ENGLISH rugby's County Championship has been renamed to honour one of the greatest players to have risen through its ranks.

This season players taking part in the 118-year-old competition will be battling to lift the Bill Beaumont Cup.

The former England and British & Irish Lions captain has agreed to put his name to the trophy which will be awarded to the winners of this season's final at Twickenham on May 28.

Organisers hope the name on the trophy will help generate more interest in a competition which gives players outside the top-flight a unique environment in which to test themselves. Through it they can win selection for the England Counties XV, the second tier national side.

Beaumont will be hoping the new silverware will handed over to current champions Lancashire. He first represented the county at the age of 19 and made his final competitive appearance for them in the 1982 final.

In between he appeared for England 34 times, captaining his country to a Grand Slam win in 1980, and appeared in seven Tests for the Lions. He is now one of world rugby's leading statesmen, a member of the RFU management board and the IRB council and managed the Lions in New Zealand in 2005.

"I had a lot of fun playing county rugby and I think the current generation of guys still do, particularly in Lancashire where they do it so well," said Beaumont. "When I was first associated with the competition it was a very big thing and I hope players will still continue to want to take that step up from club rugby and want to play for their counties.

"I first played for Lancashire in 1972 at the age of 19 alongside the likes of Fran Cotton and Tony Neary and the last game I played in 1982 was for Lancashire in the final against North Midlands at Moseley. Back then the competition was full of international players. Lancashire v Yorkshire was as big a game as you could get.

"Yes, the competition has changed. But if my association with the competition can give it an extra lift, then I'll be delighted. It's still got a great deal to offer. At the end of the season players can test themselves in it, play in a Twickenham final and go on to play for England Counties. The championship still has an important role to play in the health of the game."

The idea of inviting Beaumont to put his name on the existing silverware was developed by a group of volunteers led by Rob Briers, the Lancashire representative on the RFU Council.

"As a former England captain who was closely associated with the competition in his playing days it seemed very appropriate to put Bill Beaumont's name on the trophy and we hope the association will help raise the profile of the competition," said Briers, who chairs the RFU Second Tier Implementation Task Group.

"The County Championship is a different competition to the one it was 20 years ago when international players turned out against each other but it still has a significant role to play for the tens of thousands who take part in the Community Game.

"It gives amateur and semi-professional players the chance to play representative rugby in a different environment to their clubs and gives them the chance to go forward and represent the England Counties team."

The County Championship is a three-tier competition entered by 28 of the RFU's Constituent Bodies (CBs).

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

Lancashire are the holders after beating Devon 32-26 in last season's final. Cheshire beat Middlesex 32-17 in the Shield and Notts Lincs & Derbys beat Oxfordshire 21-17 in the 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.

It continues to develop internationals of the future, too. 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 four years.

FIXTURES Bill Beaumont Cup May 5: North: Lancashire v Cheshire, Yorkshire v North Midlands. South: Gloucestershire v Hertfordshire, Devon v Middlesex May 12: North: North Midlands v Lancashire, Yorkshire v Cheshire. South: Gloucestershire v Middlesex, Hertfordshire v Devon May 19: North: Cheshire v North Midlands, Lancashire v Yorkshire. South: Devon v Gloucestershire, Middlesex v Hertfordshire May 28: Twickenham final County Championship Shield May 5: North: Northumberland v Cumbria, Notts Lincs & Derbys v Warwickshire. South: Oxfordshire v Surrey, Somerset v Cornwall.

May 12: North: Cumbria v Warwickshire, Notts Lincs & Derbys v Northumberland. South: Oxfordshire v Cornwall, Surrey v Somerset.

May 19: North: Cumbria v Notts Lincs & Derbys, Warwickshire v Northumberland. South: Cornwall v Surrey, Somerset v Oxfordshire.

May 27: Final - North Pool winner at home.

County Championship Plate April 28: Pool 1: Essex v Staffordshire, Leicestershire v Durham. Pool 2: Sussex v Buckinghamshire, Hampshire v Dorset & Wilts. Pool 3: Eastern Counties v East Midlands, Kent v Berkshire.

May 5: Pool 1: Durham v Essex, Staffordshire v Leicestershire. Pool 2: Dorset & Wilts v Buckinghamshire, Hampshire v Sussex. Pool 3: East Midlands v Berkshire, Eastern Counties v Kent.

May 12: Pool 1: Durham v Staffordshire, Essex v Leicestershire. Pool 2: Dorset & Wilts v Sussex, Buckinghamshire v Hampshire. Pool 3: Berkshire v Eastern Counties, Kent v East Midlands.

May 19: Semi-finals May 27: Final