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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.

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

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

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

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Round 1

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

Gran Parma	3–40	Bath
	Report

Ebbw Vale	20–16	Montauban
	Report

Caerphilly	20–73	Harlequins
	Report

Dinamo București	11–87	Saracens
	Report

Rugby Roma	18–60	Pontypridd
	Report

Benetton Treviso	22–9	Castres Olympique
	Report

L'Aquila	14–58	Colomiers
	Report

Petrarca Padova	23–29	Leeds Tykes
	Report

UC Madrid	22–73	Borders
	Report

La Moraleja	31–37	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Overmach Parma	24–40	London Wasps
	Report

Grenoble	12–19	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Mont de Marsan	12–26	Connacht
	Report

Pau	18–6	Bridgend
	Report

Rovigo	6–64	Stade Français
	Report

Rugby Silea	23–34	Narbonne
	Report

Second leg

Borders	77–15	UC Madrid
	Report

Bath	57–19	Gran Parma
	Report

Pontypridd	83–8	Rugby Roma
	Report

Connacht	47–29	Mont de Marsan
	Report

Harlequins	31–27	Caerphilly
	Report

Bridgend	27–9	Pau
	Report

Bordeaux-Bègles	33–15	La Moraleja
	Report

Stade Français	81–20	Rovigo
	Report

Castres Olympique	17–33	Benetton Treviso
	Report

Colomiers	75–5	L'Aquila
	Report

Montauban	29–16	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Narbonne	41–14	Rugby Silea
	Report

Leeds Tykes	52–13	Petrarca Padova
	Report

Newcastle Falcons	33–17	Grenoble
	Report

London Wasps	42–0	Overmach Parma
	Report

Saracens	151–0	Dinamo București
	Report

Round 2

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

First leg

Bridgend	28–26	Bath
	Report

Benetton Treviso	27–8	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Harlequins	0–26	Stade Français
	Report

Pontypridd	37–23	Leeds Tykes
	Report

Montauban	19–16	Borders
	Report

Narbonne	42–27	Connacht
	Report

London Wasps	43–6	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Saracens	16–6	Colomiers
	Report

Second leg

Borders	6–12	Montauban
	Report

Bath	38–10	Bridgend
	Report

Leeds Tykes	19–19	Pontypridd
	Report

Bordeaux-Bègles	23–29	London Wasps
	Report

Stade Français	29–12	Harlequins
	Report

Colomiers	19–30	Saracens
	Report

Newcastle Falcons	35–5	Benetton Treviso
	Report

Connacht	23–7	Narbonne
	Report

Quarter-finals

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

Connacht	30–35	Pontypridd
	Report

Montauban	27–24	Bath
	Report

London Wasps	35–22	Stade Français
	Report

Saracens	31–10	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Second leg

Bath	24–18	Montauban
	Report

Pontypridd	12–9	Connacht
	Report

Stade Français	12–27	London Wasps
	Report

Newcastle Falcons	31–29	Saracens
	Report

Semi-finals

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

1. Bath went through on superior try count (6–5).

First leg

London Wasps	34–19	Pontypridd
	Report

Saracens	38–30	Bath
	Report

Second leg

Pontypridd	17–27	London Wasps
	Report

Bath	27–19	Saracens
	Report

Final

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)

See also

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

References

1. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.
2. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". Retrieved 26 January 2013.
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.

• 2002–03 European Challenge Cup
• 2002–03 rugby union tournaments for clubs
• EPCR Challenge Cup seasons
• 2002–03 in European rugby union
• 2002–03 in English rugby union
• 2002–03 in French rugby union
• 2002–03 in Irish rugby union
• 2002–03 in Italian rugby union
• 2002–03 in Romanian rugby union
• 2002–03 in Welsh rugby union
• 2002–03 in Spanish rugby union
• 2002–03 in Scottish rugby union