1996–97 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.

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 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
Team Stadium Capacity City/Area
Bath Bath 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 3,000 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
Locations of the 1996–97 Courage League National Division One teams
Greater London Courage League National One clubs

Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points difference Points
1Wasps (C) 221813685406+27937
2Bath 221516863411+45231
3Harlequins 221507745416+32930
4Leicester Tigers 221417600395+20529
5Sale Sharks 221327603525+7828
6Saracens 221219568449+11925
7Gloucester 2211110476589−11323
8Northampton Saints 2210012515477+3820
9Bristol 228113432625−19317
10London Irish 226016502747−24512
11West Hartlepool (R) 223019382795−4136
12Orrell (R) 223019350886−5366
  • 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
Green denotes the champions and qualification for the 1997–98 Heineken Cup. Blue denotes qualification for the 1997–98 Heineken Cup. Buff denotes the relegation/promotion play–off places. Pink denotes the relegation places to 1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premership Two.

[2]

Results

The home team is listed in the left column.

Clubs 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
Home win Draw Away win

Relegation/Promotion playooffs

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

Second leg
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.

References
  1. "League Tables". London Irish. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  2. 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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