2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2

The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 was the 16th version of the annual English rugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the tier 2 English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 2 having previously been known as the County Championship Plate. 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 pools (north/south) with four teams in each and the winners of each pool meeting in the final at Twickenham Stadium.

Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with Hampshire (winners) and Staffordshire (runners up) coming up due to reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Shield, while Warwickshire and Cumbria were also promoted by virtue of their performances in the competition during the past two seasons. The changes also meant that there were no teams relegated into the division.

Leicestershire and Hampshire won their respective groups to qualify for the Twickenham final, with Leicestershire being the more impressive with three easy victories. The first half of the final was fairly close with Leicestershire going in 8-0 up, but in the second half they added a further four tries to win their first ever Division 2 competition by a final score of 39-7. It was a well deserved win for Leicestershire who were by the far the strongest county in Division 2 this season and it would be no surprise if they are in the top division in a couple of year's time.

Competition format
The competition format was two regional group stages divided into north and south with four teams in each group. 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. The RFU plans to switch this around the following year so that teams that played one home game in 2017 will get two during the 2018 competition.

Due to changes to the County Championships implemented for this competition there was no promotion for the Division 2 finalists as there had been in previous seasons. Instead, points will be accumulated over two seasons with the two most successful sides over that period being promoted to the top tier for the 2019 competition. The RFU has also introduced relegation to the division, with the bottom sides in each group over two years dropping to Division 3.

Individual statistics

 * 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.

Team
62 - 5 Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017 62 - 13	Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017 62 - 5 Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017 62 - 13	Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017 Durham County at home to Cumbria on 6 May 2017 Hampshire away to North Midlands on 6 May 2017 Warwickshire at home to North Midlands on 13 May 2017 Hampshire at home to Somerset on 13 May 2017
 * Largest home win —
 * Largest away win — 49 points
 * Most points scored — 62 (x2)
 * Most tries in a match — 10 (x2)
 * Most conversions in a match — 8
 * Most penalties in a match — 4
 * Most drop goals in a match — 0

Player
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Richard Buck for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Richard Buck for Hampshire at home to North Midlands on 6 May 2017 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tom Johnson for North Midlands away to Warwickshire on 13 May 2017 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ben Palmer for Warwickshire at home to North Midlands on 13 May 2017 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pierre-Alex Clarke for Hampshire at home to Somerset on 13 May 2017
 * Most points in a match — 20 (x2)
 * Most tries in a match — 4 (x2)
 * Most conversions in a match — 8
 * Most penalties in a match — 4
 * Most drop goals in a match — 0