2002–03 Heineken Cup

The 2002–03 Heineken Cup was the eighth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The pool winners and two best runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages.

2002–03 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	11 October 2002 – 24 May 2003
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	79
Attendance	704,782 (8,921 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Stephen Jones (Llanelli) (107 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Vincent Clerc (Toulouse) Garan Evans (Llanelli) (7 tries)
Final
Venue	Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance	28,600
Champions	Toulouse (2nd title)
Runners-up	Perpignan

Teams

France	England	Wales	Scotland	Ireland	Italy
Béziers Perpignan Bourgoin Montferrand Toulouse Biarritz Olympique	Leicester Tigers Gloucester Sale Sharks Bristol London Irish Northampton Saints	Neath Llanelli Swansea Newport Cardiff	Glasgow Rugby Edinburgh Rugby	Munster Leinster Ulster	Calvisano Viadana

Pool stage

Further information: 2002-03 Heineken Cup pool stage

In the pool matches teams received

• 2 points for a win
• 1 points for a draw

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Leicester Tigers	6	5	1	0	31	6	25	232	71	161	11
Neath	6	2	1	3	18	12	6	151	139	12	5
L'Amatori & Calvisano	6	2	0	4	10	34	−24	105	236	−131	4
Béziers	6	2	0	4	8	15	−7	109	151	−42	4

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Perpignan	6	4	0	2	23	16	7	176	156	20	8
Munster	6	4	0	2	27	14	13	206	107	99	8
Gloucester	6	4	0	2	31	14	17	241	140	101	8
Arix Viadana	6	0	0	6	15	52	−37	128	348	−220	0

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Llanelli	6	5	0	1	22	16	6	201	130	71	10
Bourgoin	6	4	0	2	21	14	7	190	142	48	8
Glasgow Rugby	6	2	0	4	9	23	−14	86	185	−99	4
Sale Sharks	6	1	0	5	16	15	1	123	143	−20	2

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Leinster	6	6	0	0	22	7	15	188	93	95	12
Bristol Shoguns	6	3	0	3	15	17	−2	149	144	5	6
Montferrand	6	2	0	4	15	8	7	141	120	21	4
Swansea	6	1	0	5	8	28	−20	109	230	−121	2

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Toulouse	6	5	0	1	29	9	20	241	118	123	10
London Irish	6	3	0	3	12	13	−1	158	118	40	6
Edinburgh Rugby	6	2	0	4	15	19	−4	125	188	−63	4
Newport	6	2	0	4	11	26	−15	117	217	−100	4

Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Northampton Saints	6	4	0	2	21	10	11	172	110	62	8
Biarritz Olympique	6	4	0	2	14	5	9	138	73	65	8
Ulster	6	4	0	2	8	8	0	116	106	10	8
Cardiff	6	0	0	6	6	26	−20	78	215	−137	0

Seeding

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Leinster	12	22	+95
2	Leicester Tigers	11	31	+161
3	Toulouse	10	29	+123
4	Llanelli	10	22	+71
5	Perpignan	8	31	+101
6	Northampton Saints	8	21	+62
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
7	Munster	8	27	+99
8	Biarritz Olympique	8	14	+65
–	Bourgoin	8	21	+48
–	Bristol Shoguns	6	15	+5
–	London Irish	6	12	+40
–	Neath	5	18	+12

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

12 April 2003 14:45

Toulouse	32–16	Northampton Saints

Stade Municipal Attendance: 36,500

12 April 2003 15:35

Leinster	18–13	Biarritz

Lansdowne Road Attendance: 46,000

13 April 2003 16:00

Leicester Tigers	7–20	Munster

Welford Road Attendance: 17,500

16 April 2003 19:30

Llanelli	19–26	Perpignan

Stradey Park Attendance: 10,800

Semi-finals

26 April 2003 15:35

Toulouse	13–12	Munster

Stade Municipal Attendance: 36,500

27 April 2003 14:45

Leinster	14–21	Perpignan

Lansdowne Road Attendance: 37,000

Final

Main article: 2003 Heineken Cup Final

24 May 2003 15:00

Toulouse	22–17	Perpignan
Try: Clerc 33' c Con: Delaigue Pen: Delaigue (5) 3', 18', 27', 40', 80+1'	Report	Try: Bomati 80+4' m Pen: Edmonds (4) 44', 51', 57', 70'

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 28,600 Referee: Chris White (England)  12' Tony Spreadbury (England)  12'

Toulouse became the second team to win the competition more than once.