1996–97 Courage League National Division One

1996–97 Courage League National 1
Countries England
ChampionsWasps RFC (2nd title)
Runners-upBath
RelegatedWest Hartlepool
Orrell
Matches played132
Official website
www.premiershiprugby.com

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.[1] It was the tenth and final season of sponsorship by Courage.[2]

Participating teams

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Locations of the 1996–97 Courage League National Division One teams
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Greater London Courage League National One clubs
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

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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
4 Leicester Tigers 22 14 1 7 600 395 +205 29
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
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
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Points are awarded as follows:
  1. two points for a win
  2. one point for a draw
  3. no points for a loss

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. difference between points for and against
  2. total number of points for
    (C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

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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
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation/Promotion playooffs

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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.[2]

First leg

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7 May 1997
Bedford Blues11–20Bristol
Goldington Road
7 May 1997
Coventry16–14London Irish
Coundon Road

Second leg

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11 May 1997
Bristol19–12Bedford
Memorial Ground

Bristol won 39–23 on aggregate.

11 May 1997
London Irish28–7Coventry
The Avenue

London Irish won 42–23 on aggregate.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "League Tables". London Irish. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  2. ^ a b c Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0 7472 7732 X.
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