2003–04 Premiership Rugby

2003-2004 Zurich Premiership
Countries	England
Champions	London Wasps (4th title)
Runners-up	Bath
Relegated	Rotherham Titans
Matches played	137
Attendance	1,241,557 (average 9,062 per match)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The 2003-04 Zurich Premiership was the 17th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions.

Rotherham were relegated after failing to win a single match all season.

Participating teams[]

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Bath	9,980	Bath, Somerset
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	The Causeway Stadium	10,000	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park	10,000	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints	Franklin's Gardens	12,100	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Rotherham Titans	Millmoor	11,158	Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Sale	Edgeley Park	10,641	Stockport, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Vicarage Road	22,000	Watford, Hertfordshire

Table[]

	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Bath	22	18	0	4	508	311	+197	45	24	4	3	79
C	London Wasps	22	16	0	6	575	406	+169	59	37	6	3	73
3	Northampton Saints	22	15	1	6	574	416	+158	61	48	6	2	70
4	Gloucester	22	14	0	8	491	412	+79	51	41	4	3	63
5	Leicester Tigers*	22	11	3	8	537	430	+107	53	37	4	2	55
6	Harlequins	22	10	2	10	502	449	+53	50	43	4	6	54
7	Sale Sharks	22	9	3	10	510	472	+38	56	50	5	6	53
8	London Irish	22	10	1	11	427	454	-27	30	37	1	6	49
9	Newcastle Falcons	22	7	2	13	497	525	-28	53	55	4	9	45
10	Saracens*	22	8	1	13	397	543	-146	40	56	3	3	39
11	Leeds Tykes	22	7	1	14	449	588	-139	47	59	4	3	37
R	Rotherham Titans	22	0	0	22	309	770	-461	32	90	0	3	3
Source:Guinness Premiership[permanent dead link] * Leicester and Saracens deducted one point each for fielding an ineligible player. Green background denotes qualification for playoffs. These teams and those highlighted in blue qualified for the 2004–05 Heineken Cup.

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[]

As for the 2002–03 season, the first placed team automatically qualified for the final where they played the winner of the second vs third place semi-final.

Semi-final[]

Final[]

Mike Catt Andrew Higgins Robbie Fleck Mike Tindall Alex Crockett Chris Malone Martyn Wood Zak Feunati Michael Lipman Andy Beattie Danny Grewcock Steve Borthwick Duncan Bell Jonathan Humphreys (capt) David Barnes Replacements: Hentie Martens Lee Mears Matt Stevens Olly Barkley Spencer Davey James Scaysbrook Rob Fidler Coach:

Mark van Gisbergen Josh Lewsey Fraser Waters Stuart Abbott Tom Voyce Alex King Rob Howley Lawrence Dallaglio (capt) Paul Volley Joe Worsley Richard Birkett Simon Shaw Will Green Trevor Leota Tim Payne Replacements: Henry Nwume Mark Lock Ben Gotting Martin Purdy Peter Richards Mark Denney Ayoola Erinle Coach: Warren Gatland

Zurich Wildcard[]

The Zurich Wildcard was contested by the teams placed fourth through seventh in the final table.

Semi finals[]

Despite winning this match, Gloucester forfeited their place in the final as English teams were awarded an additional Heineken Cup qualification place due to London Wasps winning the 2003–04 Heineken Cup. This additional place was awarded to Gloucester as the next highest placed team in the league not automatically qualified.^[1][2]

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.

Total Season Attendances[]

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bath	11	106,766	9,706	9,980	8,733	97%
Gloucester	12	122,848	10,237	11,000	4,859	93%
Harlequins	11	74,630	6,785	8,170	4,758	80%
Leeds Tykes	11	46,174	4,198	7,467	2,888	19%
Leicester Tigers	12	193,444	16,120	16,815	12,004	96%
London Irish	11	117,231	10,657	20,840	5,725	44%
London Wasps	12	92,771	7,731	10,000	5,151	77%
Newcastle Falcons	11	83,281	7,571	10,001	4,885	76%
Northampton Saints	11	122,563	11,142	12,150	9,923	92%
Rotherham Titans	11	35,957	3,269	6,894	1,910	30%
Sale Sharks	11	76,821	6,984	10,541	3,367	66%
Saracens	11	79,571	7,234	11,477	5,013	33%

References[]

External links[]

• Who Will Play In The Zurich Wildcard Final
• Wildcard and Euro Qualification Explained
• 2003/4 Zurich Premiership Preview - The Finals