1985–86 John Player Cup Explained

1985–86 John Player Cup
Previous Year:	1984–85
Next Year:	1986–87

The 1985–86 John Player Special Cup was the 15th edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Bath won the competition for the third consecutive year defeating Wasps in the final.^[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
Morley	Wakefield	19-27
Tynedale	Lymm	22-0
Sheffield	Vale of Lune	13-16
Aspatria	Westoe	19-24
Nuneaton	Loughborough Students	19-24
Evesham	Bedford	9-13
Stourbridge	Broughton Park	9-13
Matlock	Barkers Batts	13-11
Old Mid-Whitgiftians	Southend	4-12
Saracens	North Walsham	27-6
Havant	Guildford & Godalming	17-7
Richmond	London Irish	21-14
Maidstone	Lewes	6-21
Cheshunt	Askeana	23-23*
Bletchley	Maidenhead	20-9
Berry Hill	Bournemouth	36-6
Gloucester	Exeter	87-3
Old Redcliffians	Coney Hill	6-17
St Ives	Henley	18-22

Cheshunt progress on more tries*

Second round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Coney Hill	Saracens
Bletchley	Havant	6-9
Richmond	Cheshunt
Lewes	Gloucester	10-24
Southend	Henley
Westoe	Vale of Lune
Loughborough Students	Berry Hill
Bedford	Broughton Park	10-37
Lichfield	Matlock
Wakefield	Tynedale

Third round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Richmond	Blackheath
Broughton Park	Vale of Lune	12-6
Camborne	Havant	15-4
Coventry	Leicester	14-21
Gloucester	Bristol	7-4
Gosforth	Northampton	6-6*
Harlequins	Headingley	9-6
Lichfield	West London Institute	26-0
London Scottish	Sale	16-6
London Welsh	Plymouth	10-6
Nottingham	Southend	25-12
Orrell	Bath	16-16*
Rosslyn Park	Wakefield	19-23
Saracens	Waterloo	11-8
Wasps	Loughborough Colts	23-3
West Hartlepool	Moseley	3-33

Northampton progress as away team*

Fourth round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Blackheath	Wasps	12-24
Broughton Park	Leicester	6-46
London Welsh	Camborne	12-9
Wakefield	Nottingham	7-26
Saracens	Gloucester	6-13
Moseley	Bath	4-22
Northampton	London Scottish	6-11
Lichfield	Harlequins	6-23

Quarter-finals

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Nottingham	Wasps	13-13*
London Welsh	Bath	10-18
Harlequins	Leicester	8-15
London Scottish	Gloucester	12-10

Wasps progress on more tries*

Semi-finals

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=50	Score
Wasps	London Scottish	11-3
Leicester	Bath	6-10

Final


	16	Chris Martin
	15	David Trick
	14	John Palmer (c)
	12	Simon Halliday
	11	Tony Swift
	10	Stuart Barnes
	9	Richard Hill
	8	Paul Simpson
	7	Jon Hall
	6	Roger Spurrell
	5
	4	John Morrison
	3	Maurice 'Richard' Lee
	2	Graham Dawe
	1	Gareth Chilcott
Replacements:
	16	Chris Stanley
	17	Phil Cue
	18	Barry Trevaskis
	19	Greg Bess
	20	Chris Lilley
	21	David Egerton
Coach:
Jack Rowell


	15	Nick Stringer
	14	Simon Smith
	13	Richard Cardus (c)
	12	Roger Pellow
	11
	10	Gareth Rees
	9	Steve Bates
	8	Mark Rose
	7	Mark Rigby
	6	David Pegler
	5	Mike Pinnegar
	4	John Bonner
	3	Jeff Probyn
	2	Alan Simmons
	1	Garry Holmes
Replacements:
	16	Paul Minihan
	17	Kevin Titcombe
	18	Paul Balcombe for Bates
	19	Allan Isicheri
	20	Justin Samuel
	21	John Ellison
Coach:

Notes and References

Book: Jones, Stephen. Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. 1990. Rothmans Publications Ltd. 0-356-19162-1.
Web site: Times Archives. Oxfordshire Libraries.