CHESHIRE and Lancashire meet at Macclesfield tomorrow in what is sure to be a full-blooded county tussle.

Not only will the winners lift the Northern group of the county championship but they will also be Twickenham-bound the following weekend to take on the southern champions to for the Bill Beaumont Cup.

The outcome tomorrow is hard to call.

Lancashire, the county champions, will probably step out as marginal favourites but Cheshire are quietly confident.

They have done no wrong so far and their side is the strongest it has been for years.

A line through results to date makes it very close. Cheshire beat Yorkshire 18-10 at Sheffield and followed up with a 36-15 success over Warwickshire at Coventry.

Lancashire began with a 46-12 home victory against Warwickshire and then defeated Yorkshire 28-15 in their Roses clash at Fylde.

Few changes are likely in either side and certainly with so much interest at stake there should be a healthy attendance figure even though the county scene has lost some of its stature and appeal during the last decade or so.

Opponents for the winners at rugby’s headquarters on Sunday, May 29 will be either Gloucestershire or Hertfordshire who have their showdown tomorrow to determine who tops the Southern group.

TOMORROW: County Champion Northern Group: Cheshire v Lancashire at Macclesfield (3pm).