2014 Bill Beaumont Cup

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.[1] Lancashire were the defending champions.[2]

For the second tier of the English Counties competition, see 2014 County Championship Plate. For the third tier of the English Counties competition, see 2014 County Championship Shield.
2014 Bill Beaumont Cup (County Championship)
Countries England
Date10 May 2014 - 1 June 2014
ChampionsLancashire (23rd title)
Runners-upCornwall
RelegatedNorth Midlands, Northumberland
Matches played13
Attendance12,006
(average 924 per match)
Highest attendance4,000 Lancashire v Cornwall (1 June 2014)
Lowest attendance164 Hertfordshire v North Midlands (17 May 2014)
Top point scorer Chris Johnson
(Lancashire) 60
Top try scorer Lewis Vinnicombe
(Cornwall) 4

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.[3][4]

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.[5] 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
Thurstaston (Cheshire)
Sale (Cheshire)
Redruth (Cornwall)
Camborne (Cornwall)
Cinderford (Gloucestershire)
St Albans (Hertfordshire)
Lytham Saint Annes (Lancashire)
Whitefield (Lancashire)
Bromsgrove (North Midlands)
Corbridge (Northumberland)
Scarborough (Yorkshire)
Locations of the 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup county teams
County Stadium(s) Capacity City/Area
Cheshire Heywood Road
Paton Field		 5,400
4,000		 Sale, Greater Manchester
Thurstaston, Merseyside
Cornwall Recreation Ground
Recreation Ground		 3,500 (580 seats)
7,000 (780 seats)		 Redruth, Cornwall
Camborne, Cornwall
Gloucestershire Dockham Road 2,500 Cinderford, Gloucestershire
Hertfordshire Woollam Playing Fields
Highfields		 1,000
N/A		 St Albans, Hertfordshire
Ware, Hertfordshire
Lancashire Woodlands Memorial Ground
Park Lane		 9,000
3,000		 Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
Whitefield, Greater Manchester
North Midlands Finstall Park N/A Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Northumberland Tynedale 2,000 (400 seats) Corbridge, Northumberland
Yorkshire Silver Royd 1,950 (322 seats) Scalby, North Yorkshire

Group stage

Division 1 North
2014 Beaumont Cup Division 1 North Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Lancashire (Q)330011161502014
2Yorkshire3201835429019
3Cheshire31025780-23116
4Northumberland (R)300372128-56112
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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 2014
Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1
10 May 2014
15:00
Cheshire 3 - 24 Yorkshire
Heywood Road, Sale
Attendance: 330
Referee: Andrew Rawson
10 May 2014
15:00
(BP) Lancashire 57 - 19 Northumberland
Woodlands Memorial Ground, Lytham St Annes
Attendance: 425
Referee: Wayne Falla

[6][7]

Round 2
17 May 2014
(BP) Cheshire 35 - 31 Northumberland (2BP)
Paton Field, Thurstaston
Attendance: 281
Referee: Brendan MacGaffney
17 May 2014
(BP) Yorkshire 23 - 29 Lancashire (BP)
Silver Royd, Scalby
Attendance: 1,850
Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts

[8][7]

Round 3
24 May 2014
Lancashire 25 - 19 Cheshire (BP)
Park Lane, Whitefield
Attendance: 450
Referee: Karl Kirkpatrick
24 May 2014
Northumberland 22 - 36 Yorkshire (BP)
Tynedale Park, Corbridge
Attendance: 258
Referee: Andrew Rawson

[9][7]

Division 1 South
2014 Beaumont Cup Division 1 South Table
County Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Cornwall (Q)330011158532014
2Hertfordshire32019352412111
3Gloucestershire310291829116
4North Midlands (R)300361164-103000
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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 2014
Source: "County Championships". englandrugby.com.

