The 2004–05 Powergen Cup was the 34th annual rugby union cup competition in England. Leeds Tykes won the competition for the first time in their history. The event was sponsored by Powergen and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.

This was the last season in which the competition was confined to English teams only; from the 2005-06 season, the Welsh regional teams joined to form the Anglo-Welsh Cup. This season also marked the last time that teams outside of the English Premiership were permitted to enter.

Earlier Rounds Earlier rounds of the competition were run on a seeded system. Earlier rounds included Clubs which were lower in the RFU league structure, clubs higher in the leagues joined at later rounds.

The Qualifier Round consisted of 64 Clubs nominated by the Constituent Bodies (CB). Each CB nominated 2 Clubs, or 3 for the larger CBs such as Middlesex and Lancashire. These teams were usually selected through the previous season's County Cup (CB Cup) competitions. All were Level 5 or below. This Round produced 32 teams for the next round.

The Preliminary Round consisted of the 32 winning teams from the Qualifier Round and produced 16 teams for the 1st Round proper.

In the 1st Round, the 16 teams that won their Preliminary Round matches were joined by 14 National League 3 North and 14 National League 3 South clubs. National 3 was Level 4 of the RFU league structure; these leagues have since been renamed as National League 2 North and South. A total of 44 teams meant that this round consisted of 22 matches.

For the 2nd Round, the 22 teams that won their 1st Round matches were joined by 14 National League 2 clubs. National 2 was Level 3 of the RFU league structure; this league have since been renamed as National League 1. A total of 36 teams meant that this round consisted of 18 matches.

In the 3rd Round, the 18 teams that won their 2nd Round matches were joined by 14 National League 1 clubs. National 1 was Level 2 of the RFU league structure; this league have since been renamed as the RFU Championship. A total of 32 teams meant that this round consisted of 16 matches.

The 4th and 5th Rounds reduced the 16 teams that won their 3rd Round matches to 4 teams to advance to the 6th Round.

The 6th Round consisted of the 4 teams that won their 5th Round matches, joined by 12 Premiership clubs. The Premiership is, and remains, Level 1 of the RFU league structure, the highest level. A total of 16 teams meant that this round consisted of 8 matches.

Subsequent rounds were a standard knockout format of Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and a Final to produce an outright Cup winner.

Tablular form

Round Qualified fromprevious round Joined by Total teams Matches /Qualify fornext round Notes Qualifier n/a 64 CB nominated clubs 64 32 2 or 3 per CB, clubs from Level 5 and below Preliminary 32 n/a 32 16 1st Round 16 14 National League 3 North and14 National League 3 South clubs 44 22 Level 4 clubs join 2nd Round 22 14 National League 2 clubs 36 18 Level 3 Clubs join 3rd Round 18 14 National League 1 clubs 32 16 Level 2 clubs join 4th Round 16 n/a 16 8 5th Round 8 n/a 8 4 6th Round 4 12 Premiership clubs 16 8 Level 1 clubs join Quarter-finals 8 n/a 8 4 Semi-finals 4 n/a 4 2 Final 2 n/a 2 1

First round Team One Team Two ScoreBlackburn Blaydon 0-39Bradford & Bingley Bedford Athletic 54-7Chester Macclesfield 28-23Cleckheaton Darlington Mowden Park 13-21Dudley Kingswinford West Park St Helens 13-21Halifax New Brighton 34-20Hull Tynedale 26-20Kendal Longton 34-12Reading Scunthorpe 33-29Rugby Darlington 62-3Whitchurch Fylde 9-15Cambridge North Walsham 6-22Ealing Weston-super-Mare 20-25Haywards Heath Penryn 37-29Hertford Bridgwater & Albion 35-0London Scottish Worthing 9-10Maidenhead Barking 12-24Old Patesians Havant 31-30Redruth Berry Hill ?Southend Richmond 20-22Tabard Dings Crusaders 21-19Westcombe Park Lydney 40-35

Second round Team One Team Two ScoreBlaydon Wharfedale 16-14Cleckheaton Hull 16-15Halifax Fylde 31-15Harrogate Bradford & Bingley 28-29Kendal Reading 36-31Manchester Chester 40-13Nuneaton Doncaster 13-16Waterloo Rugby 47-24West Park St Helens Moseley 20-35Blackheath Newbury 27-34Esher Weston-super-Mare 21-17Haywards Heath Tabard 16-28Old Patesians Launceston 12-19Redruth Worthing 30-23Richmond Hertford 31-7Rosslyn Park Bracknell 13-40Stourbridge North Walsham 11-21Westcombe Park Barking 33-10

Third round Team One Team Two ScoreBedford Tabard 52-13Bracknell Otley 27-31Doncaster Pertemps Bees 21-30Launceston Halifax 5-9London Welsh Exeter 19-67Manchester Sedgley Park 44-20Moseley Henley Hawks 24-20Newbury Nottingham 23-38Orrell Blaydon 38-0Penzance/Newlyn Esher 64-0Redruth Waterloo 8-20Richmond Kendal 13-18Rotherham Plymouth Albion 16-17Stourbridge Coventry 11-29Westcombe Park Cleckheaton 24-19Bristol Bradford & Bingley 32-6

Fourth round Team One Team Two ScoreBedford Halifax 40-10Coventry Penzance/Newlyn 31-23Exeter Manchester 78-0Kendal Waterloo 16-22Otley Westcombe Park 45-16Pertemps Bees Orrell 30-7Plymouth Albion Moseley 76-6Bristol Nottingham 61-14

Fifth round Team One Team Two ScoreBedford Exeter 23-18Coventry Pertemps Bees 23-28Plymouth Albion Otley 23-15Waterloo Bristol 3-57

Later Rounds The 12 Premiership teams joined the 4 qualifiers from Round 5 to make up the draw for Round 6.

1 London Wasps disqualified for fielding an ineligible player

Final

FB 15 Iain Balshaw (c)RW 14 André Snyman OC 13 Phil ChristophersIC 12 Chris BellLW 11 Tom Biggs FH 10 Gordon RossSH 9 Alan Dickens N8 8 Alix PophamOF 7 Richard ParksBF 6 Scott MorganRL 5 Tom PalmerLL 4 Stuart Hooper TP 3 Gavin Kerr HK 2 Mark Regan LP 1 Mike ShelleyReplacements:HK 16 Matt HoltHK 17 Rob RawlinsonFL 18 Jon DunbarFL 19 Dan HydeSH 20 Mark McMillanCE 21 Craig McMullenWG 22 Diego AlbaneseCoach: Jon Callard FB 15 Matt PerryRW 14 Joe MaddockOC 13 Andrew HigginsIC 12 Olly Barkley LW 11 Frikkie WelshFH 10 Chris MaloneSH 9 Nick WalsheN8 8 Isaac Fe'aunatiOF 7 James ScaysbrookBF 6 Geraint LewisRL 5 Danny Grewcock (c)LL 4 Rob FidlerTP 3 Duncan BellHK 2 Lee MearsLR 1 Matt StevensReplacements:HK 16 Jonathan HumphreysPR 17 David FlatmanN8 18 Gareth DelveWG 19 Brendon DanielSH 20 Martyn WoodFH 21 Ryan DavisCoach: John Connolly

See also 2004–05 English Premiership (rugby union)

References