The RFU Knockout Cup was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition open to any member of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1987. The competition was replaced by the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, involving 4 Welsh regional sides in addition to the 12 English Premiership clubs, beginning with the 2005–06 season.

History

Background

The RFU had long resisted national competitions as it was thought that they would encourage player payments. Thus, most club matches were only organised friendlies, with competitions such as the County Cups being the highest honours a club could win. The

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

, established in 1889, was the only national competition for 82 years.

1971–75: RFU Knockout Cup

The first competition took place in the 1971–72 season, when

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

defeated

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

in the final 17–6, to become the inaugural champions. Coventry RFC won two titles in succession in 1973 and 1974, followed by Bedford's championship win in 1975.

1976–88: John Player Cup

The competition gained its first sponsor in

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

firm John Player & Sons in 1976.

Gosforth Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated north of the Newcastle City Centre, City Centre. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district of Northumberland from 1895 until 1974 before of ...

won the first two editions under this new name in 1976 and 1977. Gloucester won their second title in 1978. The competition was then dominated by

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, who won three championships in a row, until Gloucester won their third title in 1982. This was shared with Moseley after a 12–12 draw in extra time, and was the only time the cup was shared between two teams. Leicester were again in the final in 1983, but lost to Bristol. Leicester's record run was then broken by

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

from 1984 to 1987, who won the cup four times in a row, until Harlequins won their first in 1988.

1988–97: Pilkington Cup

The cup was named after glass manufacturing company

Pilkington Pilkington is a glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, England. It includes several legal entities in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Japanese company Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG). It was formerly an independent company ...

for the 1988-89 tournament. Bath picked up from where they left off in the late 1980s, going onto win another six times from 1989 to 1996. Harlequins won their second title in 1991, and Leicester added to their three championships in 1993 and again in 1997.

1997–2000: Tetley's Bitter Cup

Tetley's Brewery became title sponsor in the 1997–98 season, naming the cup after their bitter.

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

won their first title, defeating Wasps in 1998. Wasps were again in the final in 1999, and defeated Newcastle to claim their first championship. Wasps also won the 2000 competition.

2000–05: Powergen Cup

In 2000, energy supplier Powergen became the final title sponsor.

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

won the first Powergen Cup, defeating the Harlequins 30–27.

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

won it for their first time the following season, and Gloucester won it for the first time since 1982 in 2003. Newcastle won in 2004, and in 2005,

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...

defeated Bath to win it for the first time.

Demise

Starting in 2005–06, the cup was replaced by a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four Welsh regions, ending its status as an open competition. From this time until 2009, teams from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

and below played in the Powergen National Trophy.

List of winners

List of champions

* 1982 title shared between Gloucester and Moseley.

References

External links

{{Top-level rugby union club competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1971 Rugby union cup competitions in England Premiership Rugby Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2005 Defunct rugby union cup competitions