Round 1
10 May 2014
15:00
(BP) Cornwall 65 - 22 North Midlands
The Recreation Ground, Redruth
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Nick Williams
10 May 2014
15:00
Gloucestershire 19 - 30 Hertfordshire (BP)
Dockham Road, Cinderford
Attendance: 218
Referee: Graham Dickens

[6][7][10]

Round 2
17 May 2014
(BP) Cornwall 33 - 27 Gloucestershire (BP)
Recreation Ground, Camborne
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Paul Kimber
17 May 2014
(BP) Hertfordshire 54 - 20 North Midlands
Woollam Playing Fields, St Albans
Attendance: 164
Referee: Veryan Boscawen

[8][7][10]

Round 3
24 May 2014
(BP) Hertfordshire 9 - 13 Cornwall
Highfields, Ware
Attendance: 580
Referee: James Clarke
24 May 2014
North Midlands 19 - 45 Gloucestershire (BP)
Finstall Park, Bromsgrove
Attendance: 250
Referee: Jamie Leahy

[9][7][10]

Final
1 June 2014
12:15
Lancashire 36 - 26 (HT 10-23) Cornwall
Try: Rylance, Stewart, Johnson, Lamprey, Burtonwood
Con: Johnson (4)
Pen: Johnson
 Report Try: Vinnicombe, Ford-Robinson
Con: Lewitt (2)
Pen: Lewitt (4)
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 4,000[11]
Referee: Andrew Rawson


15Sean TaylorPreston Grasshoppers
14Warren SpraggFylde
13Chris BriersFylde
12Matt RileySedgley Park
11Oliver BrennandFylde
10Chris Johnson (capt)Fylde
9Ryan De la HarpeFylde
1Adam LewisFylde
2Mark RylanceFylde
3Ben BlackSedgley Park
4Louis McGowanSedgley Park
5Gareth GoreFylde
6Gareth RawlingsLongton
7Evan StewartFylde
8Matthew LampreySedgley Park
Replacements:
16Simon GriffithsFylde
17Peter AlthamPreston Grasshoppers
18David FairbrotherFleetwood
19Paul ArnoldFylde
20Tom BurtonwoodFylde
21Phil BainesPreston Grasshoppers
22Steve CollinsSedgley Park
15Kieron LewittCornish All Blacks
14Lewis VinnicombeTruro
13Ryan WestrenCornish All Blacks
12Nielson WebberCornish All Blacks
11Tom NotmanRedruth
10Lewis WebbCornish All Blacks
9Greg GoodfellowRedruth
1Darren JacquesTruro
2Jamie SalterCornish All Blacks
3Craig WilliamsRedruth
4Damien CookRedruth
5Ben Hilton (capt)Cornish All Blacks
6Chris FucaRedruth
7Tom RawlingsCornish All Blacks
8Barrie-John ChapmanCornish All Blacks
Replacements:
16Jamal Ford-RobinsonCambridge
17Bryn JenkinsCornish All Blacks
18Sam ParsonsRedruth
19Tony WhittleFalmouth
20Steven JohnsBirmingham Solihull
21Matthew ShepherdSt Austell
22Richard BrownRedruth

[7]

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
County Home
Games		 Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Cheshire26113063302817%
Cornwall23,2001,6002,0001,20031%
Gloucestershire12182182182189%
Hertfordshire274437258016416%
Lancashire287543845042510%
North Midlands1250250250250
Northumberland125825825825813%
Yorkshire11,8501,8501,8501,85095%

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.

See also

References
  1. "North Midlands 10 Northumberland 45". yoursportpages.com. 27 May 2013.
  2. "County Championship: Cornwall 25-36 Lancashire". BBC South-West Sport. 26 May 2013.
  3. "North Midlands relegated". North Midlands RFU. 24 May 2014.
  4. "Northumberland 22 Yorkshire 36: Relegation blow for beaten North". Chronicle Live. 25 May 2014.
  5. "Cornwall fall short in County Championship final at Twickenham". Western Morning News. 1 June 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (295). Rugby Paper Ltd. 11 May 2014. pp. 30–32.
  7. "County Championships Results: 2013-14". englandrugby.com. 1 June 2014.
  8. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (296). Rugby Paper Ltd. 18 May 2014. pp. 26–27 & 34.
  9. "Bill Beaumont Cup". The RUGBYPaper (297). Rugby Paper Ltd. 25 May 2014. pp. 28–29.
  10. "CORNWALL GAMES 2014 SEASON". Trelawny's Army. 1 June 2014.
  11. "County Championship: Lancashire fight back to beat Cornwall". BBC Sport. 1 June 2014.
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