1979–80 John Player Cup

The 1979–80 John Player Cup was the ninth edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Leicester won the competition for the second consecutive year defeating London Irish in the final. The attendance of 27,000 was a record. The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.

1979–80 John Player Cup
Tournament statistics
Champions	Leicester Tigers (2nd title)
← 1978–79 (Previous) (Next) 1980–81 →

Draw and results

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Northampton	Nottingham	0-3
Harlequins	Esher	23-6
Bournemouth	Bristol	6-35
Hartlepool Rovers	Gosforth	6-10
Wigton	Moseley	3-7
Leicester	Orrell	16-7
London Scottish	Matson	25-9
Bedford	Wasps	6-3
Liverpool	Waterloo	13-6
Bath	Marlow	30-6
London Irish	Maidstone	29-9
Lichfield	Morley	3-8
Fylde	Coventry	3-19
Richmond	Gloucester	6-6*
Weston-super-Mare	London Welsh	3-13
Rosslyn Park	Exeter	24-7

Progressed as away team*

Second round

Team one	Team two	Score
Moseley	Leicester	7-17
London Irish	Morley	15-9
Nottingham	Harlequins	6-23
Bristol	Gosforth	3-14
London Scottish	Bedford	14-9
Liverpool	Bath	12-19
Coventry	Gloucester	9-10
London Welsh	Rosslyn Park	15-16

Quarter-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	London Scottish	22-0
Bath	London Irish	3-6
Harlequins	Gosforth	9-3
Gloucester	Rosslyn Park	3-6

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Harlequins	Leicester	9-16
Rosslyn Park	London Irish	6-6*

Progressed as away team*

Final

19 April 1980

Leicester	21–9	London Irish
Pen: Dusty Hare 4 Drop: Dusty Hare Les Cusworth 2		Try: Mike Smythe Con: Clive Meanwell Pen: Clive Meanwell

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Colin High (Manchester/Cumbria)

O Dusty Hare N Tim Barnwell M Clive Woodward L Paul Dodge K Terry Burwell J Les Cusworth I Steve Kenney G Garry Adey H Ian "Dosser" Smith F Steve Johnson E Nigel Gillingham D Nick Joyce C Steve Redfern B Peter Wheeler (c) A Robin Cowling Replacements: P Angus Collington Q Mark Duffelen R Brian Hall S Andy Key T Mick Merriman U Ray Needham Coach: Chalkie White

15 Duncan Leopold 14 Roger McKibbin 13 Alastair McKibbin 12 Paul O'Donnell 11 Clive Meanwell 10 Hugh Condon 9 Barry Murphy 8 Kevin Short 7 John O'Driscoll (c) 6 Jim Sheehan 5 Mike Smythe 4 Walter Jones 3 Les White 2 Guy Beringer 1 Alex Newberry Replacements: 16 David McCracken for Smythe (43m) Coach: