# 1996–97 Courage League National Division One

The 1996–97 English Premiership (known as the Courage League National 1 for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the top flight of rugby union in England. It was the first professional season in English rugby union history.
The league was made up of twelve teams with each team playing each other twice, in a round robin system.
Wasps were the champions, with a winning margin of six points above Bath, the runners–up. West Hartlepool and Orrell were relegated to National Division 2. It was the tenth and final season of sponsorship by Courage.

## Participating teams

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
| Bath | Recreation Ground | 8,200 | Bath, Somerset |
| Bristol | Memorial Stadium | 12,100 | Bristol |
| Gloucester | Kingsholm | 11,000 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Harlequins | The Stoop | 8,500 | Twickenham, London |
| Leicester Tigers | Welford Road | 16,000 | Leicester, Leicestershire |
| London Irish | The Avenue | 6,600 | Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey |
| Northampton Saints | Franklin's Gardens | 10,000 | Northampton, Northamptonshire |
| Orrell | Edge Hall Road | 5,500 | Orrell, Greater Manchester |
| Sale | Heywood Road | 5,400 | Sale, Greater Manchester |
| Saracens | Southbury Road | 5,000 | Enfield, London |
| Wasps | Loftus Road | 18,439 | Shepherd's Bush, London |
| West Hartlepool | Victoria Park | 7,856 | Hartlepool, County Durham |

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Wasps (C) | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 685 | 406 | +279 | 37 | Champions 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
| 2 | Bath | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 863 | 411 | +452 | 31 | Qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
| 3 | Harlequins | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 745 | 416 | +329 | 30 | Qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
| 4 | Leicester Tigers | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 600 | 395 | +205 | 29 | Qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
| 5 | Sale Sharks | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 603 | 525 | +78 | 28 | |
| 6 | Saracens | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 568 | 449 | +119 | 25 | |
| 7 | Gloucester | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 476 | 589 | −113 | 23 | |
| 8 | Northampton Saints | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 515 | 477 | +38 | 20 | |
| 9 | Bristol | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 432 | 625 | −193 | 17 | Relegation playoff |
| 10 | London Irish | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 502 | 747 | −245 | 12 | Relegation playoff |
| 11 | West Hartlepool (R) | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 382 | 795 | −413 | 6 | Relegated to 1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two |
| 12 | Orrell (R) | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 350 | 886 | −536 | 6 | Relegated to 1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two |
* two points for a win
* one point for a draw
* no points for a loss
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
* difference between points for and against
* total number of points for (C) Champions; (R) Relegated

## Results

The home team is listed in the left column.
| Home \ Away | BAT | BRI | GLO | HAR | LEI | LOI | NOR | ORR | SAL | SAR | WAS | WHA |
| Bath | | 76–7 | 71–21 | 35–20 | 47–9 | 46–3 | 52–14 | 40–14 | 84–7 | 35–33 | 36–40 | 46–10 |
| Bristol | 13–18 | | 18–13 | 24–35 | 12–38 | 26–38 | 20–11 | 38–10 | 34–24 | 11–21 | 18–41 | 20–17 |
| Gloucester | 29–45 | 20–20 | | 11–27 | 32–30 | 29–19 | 19–6 | 30–0 | 12–16 | 9–6 | 28–23 | 37–10 |
| Harlequins | 22–6 | 29–6 | 75–19 | | 18–34 | 66–7 | 36–16 | 89–18 | 30–31 | 27–0 | 22–42 | 48–10 |
| Leicester Tigers | 28–25 | 53–19 | 32–14 | 12–13 | | 46–13 | 23–9 | 36–14 | 25–9 | 22–18 | 18–12 | 48–3 |
| London Irish | 31–56 | 27–28 | 20–21 | 20–19 | 25–18 | | 34–21 | 27–48 | 19–25 | 23–37 | 20–22 | 52–41 |
| Northampton Saints | 9–6 | 29–21 | 25–27 | 15–20 | 22–19 | 31–21 | | 41–7 | 30–12 | 17–10 | 15–26 | 46–20 |
| Orrell | 13–56 | 27–28 | 3–49 | 20–56 | 12–29 | 32–27 | 14–50 | | 8–40 | 22–44 | 27–44 | 22–15 |
| Sale Sharks | 11–5 | 31–33 | 52–12 | 24–13 | 20–20 | 41–25 | 31–15 | 37–11 | | 33–23 | 31–33 | 58–18 |
| Saracens | 36–29 | 33–15 | 41–11 | 28–20 | 25–23 | 45–0 | 24–23 | 24–15 | 17–17 | | 15–28 | 51–8 |
| Wasps | 25–25 | 15–13 | 36–10 | 17–19 | 14–7 | 31–18 | 18–13 | 62–5 | 36–10 | 36–21 | | 36–12 |
| West Hartlepool | 16–24 | 19–8 | 14–23 | 21–41 | 19–30 | 18–33 | 17–57 | 24–8 | 22–43 | 25–16 | 23–48 | |

## Relegation/Promotion playoffs

For the first time playooffs took place between the third and fourth placed teams in Division Two and the ninth and tenth placed teams in Division One. The play-offs followed a 4th v 9th, 3rd v 10th system. The matches were played over two legs, with the second-tier team playing at home in the first leg.

### First leg

* 7 May 1997
| Bedford Blues | 11–20 | Bristol |
* Goldington Road
* 7 May 1997
| Coventry | 16–14 | London Irish |
* Coundon Road

### Second leg

* 11 May 1997
| Bristol | 19–12 | Bedford |
* Memorial Ground
Bristol won 39–23 on aggregate.
* 11 May 1997
| London Irish | 28–7 | Coventry |
* The Avenue
London Irish won 42–23 on aggregate.