County Championship (rugby union)
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 Bill Beaumont Cup
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| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1889 |
| Owner(s) | Rugby Football Union |
| Country | England |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Lancashire (2017) (24th title) |
| Most titles | Lancashire (24) |
The County Championship is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. After restructuring in 2007 the top tier of the Championship has been known as the Bill Beaumont Cup, after the trophy awarded to the competition winners was named in honour of Bill Beaumont, a former England and British & Irish Lions captain. Teams also compete for the County Championship Plate and County Championship Shield.
The English County Championship has a long history, being first officially recognised by the Rugby Football Union in 1889. The 2014 Championship was the 114th competition. The most successful county, Lancashire, has won the competition 24 times, followed by Gloucestershire (17) and Yorkshire (15). Lancashire (34) & Gloucestershire (33) have made the most appearances in contested finals.
On four occasions the tournament final has been tied at full-time and a second leg rematch has been played. Two of these rematches were also tied and on these occasions (1907 and 1967) the finalists were declared joint winners. In 1991 the final match between Cornwall and Yorkshire was tied at full-time and extra time was played, with Cornwall winning 29-20. In 2001 the Championship did not take place due to the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak; instead Yorkshire and Cornwall were invited to play at Twickenham.
The 2015 final was contested by Lancashire and Cornwall, with the teams meeting in the final for the third consecutive year. Cornwall won the championship with an 18-13 victory, their fourth title overall and their first since 1999. Cornwall retained their title in 2016, this time beating Cheshire, 35-13.
There was little formal structure to the first official years of the competition, with teams playing different numbers of matches and different opposition from across England. The winners were determined by a panel of judges from the RFU Committee. From 1892-1895, the four winners of four regional Championships (North East, North West, South East and South West) played a round robin to determine the overall winner of the County Championship.
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