2013 County Championship Shield

The 2013 County Championship Shield was the 9th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organized by the RFU for the tier 3 English counties. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and below of the English rugby union league system. The counties were divided into three pools of four teams each, based roughly on regional lines, with the winner of each group plus the best runner-up going through to the semi-finals, with the winners of those games meeting in the final held at Twickenham Stadium. Typically there is no promotion or relegation out of or into the County Championship Shield. Surrey were the reigning champions.

After winning their pools and semi-final matches, reigning champions Surrey met Cumbria in the final. Having thrashed Leicestershire the last time round, Surrey found Cumbria a much tougher prospect, eventually prevailing 23 – 16 to claim their second successive title (and third overall).

Competition format

The competition format consisted of four pools (one of four teams, the others with three), based roughly on regional lines where possible, with each team playing each other once. The top side of each group qualified for the semi-finals, with the winners of the semi-finals playing in the final held at Twickenham Stadium on 26 May 2013. As the lowest tier in the county championship there is no relegation while promotion is not given every season, although outstanding county performances can lead to counties moving up to tier 2.

Participating counties and ground locations

County	Stadium(s)	Capacity	City/Area
Berkshire	Monk's Lane	8,000	Newbury, Berkshire
Buckinghamshire	Kingsmead Road	N/A	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Cumbria	Winters Park Lowmoor Road Bower Park	N/A N/A N/A	Penrith, Cumbria Wigton, Cumbria Aspatria, Cumbria
Dorset & Wilts	Allington Fields Bestwall Park	500 N/A	Chippenham, Wiltshire Wareham, Dorset
Essex	Forest Road	N/A	Ilford, Greater London
Hampshire	Rugby Camp	N/A	Portsmouth, Hampshire
Leicestershire	N/A	N/A	N/A
Middlesex	Athletic Ground	4,500 (1,000 seats)	Richmond, London
Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	The Rugby Ground	1,000 (60 seats)	Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire	Marston Ferry Road	N/A	Oxford, Oxfordshire
Surrey	Broadwater Sports Club	N/A	Farncombe, Surrey
Sussex	Pulborough Road Roundstone Lane	N/A 1,500 (100 seats)	Pulborough, West Sussex Angmering, West Sussex
Warwickshire	Butts Park Arena	4,000	Coventry, West Midlands

Notes

Group stage

Pool 1

	County	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
2013 County Championship Shield Pool 1 Table
	2013 County Championship Shield Pool 1 Table
1	Cumbria (Q)	2	2	0	0	109	17	92	2	0	10
2	Leicestershire	2	1	0	1	98	41	57	1	0	5
3	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	2	0	0	2	3	152	-149	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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 11 May 2013 Source: . englandrugby.com.

Round 1

27 April 2013

Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire	3 - 81	Leicestershire (BP)

Kelham Road, Newark-on-Trent

Round 2

4 May 2013 15:00

(BP) Cumbria	71 - 0	Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire

Lowmoor Road, Wigton

Round 3

11 May 2013 15:00

Cumbria (BP)	38 - 17	Leicestershire

Winters Park, Penrith

Pool 2

	County	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
2013 County Championship Shield Pool 2 Table
	2013 County Championship Shield Pool 2 Table
1	Warwickshire (Q)	2	2	0	0	66	32	34	1	0	9
2	Essex	2	1	0	1	52	37	15	1	1	6
3	Buckinghamshire	2	0	0	2	24	73	-49	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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 11 May 2014 Source: . englandrugby.com.

Round 1

27 April 2013

Buckinghamshire	12 - 41	Warwickshire (BP)

Kingsmead Road, High Wycombe

Round 2

4 May 2013 15:00

Warwickshire	25 - 20	Essex (BP)

Butts Park Arena, Coventry

Round 3

11 May 2013

(BP) Essex	32 - 12	Buckinghamshire

Forest Road, Ilford

Pool 3

	County	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
2013 County Championship Shield Pool 3 Table
	2013 County Championship Shield Pool 3 Table
1	Surrey (Q)	3	3	0	0	157	60	97	3	0	15
2	Dorset & Wilts	3	2	0	1	93	72	21	2	0	10
3	Oxfordshire	3	1	0	2	76	135	-59	1	0	5
4	Berkshire	3	0	0	3	63	122	-59	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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 11 May 2013 Source: . englandrugby.com.

Round 1

27 April 2013

(BP) Berkshire	17 - 23	Dorset & Wilts (BP)

Monk's Lane, Newbury

27 April 2013

(BP) Surrey	67 - 12	Oxfordshire

Broadwater Sports Club, Farncombe

Round 2

4 May 2014

(BP) Berkshire	36 - 49	Surrey (BP)

Monk's Lane, Newbury

4 May 2014

(BP) Dorset & Wilts	58 - 14	Oxfordshire

Allington Fields, Chippenham

Round 3

11 May 2013

Dorset & Wilts	12 - 41	Surrey (BP)

Bestwall Park, Wareham

11 May 2013

(BP) Oxfordshire	50 - 10	Berkshire

Marston Ferry Road, Oxford

Pool 4

	County	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
2013 County Championship Shield Pool 4 Table
	2013 County Championship Shield Pool 4 Table
1	Sussex (Q)	2	2	0	0	55	50	5	2	0	10
2	Hampshire	2	1	0	1	64	45	19	1	1	6
3	Middlesex	2	0	0	2	46	70	-24	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 Shield semi finals. Updated: 11 May 2013 Source: . englandrugby.com.

Round 1

27 April 2013

(BP) Hampshire	41 - 19	Middlesex

Rugby Camp, Portsmouth

Round 2

4 May 2013

(BP) Sussex	26 - 23	Hampshire (BP)

Pulborough Road, Pulborough

Round 3

11 May 2013 14:00

(2BP) Middlesex	27 - 29	Sussex (BP)

Athletic Ground, Richmond

Knock-out Stage

Semi-finals

18 May 2013 16:15

Cumbria	13 - 11	Warwickshire

Bower Park, Aspatria

18 May 2013

Sussex	8 - 35	Surrey

Roundstone Lane, Worthing

Final

26 May 2013 17:15

Cumbria	16 - 21	Surrey

Twickenham Stadium, London

External links

2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine

2013 County Championship Shield

Competition format

Participating counties and ground locations

Group stage

Pool 1

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Pool 2

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Pool 3

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Pool 4

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Knock-out Stage

Semi-finals

Final

See also

External links