2002–03 Premiership Rugby

The 2002-03 Zurich Premiership was the 16th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions.

The Zurich Championship which had been competed for in seasons 2000–01 and 2001–02 was dropped from this season.

Participating teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Bath	8,200	Bath, Somerset
Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium[n 1]	12,100	Bristol
Gloucester	Kingsholm	11,000	Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Harlequins	The Stoop	8,500	Twickenham, London
Leeds Tykes	Headingley Stadium	22,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Leicester Tigers	Welford Road	16,815	Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish	Madejski Stadium	24,161	Reading, Berkshire
London Wasps	Adams Park	10,000	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park	10,000	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints	Franklin's Gardens	12,500	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale	Heywood Road	5,700	Sale, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Vicarage Road	22,000	Watford, Hertfordshire

Notes

Table

	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Gloucester (F)	22	17	2	3	617	396	+221	67	35	7	3	82
2	London Wasps (C)	22	13	2	7	553	460	+93	55	36	6	5	67
3	Northampton Saints (SF)	22	13	0	9	512	376	+136	52	24	5	5	62
4	Sale Sharks	22	12	2	8	556	470	+86	61	46	8	2	62
5	Leeds Tykes	22	12	2	8	478	435	+43	38	39	1	5	58
6	Leicester Tigers	22	12	0	10	448	396	+52	44	32	4	3	55
7	Harlequins	22	9	0	13	461	560	-99	43	60	3	5	44
8	Saracens	22	8	0	14	499	587	-88	49	61	5	5	42
9	London Irish	22	8	1	13	432	485	-53	32	46	2	4	40
10	Newcastle Falcons	22	8	0	14	388	545	-157	31	58	3	5	40
11	Bath	22	7	2	13	385	490	-105	33	44	1	3	36
12	Bristol Shoguns (R)	22	7	1	14	504	633	-129	47	71	3	3	36
Source:Guinness Premiership[permanent dead link] Green background denotes qualification for the playoffs. These teams and those highlighted in blue qualified for the 2003–04 Heineken Cup.

Wasps won the 2002–03 Parker Pen Challenge Cup therefore automatically qualifying for the 2003–04 Heineken Cup. With Leicester Tigers winning the Zurich Wildcard Final, the final 2003–04 Heineken Cup berth was awarded to Leeds Tykes, placed fifth in the league.^[1]

Results

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

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

Play-offs

Semi final

Final

Team details

Gloucester London Wasps FB 15 Thinus Delport RW 14 Marcel Garvey  76' OC 13 Terry Fanolua  63' IC 12 Henry Paul LW 11 James Simpson-Daniel FH 10 Ludovic Mercier  68' SH 9 Andy Gomarsall N8 8 Junior Paramore  53' OF 7 Andy Hazell BF 6 Jake Boer RL 5 Mark Cornwell  40' LL 4 Adam Eustace TP 3 Phil Vickery (c) HK 2 Olivier Azam LP 1 Rodrigo Roncero Substitutions: HK 16 C. Collins PR 17 Andy Deacon LK 18 Rob Fidler  40' FL 19 Pete Buxton  53' FH 20 Simon Amor  68' CE 21 Robert Todd  63' WG 22 Clive Stuart-Smith  76' Coach: Nigel Melville FB 15 Mark Van Gisbergen RW 14 Josh Lewsey OC 13 Fraser Waters IC 12 Stuart Abbott  69' LW 11 Kenny Logan FH 10 Alex King SH 9 Rob Howley  71' N8 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c) OF 7 Paul Volley  73' BF 6 Joe Worsley RL 5 Richard Birkett LL 4 Simon Shaw  73' TP 3 Will Green HK 2 Trevor Leota  62' LP 1 Craig Dowd  74' Substitutions: HK 16 Phil Greening  62' PR 17 Alistair McKenzie  74' LK 18 Peter Scrivener  73' FL 19 Mark Lock  73' SH 20 Martyn Wood  71' CE 21 Mark Denney  69' CE 22 Ayoola Erinle Coach: Warren Gatland

Zurich Wildcard

Meanwhile, Leeds (5th place), Leicester (6th), Harlequins (7th), Saracens (8th) played for a Zurich Wildcard to the 2003–04 Heineken Cup:

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

Leicester advanced to the wildcard final due to a superior aggregate score of 51-39

Saracens advanced to the wildcard final due to a superior aggregate score of 70-48

Final

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 have not earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

References