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2003–04 European Challenge Cup

FieldValue
name2003-04 Parker Pen Challenge Cup
imagesize100px
captionOfficial logo
countriesEngland
France
Ireland
Italy
Romania
Scotland
Spain
tournament formatKnockout
date5 December 2003 – 22 May 2004
teams28
matches57
attendance{{#expr:
tries{{#expr:
top point scorerOlly Barkley (Bath)
(120 points)
top try scorerSimon Danielli (Bath)
(6 tries)
venueMadejski Stadium, Reading, Berkshire
attendance213,123
championsENG NEC Harlequins
count2
runner-upFRA Montferrand
websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
previous year2002–03
previous tournament2002–03 Parker Pen Challenge Cup
next year2004–05
next tournament2004–05 European Challenge Cup

France Ireland Italy Romania Scotland Spain

  • 1327 + 500 + 3000 + 512 + 800 + 2000 + 300 + 2500 + 500 + 3000 + 2800 + 1600 + 350 + 4543
  • 1622 + 1500 + 2500 + 8707 + 6341 + 1200 + 7941 + 2500 + 3500 + 4087 + 6012 + 1000 + 5265 + 4181
  • 2000 + 3000 + 4950 + 4000 + 4500 + 4500 + 4525 + 3653
  • 2645 + 9980 + 5011 + 3000 + 4389 + 4000 + 2500 + 7500
  • 4950 + 2553 + 4000 + 9444 + 2000 + 5571 + 5000 + 4058
  • 7700 + 6573 + 4000 + 6000
  • 13123
  • 2 + 7 + 13 + 8 + 7 + 12 + 9 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 6 + 8 + 1
  • 5 + 5 + 2 + 8 + 11 + 9 + 9 + 12 + 3 + 5 + 13 + 5 + 6 + 13
  • 5 + 7 + 1 + 4 + 7 + 1 + 2 + 5
  • 4 + 3 + 7 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 7 + 4
  • 5 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 1
  • 6 + 5 + 7 + 4
  • 4 (120 points) (6 tries) | runner-up = FRA Montferrand The 2003–04 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 8th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams participated, representing seven countries. This was the first year of the competition following the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales. With the reduction of Welsh teams from nine to five, and with all teams participating in the 2003-04 Heineken Cup, there were no Welsh teams in the 2003–04 Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

The competition began when Rotherham hosted Narbonne and Leonessa hosted Montferrand on 5 December 2003 and culminated in the final at the Madejski Stadium in Reading on 22 May 2004.

As in the previous season, the competition was organised in a 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 the second time, a third tier tournament was held - the European Shield. This was contested between the first round losers from the European Challenge Cup. As there were only 28 teams involved, the 2 "best" 1st Round losers were reprieved and proceeded to the 2nd Round.

The defending champions, England's London Wasps, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. NEC Harlequins claimed the narrowest of victories over Montferrand in the final and picked up their second 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 2003–04 Heineken Cup :France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup :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 :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

ENG EnglandFRA FranceIreland IrelandITA ItalySCO ScotlandESP Spain

Matches

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Round 1

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

:{| class="wikitable"

+ Key to colours
14 winners and 2 best losers advance to 2nd Round.
-
12 other teams to Shield.
}
WinnersMatch pointsAggregate scorePoints marginLosers
Bath ENG4 – 0125 – 11114ITA L'Aquila
Montferrand FRA4 – 0113 – 3110ITA Leonessa
Saracens ENG4 – 0127 – 18109ITA Rugby Roma
Castres Olympique FRA4 – 0128 – 24104ITA Rovigo
Newcastle Falcons ENG4 – 0137 – 37100ESP Valladolid RAC
NEC Harlequins ENG4 – 094 – 2173ESP El Salvador
Grenoble FRA4 – 076 – 1660ITA Gran Parma
Glasgow SCO4 – 068 – 2444FRA Montpellier
Colomiers FRA4 – 075 – 3243ITA Petrarca Padova
Narbonne FRA4 – 052 – 2329ENG Rotherham
Pau FRA4 – 058 – 3424ITA Overmach Parma
Brive FRA2 – 261 – 4120ITA Viadana
London Irish ENG2 – 262 – 548FRA Montauban
Connacht Ireland2 – 229 – 236FRA Béziers

Round 2

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Quarter-finalMatch pointsAggregate scorePoints marginEliminated from competition
NEC Harlequins ENG4 – 079 – 2554FRA Montauban
Béziers FRA4 – 043 – 2320FRA Grenoble
Bath ENG4 – 058 – 4216FRA Colomiers
Connacht Ireland2 – 235 – 1718FRA Pau
Narbonne FRA2 – 242 – 3012ENG London Irish
Brive FRA2 – 258 – 4810FRA Castres Olympique
Montferrand FRA2 – 228 – 235ENG Newcastle Falcons
Saracens ENG2 – 242 – 393SCO Glasgow

Quarter-finals

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to SemifinalMatch pointsAggregate scorePoints marginEliminated from competition
Connacht Ireland4 – 043 – 2815FRA Narbonne
NEC Harlequins ENG2 – 261 – 4417FRA Brive
Bath ENG2 – 245 – 3114FRA Béziers
Montferrand FRA2 – 240 – 2812ENG Saracens

Semi-finals

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to FinalMatch pointsAggregate scorePoints marginEliminated from competition
NEC Harlequins ENG2 – 249 – 454Ireland Connacht
Montferrand FRA2 – 253 – 512ENG Bath

Final

Mignoni Keogh Dunne (1)

References

References

  1. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers".
  2. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers".
  3. "Challenge Cup European Champions". [[European Rugby Cup.
  4. (January 2022). "Challenge Cup Fixtures". [[European Rugby Cup.
  5. According to the ERC web site. Montauban usually play at [[Stade Sapiac]].
  6. According to the ERC web site. Viadana usually play at [[Stadio Luigi Zaffanella]].
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2003–04-european-challenge-cup 2003–04-rugby-union-tournaments-for-clubs epcr-challenge-cup-seasons 2003–04-in-european-rugby-union 2003–04-in-english-rugby-union 2003–04-in-french-rugby-union 2003–04-in-irish-rugby-union 2003–04-in-italian-rugby-union 2003–04-in-romanian-rugby-union 2003–04-in-spanish-rugby-union 2003–04-in-scottish-rugby-union
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