2002–03 European Challenge Cup

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)
Top try scorer(s)	Tom Shanklin (Saracens); (8 tries)
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.

Teams[edit]

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

Matches[edit]

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

Round 1[edit]

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

First leg[edit]

11 October 2002
19:00

Gran Parma	3–40	Bath
	Report

Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Attendance: 1,200

11 October 2002
19:15

Ebbw Vale	20–16	Montauban
	Report

Eugene Cross Park
Attendance: 1,500

12 October 2002
14:30

Caerphilly	20–73	Harlequins
	Report

Virginia Park
Attendance: 1,500

12 October 2002
14:30

Dinamo București	11–87	Saracens
	Report

Complexul Cultural Sportiv
Attendance: 400

12 October 2002
14:30

Rugby Roma	18–60	Pontypridd
	Report

Stadio Tre Fontane
Attendance: 400

12 October 2002
15:00

Benetton Treviso	22–9	Castres Olympique
	Report

Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Attendance: 3,000

12 October 2002
15:00

L'Aquila	14–58	Colomiers
	Report

Stadio Tommaso Fattori
Attendance: 500

12 October 2002
15:00

Petrarca Padova	23–29	Leeds Tykes
	Report

Stadio Plebiscito
Attendance: 2,000

12 October 2002
16:00

UC Madrid	22–73	Borders
	Report

Ciudad Universitaria
Attendance: 1,000

12 October 2002
18:00

La Moraleja	31–37	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Pol. Municipal de Alcobendas
Attendance: 550

12 October 2002
19:00

Overmach Parma	24–40	London Wasps
	Report

Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Attendance: 1,500

12 October 2002
19:30

Grenoble	12–19	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Stade Lesdiguières
Attendance: 4,500

12 October 2002
19:30

Mont de Marsan	12–26	Connacht
	Report

Stade Guy Boniface
Attendance: 1,204

12 October 2002
19:30

Pau	18–6	Bridgend
	Report

Stade du Hameau
Attendance: 5,000

13 October 2002
15:00

Rovigo	6–64	Stade Français
	Report

Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini
Attendance: 1,500

13 October 2002
15:00

Rugby Silea	23–34	Narbonne
	Report

Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Attendance: 400

Second leg[edit]

18 October 2002
19:30

Borders	77–15	UC Madrid
	Report

Netherdale
Attendance: 7,840

19 October 2002
14:15

Bath	57–19	Gran Parma
	Report

The Recreation Ground
Attendance: 7,840

19 October 2002
14:30

Pontypridd	83–8	Rugby Roma
	Report

Sardis Road
Attendance: 2,000

19 October 2002
15:00

Connacht	47–29	Mont de Marsan
	Report

The Sportsground
Attendance: 1,000

19 October 2002
15:00

Harlequins	31–27	Caerphilly
	Report

The Stoop
Attendance: 4,250

19 October 2002
17:30

Bridgend	27–9	Pau
	Report

Brewery Field
Attendance: 2,500

19 October 2002
18:00

Bordeaux-Bègles	33–15	La Moraleja
	Report

Stade André Moga
Attendance: 2,000

19 October 2002
18:00

Stade Français	81–20	Rovigo
	Report

Stade Jean-Bouin
Attendance: 3,000

19 October 2002
19:30

Castres Olympique	17–33	Benetton Treviso
	Report

Stade Pierre-Antoine

19 October 2002
19:30

Colomiers	75–5	L'Aquila
	Report

Stade Selery
Attendance: 2,500

19 October 2002
19:30

Montauban	29–16	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Stade Sapiac
Attendance: 2,800

19 October 2002
19:30

Narbonne	41–14	Rugby Silea
	Report

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié
Attendance: 2,300

20 October 2002
14:30

Leeds Tykes	52–13	Petrarca Padova
	Report

Headingley Stadium
Attendance: 2,665

20 October 2002
14:30

Newcastle Falcons	33–17	Grenoble
	Report

Kingston Park
Attendance: 3,599

20 October 2002
15:00

London Wasps	42–0	Overmach Parma
	Report

Adams Park
Attendance: 3,980

20 October 2002
15:00

Saracens	151–0	Dinamo București
	Report

Vicarage Road
Attendance: 2,052

Round 2[edit]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2
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

First leg[edit]

6 December 2002
19:30

Bridgend	28–26	Bath
	Report

Brewery Field
Attendance: 3,500

7 December 2002
14:30

Benetton Treviso	27–8	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Attendance: 3,500

