The 1997–98 Premiership 1 was the twelfth season of the top tier of the English rugby union league system, currently known as Premiership Rugby, and the second to be sponsored by Allied Dunbar, having previous been sponsored by Courage Brewery. Newcastle Falcons were the defending champions and Bedford, London Scottish and West Hartlepool the promoted sides.

Leicester Tigers finished the season as champions for the third time (and first title since 1995), while West Hartlepool were relegated to as the bottom place side, dropping to the 1999–00 Premiership 2. 9th place Richmond and 12th London Scottish were placed into administration at the end of the campaign, merging with London Irish, and thus did not compete in the subsequent season.

Structure Following restructuring from the previous season, the league increased from twelve to fourteen teams, with each side playing one another twice, in a round robin system, home and away, to make a total of twenty-six matches for each team. The bottom side would be automatically relegated to Premiership 2.

Participating teams

TeamStadiumCapacityCity/AreaPrevious seasonBathRecreation Ground8,500Bath, Somerset3rdBedfordGoldington Road6,500Bedford, BedfordshirePromoted from Premiership 2 (1st)GloucesterKingsholm12,000Gloucester, Gloucestershire6thHarlequinsThe Stoop9,000 (2,000 seats)Twickenham, London10thLeicester TigersWelford Road17,000Leicester, Leicestershire4thLondon IrishThe Avenue6,710Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey11thLondon ScottishThe Stoop 9,000 (2,000 seats)Twickenham, LondonPromoted from Premiership 2 (3rd)Newcastle FalconsKingston Park6,900Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and WearChampionsNorthampton SaintsFranklin's Gardens10,000Northampton, Northamptonshire8thRichmondMadejski Stadium 24,161 Reading, Berkshire5thSaleHeywood Road4,800Sale, Greater Manchester7thSaracensVicarage Road 22,000Watford, Hertfordshire2ndWaspsLoftus Road 18,439Shepherd's Bush, London9thWest HartlepoolVictoria Park7,856Hartlepool, County DurhamPromoted from Premiership 2 (2nd)

Table

Results

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Week 22

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25

Week 26

Week 27

Leicester Tigers are champions.

Week 28

Week 29

Week 30

Attendances ClubHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Bath 13 96,200 7,400 8,500 4,800 87% Bedford 13 43,696 3,361 5,125 1,308 52% Gloucester 13 79,004 6,077 10,109 4,528 51% Harlequins 13 71,800 5,523 8,500 2,476 61% Leicester Tigers 13 158,255 12,173 15,873 8,443 76% London Irish 13 52,279 4,021 6,710 2,129 60% London Scottish 13 26,999 2,077 4,600 850 23% Newcastle Falcons 13 47,409 3,647 5,207 2,070 48% Northampton Saints 13 93,274 7,175 10,000 5,870 72% Richmond 13 76,327 5,871 10,096 2,613 24% Sale 13 43,218 3,324 4,800 2,100 69% Saracens 13 119,941 9,226 17,347 5,261 42% Wasps 13 71,429 5,495 9,526 2,797 30% West Hartlepool 13 22,477 1,729 2,702 1,107 22%

Leading scorers Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who did not yet earn international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points Source: Rank Player ClubPoints1 John SchusterHarlequins3312 Gavin JohnsonSaracens3183 Jonny WilkinsonNewcastle Falcons3064 Mike CattBath2945 Kenny LoganWasps2636/ Shane HowarthSale2467 Steven VileWest Hartlepool2408 Niall WoodsLondon Irish2159 Earl Va'aRichmond20510 Joel StranskyLeicester Tigers202

Most tries Source: Rank Player ClubTries1 Neil BackLeicester Tigers162 Jeremy GuscottBath14 Pat LamNorthampton Saints4 Iain BalshawBath135 Gary ArmstrongNewcastle Falcons12 Brendon DanielSaracens Steve HanleySale Va'aiga TuigamalaNewcastle Falcons Rory UnderwoodBedford Niall WoodsLondon Irish

Note

See also 1998–99 Premiership 2 1998–99 National League 1 1998–99 National League 2 North 1998–99 National League 2 South

References

External links Official site