# 1996–97 Pilkington Cup

The 1996–97 Pilkington Cup was the 26th edition of England's premier rugby union club competition. Leicester won the competition defeating Sale in the final. The event was sponsored by Pilkington and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.

## Draw and results
### First round (Sep 14)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Barking | Barnstaple | 18-31 |
| Birmingham & Solihull | Old Halesonians | 37-8 |
| Bishop Stortford | Bicester | 13-26 |
| Bradford & Bingley | Aspatria | 13-26 |
| Bridgwater & Albion | Newbury | 22-46 |
| Bridlington | Nuneaton | 23-16 |
| Camberley | Plymouth | 24-24* |
| Camp Hill | Wigton | 17-35 |
| Charlton Park | Askeans | 11-28 |
| Derby | Blaydon | 12-13 |
| Esher | Ruislip | 20-3 |
| Gosport & Fareham | Weston-Super-Mare | 12-19 |
| Haywards Heath | Beckenham | 31-10 |
| Henley | Westcombe Park | 84-10 |
| Launceston | Cheltenham | 25-37 |
| Lichfield | Winnington Park | 19-21 |
| Longton | Sheffield | 16-26 |
| Manchester | Scunthorpe | 37-10 |
| Marlow | Norwich | 0-6 |
| Metropolitan Police | Sutton & Epsom | 47-18 |
| New Brighton | Hereford | 29-13 |
| North Walsham | Gloucester Old Boys | 17-18 |
| Preston Grasshoppers | Stoke-on-Trent | 28-10 |
| Southend | High Wycombe | 24-41 |
| Staines | Gloucester Saras | 27-20 |
| Stourbridge | Kendal | 17-28 |
| Sutton Coldfield | Sandal | 15-22 |
| Swanage & Wareham | Berry Hill | 41-8 |
| Tabard | Bracknell | 19-30 |
| Westleigh | Tynedale | 19-20 |
| Widnes | Ampthill | 30-17 |
| Worcester | Vale of Lune | 59-8 |

### Second round (Oct 12)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Askeans | Swanage & Wareham | 18-21 |
| Barnstaple | Plymouth | 27-14 |
| Bishop Stortford | Metropolitan Police | 22-22* |
| Bridlington | Blaydon | 15-7 |
| Cheltenham | Worcester | 30-22 |
| Gloucester Old Boys | Newbury | 13-26 |
| Haywards Heath | Bracknell | 24-58 |
| Manchester | Wigton | 19-31 |
| New Brighton | Preston Grasshoppers | 12-24 |
| Norwich | Esher | 12-38 |
| Sandal | Tynedale | 16-9 |
| Sheffield | Kendal | 29-31 |
| Staines | Henley | 20-31 |
| Weston-Super-Mare | High Wycombe | 23-6 |
| Widnes | Birmingham & Solihull | 19-9 |
| Winnington Park | Aspatria | 19-46 |
Progressed to next round by virtue of scoring more tries*

### Third round (Nov 2)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Bridlington | Wigton | 22-30 |
| Cheltenham | Henley | 23-19 |
| Esher | Bracknell | 26-15 |
| Exeter | Barnstaple | 32-3 |
| Leeds | Redruth | 96-6 |
| Liverpool St Helens | Walsall | 30-20 |
| London Welsh | Reading | 11-16 |
| Morley | Aspatria | 30-26 |
| Newbury | Clifton | 58-12 |
| Otley | Wharfedale | 34-27 |
| Preston Grasshoppers | Fylde | 24-12 |
| Rosslyn Park | Havant | 27-15 |
| Sandal | Kendal | 20-32 |
| Swanage & Wareham | Lydney | 9-26 |
| Weston-super-Mare | Bishop Stortford | 23-11 |
| Widnes | Harrogate | 12-7 |

### Fourth round (Dec 21 & 22)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Bath | London Irish | 33-0 |
| Bristol | Blackheath | 60-17 |
| Coventry | Kendal | 79-17 |
| Gloucester | Leeds | 55-20 |
| Harlequins | Cheltenham | 47-11 |
| Leicester | Newbury | 26-21 |
| Moseley | Wigton | 49-6 |
| Newcastle | West Hartlepool | 51-10 |
| Nottingham | London Scottish | 11-25 |
| Orrell | Bedford | 34-31 |
| Preston Grasshoppers | Northampton | 11-40 |
| Reading | Saracens | 3-41 |
| Rotherham | Rosslyn Park | 41-26 |
| Sale | Richmond | 34-30 |
| Wakefield | Waterloo | 22-17 |
| Wasps | Rugby | 84-8 |

### Fifth round (Jan 25 & 26)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Bath | Leicester | 28-39 |
| Gloucester | Bristol | 18-12 |
| London Scottish | Newcastle | 15-39 |
| Northampton | Coventry | 26-17 |
| Orrell | Sale | 0-57 |
| Rotherham | Harlequins | 23-42 |
| Saracens | Wasps | 21-17 |
| Wakefield | Moseley | 24-14 |

### Quarter-finals (Feb 22 & 23)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Harlequins | Saracens | 28-21 |
| Newcastle | Leicester | 8-18 |
| Northampton | Sale | 9-22 |
| Wakefield | Gloucester | 21-25 |

### Semi-finals (Mar 29)

| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Gloucester | Leicester | 13-26 |
| Sale | Harlequins | 26-16 |

### Final

* 10 May 1997
| Leicester | 9–3 | Sale |
| Pen: Joel Stransky 3 | | Pen: Simon Mannix |
* Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Brian Campsall (Yorkshire)
| | O | Niall Malone |
| | N | Craig Joiner |
| | M | Will Greenwood |
| | L | Stuart Potter |
| | K | Leon Lloyd |
| | J | Joel Stransky |
| | I | Austin Healey |
| | G | Eric Miller |
| | H | Neil Back |
| | F | John Wells |
| | E | Matt Poole |
| | D | Martin Johnson (c) |
| | C | Darren Garforth |
| | B | Richard Cockerill |
| | A | Graham Rowntree |
| Replacements: ||
| | P | Rob Liley |
| | Q | Aadel Kardooni |
| | R | Bill Drake-Lee |
| | S | Dean Richards |
| | T | Dorian West |
| | U | Steve Hackney |
| Dir of Rugby: ||
| Bob Dwyer ||
| | 15 | Jim Mallinder (c) |
| | 14 | David Rees |
| | 13 | Jos Baxendell |
| | 12 | Adrian Hadley |
| | 11 | Tom Beim |
| | 10 | Simon Mannix |
| | 9 | Dewi Morris |
| | 8 | John Mitchell |
| | 7 | Dylan O'Grady |
| | 6 | Neil Ashurst |
| | 5 | Dave Baldwin |
| | 4 | Dave Erskine |
| | 3 | Paul Smith |
| | 2 | Steve Diamond |
| | 1 | Paul Winstanley |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | John O'Reilly |
| | 17 | Chris Yates |
| | 18 | Andy Morris |
| | 19 | Sean Fletcher |
| | 20 | Luke Hewson |
| | 21 | Murray Driver |
| Coach: ||