2003–04 Heineken Cup

2003–04 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries  England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and Knockout
Date 22 October 2003 - 23 May 2004
Tournament statistics
Teams 24
Matches played 79
Attendance 817,833 (10,352 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Henry Paul (Gloucester)
(100 points)
Top try scorer(s) Nicolas Brusque (Biarritz)
James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester)
(6 tries)
Final
Venue Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance 73,057
Champions London Wasps (1st title)
Runner-up Toulouse
Official website http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
← 2002–03 (Previous) (Next) 2004–05 →

The 2003-4 Heineken Cup was the ninth season for which European teams competed for the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners of the pools, together with the two best runners-up, qualified for the knock-out stage.

This was the first competition in the series to employ the bonus point system for classifying teams. In prior competitions, teams earned 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Starting with the 2003-04 competition, teams earned points in the pool matches under the following scenarios:

Contents

Teams

France England Wales Ireland Scotland Italy
  • Stade Français
  • Toulouse
  • Biarritz Olympique
  • Agen
  • Bourgoin
  • Perpignan
  • Leicester Tigers
  • Leeds Carnegie
  • Sale Sharks
  • Northampton Saints
  • Gloucester
  • London Wasps
  • Newport Gwent Dragons
  • Neath-Swansea Ospreys
  • Cardiff Blues
  • Llanelli Scarlets
  • Celtic Warriors
  • Ulster
  • Munster
  • Leinster
  • Border Reivers
  • Edinburgh
  • Benetton Treviso
  • Calvisano

Pool stage

For more details on this topic, see 2003-04 Heineken Cup pool stage.

Pool 1

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Stade Français 6 4 0 2 11 8 3 134 80 54 1 1 18
Leicester Tigers 6 3 0 3 17 10 7 137 115 22 3 0 15
Ulster 6 3 0 3 10 9 1 109 106 3 1 1 14
Newport Gwent Dragons 6 2 0 4 5 16 −11 67 146 −79 0 1 9

Pool 2

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Toulouse 6 5 0 1 18 7 11 157 65 92 4 1 25
Edinburgh 6 5 0 1 14 7 7 130 89 41 2 0 22
Leeds Tykes 6 1 0 5 5 11 −6 66 122 −56 0 1 5
Neath-Swansea Ospreys 6 1 0 5 6 18 −12 78 155 −77 0 0 4

Pool 3

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Biarritz Olympique 6 4 0 2 18 12 6 139 97 42 3 1 20
Leinster 6 4 0 2 13 11 2 142 113 29 1 1 18
Cardiff Blues 6 2 0 4 13 13 0 123 132 −9 0 3 11
Sale Sharks 6 2 0 4 6 14 −8 75 137 −62 0 1 9

Pool 4

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Llanelli Scarlets 6 5 0 1 17 5 12 160 72 88 2 1 23
Northampton Saints 6 4 0 2 13 4 9 121 54 67 1 1 18
Agen 6 2 0 4 8 7 1 83 94 −11 1 2 11
The Borders 6 1 0 5 4 26 −22 39 183 −144 0 0 4

Pool 5

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Munster Rugby 6 5 0 1 22 5 17 172 76 96 4 0 24
Gloucester 6 5 0 1 22 11 11 197 100 97 4 0 24
Bourgoin 6 1 0 5 13 22 −9 119 191 −72 2 1 7
Benetton Treviso 6 1 0 5 13 32 −19 104 225 −121 1 0 5

Pool 6

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
London Wasps 6 5 0 1 22 8 14 186 85 101 3 1 24
Celtic Warriors 6 4 0 2 11 10 1 123 118 5 2 2 20
Perpignan 6 3 0 3 13 11 2 119 115 4 2 1 15
Ghial Rugby Calvisano 6 0 0 6 13 30 −17 115 225 −110 1 2 3

Seeding and runners-up

Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/-
1 Toulouse 25 18 +92
2 London Wasps 24 22 +101
3 Munster 24 22 +97
4 Llanelli Scarlets 23 17 +88
5 Biarritz Olympique 20 18 +42
6 Stade Français 18 11 +54
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/-
7 Gloucester 24 22 +96
8 Edinburgh 22 14 +41
- Celtic Warriors 20 11 +5
- Northampton Saints 18 13 +67
- Leinster Rugby 18 13 +29
- Leicester Tigers 15 17 +22

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

4 April 2004
19:45		 Llanelli Scarlets 10 – 27 Biarritz Olympique Stradey Park
Attendance: 10,800
10 April 2004
16:00		 Toulouse 36 – 10 Edinburgh Stade Municipal
Attendance: 36,500
10 April 2004
17:00		 Munster 37 – 32 Stade Français Thomond Park
Attendance: 13,000
11 April 2004
15:00		 London Wasps 34 – 3 Gloucester Adams Park
Attendance: 10,000

Semifinals

24 April 2004
16:00		 Toulouse 39 – 11 Biarritz Olympique Stade Chaban Delmas
Attendance: 34,000
25 April 2004
15:00		 Munster 32 – 37 London Wasps Lansdowne Road
Attendance: 49,000

Final

Main article: 2004 Heineken Cup Final
23 May 2004
15:00		 London Wasps 27 – 20 Toulouse Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 73,057
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Tries: Abbott 19' c
Van Gisbergen 43' c
Howley 79' c
Con: Van Gisbergen (3)
Pen: Van Gisbergen (2) 15', 31'		 Report Try: Delaigue 38' m
Pen: Delaigue (2) 6', 12'
Élissalde (3) 57', 72', 77'
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