7 December 2002
15:00

Harlequins	0–26	Stade Français
	Report

The Stoop
Attendance: 5,323

7 December 2002
17:30

Pontypridd	37–23	Leeds Tykes
	Report

Sardis Road
Attendance: 4,500

7 December 2002
19:30

Montauban	19–16	Borders
	Report

Stade Sapiac
Attendance: 3,000

7 December 2002
19:30

Narbonne	42–27	Connacht
	Report

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié
Attendance: 2,000

8 December 2002
15:00

London Wasps	43–6	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Adams Park
Attendance: 3,217

8 December 2002
15:00

Saracens	16–6	Colomiers
	Report

Vicarage Road
Attendance: 3,561

Second leg[edit]

13 December 2002
19:30

Borders	6–12	Montauban
	Report

Netherdale
Attendance: 1,700

14 December 2002
14:15

Bath	38–10	Bridgend
	Report

The Recreation Ground
Attendance: 7,063

14 December 2002
14:30

Leeds Tykes	19–19	Pontypridd
	Report

Headingley Stadium
Attendance: 2,062

14 December 2002
18:00

Bordeaux-Bègles	23–29	London Wasps
	Report

Stade André Moga
Attendance: 1,500

14 December 2002
18:00

Stade Français	29–12	Harlequins
	Report

Stade Jean-Bouin
Attendance: 7,500

14 December 2002
19:30

Colomiers	19–30	Saracens
	Report

Stade Selery
Attendance: 7,000

15 December 2002
14:30

Newcastle Falcons	35–5	Benetton Treviso
	Report

Kingston Park
Attendance: 2,539

15 December 2002
15:00

Connacht	23–7	Narbonne
	Report

Galway Sportsgrounds
Attendance: 2,000

Quarter-finals[edit]

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

First leg[edit]

11 January 2003
17:30

Connacht	30–35	Pontypridd
	Report

Dubarry Park, Athlone
Attendance: 6,000

11 January 2003
19:30

Montauban	27–24	Bath
	Report

Stade Sapiac, Montauban
Attendance: 6,000

12 January 2003
13:45

London Wasps	35–22	Stade Français
	Report

Adams Park, High Wycombe
Attendance: 5,269

12 January 2003
15:00

Saracens	31–10	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Vicarage Road, Watford
Attendance: 3,857

Second leg[edit]

18 January 2003
14:15

Bath	24–18	Montauban
	Report

Recreation Ground, Bath
Attendance: 6,200

18 January 2003
17:30

Pontypridd	12–9	Connacht
	Report

Sardis Road, Pontypridd
Attendance: 6,000

18 January 2003
18:00

Stade Français	12–27	London Wasps
	Report

Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris
Attendance: 6,491

19 January 2003
14:30

Newcastle Falcons	31–29	Saracens
	Report

Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
Attendance: 2,439

Semi-finals[edit]

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

^ Bath went through on superior try count (6–5).^[6]

First leg[edit]

12 April 2003
17:30

London Wasps	34–19	Pontypridd
	Report

Adams Park, High Wycombe
Attendance: 7,776

13 April 2003
15:00

Saracens	38–30	Bath
	Report

Vicarage Road, Watford
Attendance: 6,482

Second leg[edit]

25 April 2003
19:05

Pontypridd	17–27	London Wasps
	Report

Sardis Road, Pontypridd
Attendance: 6,500

26 April 2003
14:15

Bath	27–19	Saracens
	Report

Recreation Ground, Bath
Attendance: 8,200

Final[edit]

25 May 2003
15:45

Bath	30–48	London Wasps
Try: Balshaw Barkley Tindall Scaysbrook Con: Balshaw (1) Barkley (1) Pen: Barkley (2)	Report	Try: Lewsey Waters Wood Greening Logan Leota Con: King (6) Pen: King (2)

Madejski Stadium, Reading
Attendance: 18,074
Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)

References[edit]

^ "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Challenge Cup European Champions". ERC. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
^ "Agen banned from Euro comps for two years". ESPN. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "Challenge Cup Fixtures". ERC. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
^ "Bath late show stuns Sarries". BBC. 26 April 2003. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

[Bath-7] Bath went through on superior try count (6–5).^[6]

[1] "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] "Challenge Cup European Champions". ERC. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

[4] "Agen banned from Euro comps for two years". ESPN. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

[5] "Challenge Cup Fixtures". ERC. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

[6] "Bath late show stuns Sarries". BBC. 26 April 2003. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[n 1]

[6]

Teams[edit]

Matches[edit]

Round 1[edit]

First leg[edit]

Second leg[edit]

Round 2[edit]

First leg[edit]

Second leg[edit]

Quarter-finals[edit]

First leg[edit]

Second leg[edit]

Semi-finals[edit]

First leg[edit]

Second leg[edit]

Final[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]