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.

1977–78 John Player Cup
Tournament statistics
← 1976–77 (Previous) (Next) 1978–79 →

Draw and results

First round

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

Progressed as away team*

Second round

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

Quarter-finals

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

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Coventry	25-16
Gloucester	Harlequins	12-6

Final

15 April 1978

Gloucester	6–3	Leicester
Try: Richard Mogg Con: Peter Butler		Pen: Dusty Hare

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Roger Quittenton (London)

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 Sargent Replacements: 16 Ron Etheridge 17 Dave Pointon 18 Peter Kingston 19 Mike Curran 20 Fred Reed 21 Eddie Pinkney Coach:

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 Needham Replacements: P Robin Money Q Bill Reichwald R Tim Walley S Angus Collington T John White U Dosser Smith Coach: Chalkie White