The 1996–97 Pilkington Cup was the 26th edition of England's premier rugby union club competition. Leicester won the competition defeating Sale in the final. The event was sponsored by Pilkington and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.
Draw and results
First round (Sep 14) Team one Team two ScoreBarking Barnstaple 18-31Birmingham & Solihull Old Halesonians 37-8Bishop Stortford Bicester 13-26Bradford & Bingley Aspatria 13-26Bridgwater & Albion Newbury 22-46Bridlington Nuneaton 23-16Camberley Plymouth 24-24*Camp Hill Wigton 17-35Charlton Park Askeans 11-28Derby Blaydon 12-13Esher Ruislip 20-3Gosport & Fareham Weston-Super-Mare 12-19Haywards Heath Beckenham 31-10Henley Westcombe Park 84-10Launceston Cheltenham 25-37Lichfield Winnington Park 19-21Longton Sheffield 16-26Manchester Scunthorpe 37-10Marlow Norwich 0-6Metropolitan Police Sutton & Epsom 47-18New Brighton Hereford 29-13North Walsham Gloucester Old Boys 17-18Preston Grasshoppers Stoke-on-Trent 28-10Southend High Wycombe 24-41Staines Gloucester Saras 27-20Stourbridge Kendal 17-28Sutton Coldfield Sandal 15-22Swanage & Wareham Berry Hill 41-8Tabard Bracknell 19-30Westleigh Tynedale 19-20Widnes Ampthill 30-17Worcester Vale of Lune 59-8
Second round (Oct 12) Team one Team two ScoreAskeans Swanage & Wareham 18-21Barnstaple Plymouth 27-14Bishop Stortford Metropolitan Police 22*-22Bridlington Blaydon 15-7Cheltenham Worcester 30-22Gloucester Old Boys Newbury 13-26Haywards Heath Bracknell 24-58Manchester Wigton 19-31New Brighton Preston Grasshoppers 12-24Norwich Esher 12-38Sandal Tynedale 16-9Sheffield Kendal 29-31Staines Henley 20-31Weston-Super-Mare High Wycombe 23-6Widnes Birmingham & Solihull 19-9Winnington Park Aspatria 19-46 Progressed to next round by virtue of scoring more tries*
Third round (Nov 2) Team one Team two ScoreBridlington Wigton 22-30Cheltenham Henley 23-19Esher Bracknell 26-15Exeter Barnstaple 32-3Leeds Redruth 96-6Liverpool St Helens Walsall 30-20London Welsh Reading 11-16Morley Aspatria 30-26Newbury Clifton 58-12Otley Wharfedale 34-27Preston Grasshoppers Fylde 24-12Rosslyn Park Havant 27-15Sandal Kendal 20-32Swanage & Wareham Lydney 9-26Weston-super-Mare Bishop Stortford 23-11Widnes Harrogate 12-7
Fourth round (Dec 21 & 22) Team one Team two ScoreBath London Irish 33-0Bristol Blackheath 60-17Coventry Kendal 79-17Gloucester Leeds 55-20Harlequins Cheltenham 47-11Leicester Newbury 26-21Moseley Wigton 49-6Newcastle West Hartlepool 51-10Nottingham London Scottish 11-25Orrell Bedford 34-31Preston Grasshoppers Northampton 11-40Reading Saracens 3-41Rotherham Rosslyn Park 41-26Sale Richmond 34-30Wakefield Waterloo 22-17Wasps Rugby 84-8
Fifth round (Jan 25 & 26) Team one Team two ScoreBath Leicester 28-39Gloucester Bristol 18-12London Scottish Newcastle 15-39Northampton Coventry 26-17Orrell Sale 0-57Rotherham Harlequins 23-42Saracens Wasps 21-17Wakefield Moseley 24-14
Quarter-finals (Feb 22 & 23) Team one Team two Score Harlequins Saracens 28-21Newcastle Leicester 8-18Northampton Sale 9-22Wakefield Gloucester 21-25
Semi-finals (Mar 29) Team one Team two ScoreGloucester Leicester 13-26Sale Harlequins 26-16
Final
O Niall Malone N Craig Joiner M Will Greenwood L Stuart Potter K Leon Lloyd J Joel Stransky I Austin Healey G Eric Miller H Neil Back F John Wells E Matt Poole D Martin Johnson (c) C Darren Garforth B Richard Cockerill A Graham RowntreeReplacements: P Rob Liley Q Aadel Kardooni R Bill Drake-Lee S Dean Richards T Dorian West U Steve HackneyDir of Rugby: Bob Dwyer 15 Jim Mallinder (c) 14 David Rees 13 Jos Baxendell 12 Adrian Hadley 11 Tom Beim 10 Simon Mannix 9 Dewi Morris 8 John Mitchell 7 Dylan O'Grady 6 Neil Ashurst 5 Dave Baldwin 4 Dave Erskine 3 Paul Smith 2 Steve Diamond 1 Paul WinstanleyReplacements: 16 John O'Reilly 17 Chris Yates 18 Andy Morris 19 Sean Fletcher 20 Luke Hewson 21 Murray DriverCoach:
References