1977–78 John Player Cup

The 1977–78 John Player Cup was the seventh edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Gloucester won the competition defeating Leicester in the final. The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.

Draw and results

First round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Hartlepool Rovers 9-3Gloucester Lydney 38-6US Portsmouth Harlequins 6-19Liverpool Sale 18-4Coventry Wilmslow 7-6Bristol Falmouth 19-6 Richmond Wasps 9-9*Walsall Northampton 8-16Rosslyn Park High Wycombe 58-0Morley Gosforth 3-12Esher London Irish 10-22Saracens London Welsh Exeter Bath 20-6Moseley Blackheath 38-12Waterloo Bedford 10-4Nottingham Wakefield Progressed as away team*

Second round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Rosslyn Park 25-16Gloucester Gosforth 19-10Harlequins London Irish 17-15Liverpool London Welsh 13-9Coventry Exeter 34-0Bristol Moseley 14-0Wasps Waterloo 10-9Northampton Wakefield 21-4

Quarter-finals Team one Team two Score Harlequins Liverpool 18-6Coventry Bristol 16-13Gloucester Wasps 13-3Leicester Northampton 20-11

Semi-finals Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Coventry 25-16Gloucester Harlequins 12-6

Final

15 Peter Butler 14 Bob Clewes 13 Brian Vine 12 Richard Jardine 11 Richard Mogg 10 Christopher Williams 9 Paul Howell 8 John Simonett 7 Vivian Wooley 6 John Watkins (c) 5 John Fidler 4 Stephen Boyle 3 Mike Burton 2 Stephen Mills 1 Gordon SargentReplacements: 16 Ron Etheridge 17 Dave Pointon 18 Peter Kingston 19 Mike Curran 20 Fred Reed 21 Eddie PinkneyCoach: O Dusty Hare N John Duggan M Paul Dodge L Brian Hall (c) K Bob Barker J Bleddyn Jones I Steve Kenney G Dave Forfar H Garry Adey F Steve Johnson E Arthur Hazelrigg D Nick Joyce C Steve Redfern B Peter Wheeler A Ray NeedhamReplacements: P Robin Money Q Bill Reichwald R Tim Walley S Angus Collington T John White U Dosser SmithCoach: Chalkie White

References