1978–79 John Player Cup

The 1978–79 John Player Cup was the eighth edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Leicester won the competition defeating Moseley in the final. The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.

1978–79 John Player Cup
Tournament statistics
Champions	Leicester Tigers (1st title)
← 1977–78 (Previous) (Next) 1979–80 →

Draw and results

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Esher	Gosforth	3-38
Leicester	Northampton	29-3
Broughton Park	Orrell	12-9
Exeter	London Scottish	15-11
Gloucester	Richmond	3-3*
Harlequins	Plymouth Albion	21-9
Hartlepool Rovers	Walsall	13-0
Havant	Rosslyn Park	0-19
Ipswich	Matson	6-14
London Irish	Avon & Somerset Police	32-7
Wasps	Blackheath	11-0
Moseley	Liverpool	22-13
Rugby	Coventry	12-29
Wakefield	Bedford	12-27
Birkenhead Park	Sale	9-6
London Welsh	Bath	28-18

Progressed as away team*

Second round

Team one	Team two	Score
Gosforth	Harlequins	9-3
Leicester	Broughton Park	30-7
Richmond	Matson	22-3
Rosslyn Park	Exeter	7-6
Wasps	Hartlepool Rovers	10-6
Bedford	Birkenhead Park	16-8
London Irish	Moseley	0-10
London Welsh	Coventry	21-3

Quarter-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Bedford	Leicester	12-22
Wasps	London Welsh	6-3
Gosforth	Rosslyn Park	7-3
Moseley	Richmond	27-3

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Gosforth	Moseley	3-6
Wasps	Leicester	7-43

Final

21 April 1979

Leicester	15–12	Moseley
Try: Steve Kenney Con: Dusty Hare Pen: Dusty Hare 2 Drop: Dusty Hare		Try: Bob Laird Con: Richard Akenhead Pen: Richard Akenhead Drop: Martin Cooper

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Alan Welsby (Lancashire)

O Dusty Hare N Mick Newton M Terry Burwell L Paul Dodge K Tim Barnwell J Les Cusworth I Steve Kenney G Garry Adey H Ian "Dosser" Smith F Steve Johnson E Arthur Hazelrigg D Nick Joyce C Steve Redfern B Peter Wheeler (c) A Robin Cowling Replacements: P Angus Collington Q Brian Hall R Jim Kempin S Jez Krych T Tim Walley U John White Coach: Chalkie White

15 Richard Akenhead 14 Alan Thomas 13 Malcolm Swain 12 Barrie Corless 11 Bob Laird 10 Martin Cooper (c) 9 Chris Gifford 8 Derek Nutt 7 Nick Jeavons 6 Russ Field 5 Barry Ayre 4 John Beale 3 Kevin Astley 2 Gary Cox 1 Bert Greaves Replacements: 16 Andy Watson-Jones for Corless (30m) 17 Steve King for Nutt (50m) Coach: