 final was a repeat of the previous two seasons with Cornwall this time turning the tables on holders Lancashire and winning their first county title since 1999 in an 18 - 13 victory. Cornish All Black scrum half Matthew Shepherd was man of the match with two tries and also finished as the competition's top scorer.

Competition format

The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south, with each team playing each other once. This meant that two teams in the pool had two home games, while the other two had just one. The top side in each group went through to the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 31 May 2015. The bottom side in each group was relegated to the second tier of the county championships for the following season, with the finalists from that division replacing them.

Participating Counties and ground locations

CountyStadiumCapacityCity/Area
CheshireHare Lane2,000Chester, Cheshire
CornwallRecreation Ground3,500 Redruth, Cornwall
Durham CountyCrow Trees
The Darlington Arena
2,000
25,000
Swalwell, Tyne and Wear
Darlington, County Durham
GloucestershireDockham Road
The Hayfields
2,500
N/A
Cinderford, Gloucestershire
Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire
HertfordshireHighfieldsN/AWare, Hertfordshire
KentMerton Lane
Rectory Field
1,075
N/A
Canterbury, Kent
Gravesend, Kent
LancashireWoodlands Memorial Ground9,000Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
YorkshireLockwood Park
Castle Park
1,500
5,000
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Group stage

Division 1 North

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

Division 1 South

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

Final

Total season attendances

CountyHome
Games
TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Cheshire125025025025013%
Cornwall12,8002,8002,8002,80080%
Durham County27003503803209%
Gloucestershire288744456232522%
Hertfordshire1620620620620
Kent285042560025023%
Lancashire11,2001,2001,2001,20013%
Yorkshire299649855044620%

Individual statistics

Top try scorers