The County Championship is a three-tier competition entered by 27 of the RFU's Constituent Bodies (CBs). Devon beat Lancashire 27-6 in last year’s Bill Beaumont Cup final, Warwickshire defeated Somerset 22-8 in the Shield final, and Durham beat Sussex 30-20 to win the Plate.

Eight teams are split into two pools in the Bill Beaumont Cup and County Championship Shield, while two pools of four and one of three produce the semi-finalists in the County Championship Plate.

Each year the Shield and Plate finalists are promoted to the next tier of the competition and the two sides with the worst records relegated from Cup and Shield respectively.

And the competition continues to develop stars of the future. England's Shaun Perry (North Midlands) and David Strettle (Cheshire) have both appeared in the championship and for the England Counties side in the last five years

County Championship 2007-08 fixtures:

April 26

County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Leicestershire v Staffordshire (Syston), Essex v Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire (Eton Manor). Pool 2: Buckinghamshire v Sussex (High Wycombe), Dorset & Wilts v Hampshire (Swanage & Wareham). Pool 3: Berkshire v East Midlands (Reading).

May 3

Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Cheshire v Yorkshire (Macclesfield), Lancashire v Warwickshire (Preston Grasshoppers). South: Devon v Somerset (Barnstaple), Middlesex v Gloucestershire (Staines).

County Championship Shield: North: Cumbria v Northumberland (Kendal), North Midlands v Durham (Stourbridge). South: Cornwall v Oxfordshire (Redruth), Eastern Counties v Hertfordshire (West Norfolk).

County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Staffordshire v Essex (Lichfield), Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire v Leicestershire (Newark). Pool 2: Hampshire v Buckinghamshire (Basingstoke), Sussex v Dorset & Wilts (Lewes). Pool 3: Kent v Berkshire (Westcombe Park).

May 10

Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Cheshire v Lancashire (New Brighton), Warwickshire v Yorkshire (Coventry). South: Gloucestershire v Somerset (Lydney), Middlesex v Devon (Staines).

County Championship Shield: North: North Midlands v Cumbria (Stourbridge), Northumberland v Durham (Alnwick). South: Hertfordshire v Cornwall (Hertford), Oxfordshire v Eastern Counties (Chinnor).

County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Staffordshire v Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire (Stafford), Leicestershire v Essex (Syston). Pool 2: Buckinghamshire v Dorset & Wilts (Buckingham), Sussex v Hampshire (Horsham). Pool 3: East Midlands v Kent (Bedford Athletic).

May 17

Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Warwickshire v Cheshire (Coventry), Yorkshire v Lancashire (Harrogate). South: Devon v Gloucestershire (Plymouth Albion), Somerset v Middlesex (Taunton)

County Championship Shield: North: Durham v Cumbria (Darlington), Northumberland v North Midlands (Tynedale). South: Cornwall v Eastern Counties (Camborne), Hertfordshire v Oxfordshire (Old Albanian).

County Championship Plate: Semi-finals

May 24

County Championship Plate final (venue TBC).

June 1

Bill Beaumont Cup final and County Championship Shield final (Twickenham).