2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1

The 2019 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 119th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the Rugby Football Union (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 North or National League 2 South). The counties were divided into two regional sections with the winners of each meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. Lancashire were the reigning champions having defeated Hertfordshire in the previous year's final.[1][2]

201ffh9 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1
Countries	England
Date	4 May 2019 - 2 June 2019
Champions	Cornwall (6th title)
Runners-up	Cheshire
Matches played	19
Attendance	13,403 (average 705 per match)
Highest attendance	3,500 Cheshire v Cornwall (2 June 2019)
Lowest attendance	247 Cheshire v Eastern Counties (4 May 2019)
Tries scored	153 (average 8.1 per match)
Top point scorer	Lewis Minikin (Yorkshire) 50 points
Top try scorer	Leo Fielding (Gloucestershire) Tom Grimes (Lancashire) Alex Ducker (Cornwall) 4 tries each

At the end of the group stage, Cheshire overcame stiff challenges from Lancashire and Yorkshire to top Division 1 North. Although they beat Yorkshire in a razor tight game during round 2, they had to rely on the same side to beat favourites Lancashire on the final match day, before they were assured of a place in the competition final. The tournament structure was perhaps slightly unkind to Yorkshire as they had to play the top two sides, while Cheshire and Lancashire avoided playing one another. Cornwall made amends for a terrible tournament the previous year by topping Division 1 South with an resounding victory over Hertfordshire being probably the most impressive of their three wins. Again, due to the rather bizarre tournament structure the top two sides in the group did not meet, although Gloucestershire failed to get the 100% record needed to qualify for the final, thanks to a defeat against Kent.

In an incredibly tight Twickenham final Cornwall defeated Cheshire 14–12. Cornwall had a 7–0 lead at the end of the first half thanks to a solo Alex Ducker converted try (his 4th of the tournament), when a moment of madness just before half-time saw Cornish scrum-half, Jack Oulton, red carded for an off-the-ball incident. The second half was all Cheshire as they looked to get back into the game against the 14 men of Cornwall, scoring two tries to eventually take a 12–7 lead with 10 minutes remaining. With a Cheshire win looking imminent, Cornwall were awarded a penalty inside the Cheshire 22. What followed was a series of Cornwall penalties and scrums, as Cheshire were reduced to 13 men for repeated infringements as the game went into injury time. Eight minutes into injury, the ball finally left the scrum and was found by Cornwall's Seti Raumakita, who dodged several tackles to go over for a try to make it 12-12. With the last kick of the game Matthew Shepherd held his nerve to kick the conversion and win Cornwall the 2019 County Championship, and their sixth overall.[3]