The 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 114th 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 (typically National League 1, National League 2 South or National League 2 North). 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 2013 County Championship Plate final – Northumberland (winners) and North Midlands (runners-up) who replaced Durham and Kent. Lancashire were the defending champions.
The northern group was won by Lancashire, qualifying for their sixth successive final by winning all three games, although they had some stiff opposition from rivals Yorkshire and Cheshire on the way. They were joined by Cornwall, also making their second successive final, who won the southern section in a similar manner, with close wins against Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire getting them through. Both of the newly promoted counties, Northumberland and North Midlands, made an instant return as they were relegated to the 2015 County Championship Plate at the end of the competition.
In what was a repeat of the previous seasons final, Lancashire once again defeated Cornwall. Cornwall who were looking to win the championship for the first time in 14 years, actually led 23-10 at half-time, but fell apart in the second, as a rampant Lancashire side scored four tries to finish as victors 38-26. Lancashire's outstanding player of the tournament was Fylde's Chris Johnson, who scored 60 points over the competition, including 4 tries, while Lewis Vinnicombe, playing for Truro in Tribute Western Counties West, was excellent for Cornwall with 4 tries overall.
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 1 June 2014.
Participating Counties and ground locations
CountyStadium(s) CapacityCity/Area CheshireHeywood RoadPaton Field5,4004,000Sale, Greater ManchesterThurstaston, MerseysideCornwallRecreation GroundRecreation Ground3,500 (580 seats)7,000 (780 seats)Redruth, CornwallCamborne, CornwallGloucestershireDockham Road2,500Cinderford, GloucestershireHertfordshireWoollam Playing FieldsHighfields1,000N/ASt Albans, HertfordshireWare, HertfordshireLancashireWoodlands Memorial GroundPark Lane9,0003,000Lytham St Annes, LancashireWhitefield, Greater ManchesterNorth MidlandsFinstall ParkN/ABromsgrove, WorcestershireNorthumberlandTynedale2,000 (400 seats)Corbridge, NorthumberlandYorkshireSilver Royd1,950 (322 seats) Scalby, North Yorkshire
Group stage
Division 1 North
2014 Beaumont Cup Division 1 North TableCountyPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints 1 Lancashire (Q) 3 3 0 0 111 61 50 2 0 14 2 Yorkshire 3 2 0 1 83 54 29 0 1 9 3 Cheshire 3 1 0 2 57 80 -23 1 1 6 4 Northumberland (R) 3 0 0 3 72 128 -56 1 1 2 If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background means the county qualified for the final. Pink background means the county were demoted to Division 2 North of the County Championship Plate for the following season. Updated: 24 May 2014Source:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Division 1 South
2014 Beaumont Cup Division 1 South TableCountyPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints 1 Cornwall (Q) 3 3 0 0 111 58 53 2 0 14 2 Hertfordshire 3 2 0 1 93 52 41 2 1 11 3 Gloucestershire 3 1 0 2 91 82 9 1 1 6 4 North Midlands (R) 3 0 0 3 61 164 -103 0 0 0 If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled Green background means the county qualified for the final. Pink background means the county were en demoted to Division 2 South of the County Championship Plate for the following season. Updated: 24 May 2014Source:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Final
15 Sean Taylor Preston Grasshoppers14 Warren Spragg Fylde 13 Chris Briers Fylde 12 Matt Riley Sedgley Park 11 Oliver Brennand Fylde 10Chris Johnson (capt) Fylde 9 Ryan De la Harpe Fylde 1 Adam Lewis Fylde 2 Mark Rylance Fylde3 Ben Black Sedgley Park 4 Louis McGowan Sedgley Park 5 Gareth Gore Fylde 6 Gareth Rawlings Longton 7 Evan Stewart Fylde8 Matthew Lamprey Sedgley ParkReplacements:16 Simon Griffiths Fylde 17Peter Altham Preston Grasshoppers 18 David Fairbrother Fleetwood 19 Paul Arnold Fylde 20 Tom Burtonwood Fylde 21 Phil Baines Preston Grasshoppers 22 Steve Collins Sedgley Park 15 Kieron Lewitt Cornish All Blacks 14 Lewis Vinnicombe Truro13 Ryan Westren Cornish All Blacks 12 Nielson Webber Cornish All Blacks11 Tom Notman Redruth 10 Lewis Webb Cornish All Blacks 9 Greg Goodfellow Redruth 1 Darren Jacques Truro 2 Jamie Salter Cornish All Blacks 3 Craig Williams Redruth 4 Damien Cook Redruth 5 Ben Hilton (capt) Cornish All Blacks 6 Chris Fuca Redruth 7 Tom Rawlings Cornish All Blacks 8 Barrie-John Chapman Cornish All BlacksReplacements: 16 Jamal Ford-Robinson Cambridge 17 Bryn Jenkins Cornish All Blacks 18 Sam Parsons Redruth 19 Tony Whittle Falmouth 20 Steven Johns Birmingham Solihull 21 Matthew Shepherd St Austell 22 Richard Brown Redruth
Total season attendances Does not include final at Twickenham which is a neutral venue and involves teams from all three county divisions on the same day CountyHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Cheshire 2 611 306 330 281 7% Cornwall 2 3,200 1,600 2,000 1,200 31% Gloucestershire 1 218 218 218 218 9% Hertfordshire 2 744 372 580 164 16% Lancashire 2 875 438 450 425 10% North Midlands 1 250 250 250 250 Northumberland 1 258 258 258 258 13% Yorkshire 1 1,850 1,850 1,850 1,850 95%
Individual statistics Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances will come first. Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included). Statistics will also include final.
Top points scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Points 1 Chris Johnson Lancashire Fylde 4 60 2 Kieron Lewitt Cornwall Launceston 4 47 3 Leo Fielding Gloucestershire Chinnor 3 46 4 Richard Vasey Cheshire Caldy 3 29 5 Lawrence Rayner Hertfordshire Old Albanian 3 23
Top try scorers Rank Player County Club Side Appearances Tries 1 Lewis Vinnicombe Cornwall Truro 3 4 2 Chris Johnson Lancashire Fylde 4 4 3 Tom Notman Cornwall Redruth 4 4 4 Leo Fielding Gloucestershire Chinnor 3 3 5 Warren Spragg Lancashire Fylde 4 3
See also English rugby union system Rugby union in England
References
External links NCA Rugby