2002–03 European Challenge Cup

2002-03 European Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Romania  Scotland  Spain  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Knockout
Date	11 October 2002 - 25 May 2003
Tournament statistics
Teams	32
Matches played	61
Attendance	225,733 (3,701 per match)
Tries scored	384 (6.3 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Olly Barkley (Bath) (118 points)[1]
Top try scorer(s)	Tom Shanklin (Saracens) (8 tries)[2]
Final
Venue	Madejski Stadium, Reading
Attendance	18,074
Champions	London Wasps (1st title)
Runners-up	Bath Rugby
← 2001–02 (Previous) (Next) 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 7th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 32 teams participated, representing eight countries.

The competition began with Gran Parma hosting Bath and Ebbw Vale hosting Montauban on 11 October 2002. It culminated with the final at the Madejski Stadium in Reading on 25 May 2003.

Unlike previous seasons, the structure of the competition was changed to a purely knockout format. Teams played each other on a home and away basis, with the aggregate points winner proceeding to the next round. The final was a single leg. For that first time, a third tier tournament was created - the European Shield. This was contested between the first-round losers from the European Challenge Cup.^[3]

The defending champions, England's Sale Sharks, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. London Wasps claimed a victory over Bath in the final and picked up their first piece of European Club silverware.

The allocation of teams was as follows:

England: 6 teams – all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2002–03 Heineken Cup

France: 9 teams – all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup, and Agen who were banned by ERC ^[4]

Ireland: 1 team – the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Italy: 8 teams – all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Romania: 1 team specially created for the competition

Scotland: 1 team – the Scottish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Spain: 2 teams – drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby

Wales: 4 teams – all the teams from the Celtic League that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

England	France	Ireland	Italy	Romania	Scotland	Spain	Wales
Bath Harlequins Leeds Tykes London Wasps Newcastle Falcons Saracens	Bordeaux-Bègles Castres Olympique Colomiers Grenoble Montauban Mont de Marsan Narbonne Pau Stade Français	Connacht	Gran Parma L'Aquila Overmach Parma Petrarca Padova Rugby Roma Rovigo Rugby Silea Benetton Treviso	Dinamo București	Borders	La Moraleja UC Madrid	Bridgend Caerphilly Ebbw Vale Pontypridd

All kickoff times are local to the match location.^[5]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Saracens	238–11	Dinamo București	87–11	151–0
Stade Français	145–26	Rovigo
Pontypridd	143–26	Rugby Roma
Colomiers	133–19	L'Aquila
Borders	150–37	UC Madrid
Bath	97–22	Gran Parma
London Wasps	82–24	Overmach Parma
Harlequins	104–47	Caerphilly
Leeds Tykes	81–36	Petrarca Padova
Narbonne	75–37	Rugby Silea
Connacht	73–41	Mont de Marsan
Benetton Treviso	55–26	Castres
Bordeaux-Bègles	70–46	La Moraleja
Newcastle Falcons	52–29	Grenoble
Montauban	45–36	Ebbw Vale
Bridgend	33–27	Pau

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
London Wasps	72–29	Bordeaux-Bègles
Stade Français	55–12	Harlequins
Saracens	46–25	Colomiers
Montauban	31–22	Borders
Pontypridd	56–42	Leeds Tykes
Bath	64–38	Bridgend
Newcastle Falcons	43–32	Benetton Treviso
Connacht	50–49	Narbonne

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
London Wasps	62–34	Stade Français	35–22	27–12
Pontypridd	47–39	Connacht	35–30	12–9
Saracens	60–41	Newcastle Falcons	31–10	29–31
Bath	48–45	Montauban	24–27	24–18

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
London Wasps	61–36	Pontypridd	34–19	27–17
Bath	57–57[n 1]	Saracens	30–38	27–19

• 2002-03 Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• 2002–03 European Shield