1979–80 John Player Cup

The 1979–80 John Player Cup was the ninth edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Leicester won the competition for the second consecutive year defeating London Irish in the final. The attendance of 27,000 was a record. 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 ScoreNorthampton Nottingham 0-3Harlequins Esher 23-6Bournemouth Bristol 6-35Hartlepool Rovers Gosforth 6-10Wigton Moseley 3-7Leicester Orrell 16-7London Scottish Matson 25-9Bedford Wasps 6-3Liverpool Waterloo 13-6Bath Marlow 30-6London Irish Maidstone 29-9Lichfield Morley 3-8Fylde Coventry 3-19Richmond Gloucester 6-6*Weston-super-Mare London Welsh 3-13Rosslyn Park Exeter 24-7 Progressed as away team*

Second round Team one Team two ScoreMoseley Leicester 7-17London Irish Morley 15-9Nottingham Harlequins 6-23Bristol Gosforth 3-14London Scottish Bedford 14-9Liverpool Bath 12-19Coventry Gloucester 9-10London Welsh Rosslyn Park 15-16

Quarter-finals Team one Team two Score Leicester London Scottish 22-0Bath London Irish 3-6Harlequins Gosforth 9-3Gloucester Rosslyn Park 3-6

Semi-finals Team one Team two ScoreHarlequins Leicester 9-16Rosslyn Park London Irish 6-6* Progressed as away team*

Final

O Dusty Hare N Tim Barnwell M Clive Woodward L Paul Dodge K Terry Burwell J Les Cusworth I Steve Kenney G Garry Adey H Ian "Dosser" Smith F Steve Johnson E Nigel Gillingham D Nick Joyce C Steve Redfern B Peter Wheeler (c) A Robin CowlingReplacements: P Angus Collington Q Mark Duffelen R Brian Hall S Andy Key T Mick Merriman U Ray NeedhamCoach: Chalkie White 15 Duncan Leopold 14 Roger McKibbin 13 Alastair McKibbin 12 Paul O'Donnell 11 Clive Meanwell 10 Hugh Condon 9 Barry Murphy 8 Kevin Short 7 John O'Driscoll (c) 6 Jim Sheehan 5 Mike Smythe 4 Walter Jones 3 Les White 2 Guy Beringer 1 Alex NewberryReplacements: 16 David McCracken for Smythe (43m)Coach:

References