2017 County Championship Plate 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
Durham County Rugby Football Union recent times Durham have flickered back and forth between Division 1 and Division 2 of the championships, with their last Twickenham appearance being the 2014 County Championship Plate final which they lost 31-23 to Kent. Durham County senior men's currently play in the County Championship Plate - the second division of the County Championship - having been relegated from the top flight during the 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup. Honours: See There are currently 29 clubs affiliated with the Durham County RFU, most of which have teams at both senior and junior level. Most clubs are based in County Durham but