Oxfordshire RFU County Cup

For the football competition, see Oxfordshire Senior Cup.

The Oxfordshire RFU County Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organised by the Oxfordshire Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 1970–71 season, with the inaugural winners being Oxford. It is the most important rugby union cup competition in Oxfordshire, ahead of the Oxfordshire RFU County Shield.

Oxfordshire RFU County Cup

Sport	Rugby Union
Instituted	1970; 54 years ago (1970)
Number of teams	10
Country	England
Holders	Oxford Harelquins (2022-23)
Most titles	Henley Hawks / Oxford (11 titles)
Website	Oxfordshire RFU website

The County Cup is open to club sides based in Oxfordshire playing in tier 6 (South West 1 East) and tier 7 (Southern Counties North) of the English rugby union system, 2nd teams of higher ranked clubs in the county (tiers 3–4), as well as invitee sides from outside of the league structure (e.g. university representative sides). The current format is a knock-out competition with a preliminary round, first round, semi-finals and a final played at Iffley Road in Oxford in March–April.^[1]

Oxfordshire RFU County Cup winners

Oxfordshire RFU County Cup Finals
Season	Winner	Score	Runners–up	Venue
1970–71	Oxford	28–29	Henley Hawks	Iffley Road, Oxford
1971–72	Oxford Old Boys	11–7	Henley Hawks
1972–73	Oxford	24–12	Oxford Marathons
1973–74	Oxford Old Boys	18–6	Oxford
1974–75	Oxford	22–3	Oxford Marathons
1975–76	Oxford University Greyhounds	18–6	Oxford
1976–77	Chinnor	9–6	Henley Hawks
1977–78	Oxford	10–7	Banbury
1978–79	Henley Hawks	9–3	Oxford University Greyhounds
1979–80	Oxford	13–6	Banbury
1980–81	Oxford	10–6	Henley Hawks
1981–82	Oxford	7–6	Oxford Old Boys
1982–83	Henley Hawks	8–7	Bicester
1983–84	Oxford Old Boys	20–11	Bicester
1984–85	Henley Hawks	17–12	Chinnor
1985–86	Oxford	9–7	Henley Hawks
1986–87	Oxford	21–7	Oxford Old Boys
1987–88	Oxford	15–6	Banbury
1988–89	Oxford	29–16	Banbury
1989–90	Banbury	16–9	Bicester
1990–91	Henley Hawks	13–10	Oxford
1991–92	Henley Hawks	34–23	Oxford
1992–93	Henley Hawks	13–3	Oxford
1993–94	Henley Hawks	13–12	Banbury
1994–95	Henley Hawks	28–0	Oxford
1995–96	Bicester	22–21	Henley Hawks
1996–97	Bicester	22–19	Banbury
1997–98^[2]	Banbury	13–0	Chinnor
1998–99^[3]	Chinnor	8–5	Banbury
1999-00^[4]	Banbury	20–19	Chinnor
2000–01^[5]	Henley II	36–9	Banbury
2001–02^[6]	Chinnor	17–13	Banbury
2002–03^[7]	Henley II	29–19	Oxford Harlequins
2003–04^[8]	Oxford Harlequins	35–30	Chinnor
2004–05^[9]	Henley II	20–18	Chinnor
2005–06^[10]	Oxford Harlequins	19–12	Witney
2006–07^[11]	Oxford Harlequins	36–13	Witney
2007–08^[12]	Oxford Harlequins	30–20	Chinnor
2008–09^[13]	Oxford Harlequins	57–18	Banbury
2009–10^[14]	Chinnor	68–0	Witney
2010–11^[15]	Chinnor	19–9	Oxford Harlequins
2011–12^[16]	Chinnor II	13–10	Henley II
2012–13^[17]	Chinnor II	27–19	Oxford University Greyhounds
2013–14^[18]	Oxford Harlequins	21–3	Banbury
2014–15^[19]^[20]	Grove	24–22	Oxford Harlequins
2015–16^[21]	Banbury	28–5	Henley II
2016–17^[22]	Banbury	17–12	Oxford University Greyhounds
2017–18^[23]	Banbury	44–8	Witney
2018–19	Banbury	20–5	Chinnor
2019–20	Chinnor	Walkover
2020–21	COVID-19	X	COVID-19
2021–22
2022–23	Oxford Harlequins	33–15	Witney

Number of wins

• Henley Hawks (11)^{[a 1]}
• Oxford (11)
• Chinnor (8)^{[a 2] [a 3]}
• Banbury (7)
• Oxford Harlequins (7)^{[a 4]}
• Oxford Old Boys (3)
• Bicester (2)
• Grove (1)
• Oxford University Greyhounds (1)

Notes

1. Includes 3 wins by the Henley 2nd XV.
2. Includes 2 wins by the Chinnor 2nd XV.
3. Includes Walkover win in 2019-20.
4. Oxford Harlequins have 10 cup wins if you count the 3 titles won by Oxford Old Boys (who would merge with Oxford Marathon to form the Harlequins in 1996).

See also

• Oxfordshire RFU
• Oxfordshire RFU County Shield
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England

References

1. "Oxfordshire RFU County Cup". Oxfordshire RFU. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
2. "Banbury capture second county rugby cup". Oxford Mail. 25 March 1998.
3. "Chinnor are rugby champs". Oxford Mail. 31 March 1999.
4. "RUGBY: BULLS WIN COUNTY CUP". Banbury Guardian. 6 April 2000.
5. "Rugby: Henley step on the gas to land trophy". Oxford Mail. 11 April 2001.
6. "Rugby: Matt proves he's no McWally!". Oxford Mail. 24 April 2002.
7. "CUP PROGRAMMES". Rugby Relics. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
8. "Rugby: Quins top in classic final". Oxford Mail. 30 March 2004.
9. "Rugby: Holders crushed as Chinnor reach final". Oxford Mail. 8 March 2005.
10. "RUGBY: Underdogs Witney edged out in final". Witney Gazette. 19 April 2006.
11. "RUGBY UNION: Quins urged to make impact". This is Oxfordshire. 23 March 2007.
12. "Quins win Oxfordshire Cup final". BBC Sport. 5 April 2008.
13. "RUGBY UNION: Cup records for Quins". Oxford Mail. 27 April 2009.
14. "RUGBY UNION: Coach Harper stays upbeat". Oxford Mail. 28 April 2010.
15. "RUGBY UNION: Chinnor edge it". Oxford Mail. 25 April 2011.
16. "Chinnor seconds leave Henley gutted". Chinnor RFC (Pitchero). 7 April 2012.
17. "Job well done". Chinnor RFC (Pitchero). 21 April 2013.
18. "Quins look very professional as they take Oxfordshire County Cup Final spoils". Banbury RUFC (Pitchero). 7 May 2014.
19. "Grove win the Oxfordshire Cup at their 1st attempt, after 43 years". Grove RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 18 September 2017.
20. "Oxfordshire Cup Final Oxford Harlequins V Grove". Oxford Harlequins RFC (Pitchero). 1 April 2015.
21. "Bulls thrash Henley to lift County Cup". Banbury RUFC (Pitchero). 23 March 2016.
22. "Banbury Bulls retain Oxfordshire Cup!". Banbury RUFC (Pitchero). 13 April 2017.
23. "RUGBY UNION: Banbury beat Witney to win Oxfordshire Cup". Oxford Mail. 29 March 2018.

External links

• Oxfordshire RFU website