1980–81 John Player Cup Explained

1980–81 John Player Cup
Champions:	Leicester Tigers
Count:	3
Previous Year:	1979–80
Next Year:	1981–82

The 1980–81 John Player Cup was the tenth edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Leicester won the competition for a third consecutive year defeating Gosforth in the final. The competition was extended with extra rounds replacing the previous format of 32 teams only.^[1] The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.^[2]

Draw and results

First round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Sutton & Epsom	Crawley	3-13
Upper Clapton	Woodford	13-4
Metropolitan Police	Fullerians	22-12
High Wycombe	Midsomer Norton	12-9
Havant	Maidstone	10-9
Oxford	Bournemouth	3-3*
Matson	Exeter	8-14
Hereford	Walsall	15-15*
Coventry Welsh	Kettering	19-12
	Broughton Park	0-12
Nottingham	Birmingham	33-10
Derby	Westleigh	12-7
Aspatria	Hartlepool Rovers	10-10*
Sale	Morley	29-10
Abbey	Redruthy	6-9

Away team progress*

Second round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Upper Clapton	Crawley	18-0
Metropolitan Police	High Wycombe	25-9
Bournemouth	Havant	18-10
Blackheath	Exeter	11-15
Walsall	Coventry Welsh	6-4
Camp Hill	Broughton Park	6-3
Nottingham	Derby	12-9
Hartlepool Rovers	Sale	8-17
Guildford & Gosalming	Redruth	3-9
Stroud	Southend	13-16

Third round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Bournemouth	Exeter	15-19
Moseley	Bedford	25-0
Camborne	Metropolitan Police	9-16
Harlequins	Rosslyn Park	9-20
Camp Hill	Nottingham	0-18
Richmond	Bath	6-12
Waterloo	West Hartlepool	17-0
Gosforth	Fylde	17-7
Roundhay	Leicester	3-34
Upper Clapton	Bristol	3-22
Northampton	Sale	13-20
Saracens	Coventry	7-15
Wasps	London Scottish	9-15
Orrell	Walsall	24-3
Redruth	London Irish	4-12
Southend	Gloucester	6-12

Fourth round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
London Irish	Gloucester	13-22
Waterloo	Gosforth	9-12
Exeter	Moseley	7-15
Metropolitan Police	Rosslyn Park	15-6
Nottingham	Bath	4-3
Leicester	Bristol	27-14
Sale	Coventry	18-12
London Scottish	Orrell	12-10

Quarter-finals

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Leicester	Sale	21-7
Moseley	Metropolitan Police	22-6
Nottingham	Gosforth	3-23
London Scottish	Gloucester	9-9*

London Scottish progressed on more tries rule*

Semi-finals

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=80	Score
London Scottish	Leicester	12-18 aet
Gosforth	Moseley	24-3

Final


	O	Dusty Hare
	N	Kevin Williams
	L	Clive Woodward
	M	Paul Dodge
	K	Tim Barnwell
	J	Les Cusworth
	I	Steve Kenney
	G	Garry Adey
	H	Ian "Dosser" Smith
	F	Steve Johnson
	E	Nick Jackson
	D	Nick Joyce
	C	Steve Redfern
	B	Peter Wheeler (c)
	A	Robin Cowling
Replacements:
	P	Angus Collington for Johnson (82m)
	Q	Chris Tressler
	R	Wayne Richardson
	S	Mick Merriman
	T	Andy Key
	U	Brian Hall
Coach:
Chalkie White


	15	Brian Patrick
	14	Stuart Archer
	13	Richard Breakey
	12	Alan MacMillan
	11	Neil McDowall
	10	David Johnson
	9	Malcolm Young
	8	John Butler
	7	Simon Smith
	6	Terry Roberts
	5	Steve Bainbridge
	4	Bob Anderson
	3	Jeff Bell
	2	Bob Cunningham
	1	Colin White (c)
Replacements:
	16	Steve Gustard
	17	John Storey
	18	Ian Ramage
	19	Stuart Lewis
	20	John Blissett
	21	Paul Simpson
Coach:
David Robinson

Notes and References

Book: Jenkins, Vivian. Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. 1981. Rothmans Publications Ltd. 0-907574-05-X.
Web site: Times Archives. Oxfordshire Libraries.