2003–04 Heineken Cup

The 2003–04 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 two points for a win and one for a draw. Starting with the 2003–04 competition, teams earned points in the pool matches under the following scenarios:

• Four points for a win
• Two points for a draw
• One bonus point for scoring four or more tries, regardless of the final score
• One bonus point for losing by seven points or less

Teams

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

Pool stage

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Template:Flagicon Stade Français	6	4	0	2	11	8	3	134	80	54	1	1	18
Template:Flagicon Leicester Tigers	6	3	0	3	17	10	7	137	115	22	3	0	15
Template:Flagicon Ulster	6	3	0	3	10	9	1	109	106	3	1	1	14
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon Toulouse	6	5	0	1	18	7	11	157	65	92	4	1	25
Template:Flagicon Edinburgh	6	5	0	1	14	7	7	130	89	41	2	0	22
Template:Flagicon Leeds Tykes	6	1	0	5	5	11	−6	66	122	−56	0	1	5
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon Biarritz Olympique	6	4	0	2	18	12	6	139	97	42	3	1	20
Template:Flagicon Leinster	6	4	0	2	13	11	2	142	113	29	1	1	18
Template:Flagicon Cardiff Blues	6	2	0	4	13	13	0	123	132	−9	0	3	11
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon Llanelli Scarlets	6	5	0	1	17	5	12	160	72	88	2	1	23
Template:Flagicon Northampton Saints	6	4	0	2	13	4	9	121	54	67	1	1	18
Template:Flagicon Agen	6	2	0	4	8	7	1	83	94	−11	1	2	11
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon Munster Rugby	6	5	0	1	22	5	17	172	76	96	4	0	24
Template:Flagicon Gloucester	6	5	0	1	22	11	11	197	100	97	4	0	24
Template:Flagicon Bourgoin	6	1	0	5	13	22	−9	119	191	−72	2	1	7
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon London Wasps	6	5	0	1	22	8	14	186	85	101	3	1	24
Template:Flagicon Celtic Warriors	6	4	0	2	11	10	1	123	118	5	2	2	20
Template:Flagicon Perpignan	6	3	0	3	13	11	2	119	115	4	2	1	15
Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Toulouse	25	18	+92
2	Template:Flagicon London Wasps	24	22	+101
3	Template:Flagicon Munster	24	22	+97
4	Template:Flagicon Llanelli Scarlets	23	17	+88
5	Template:Flagicon Biarritz Olympique	20	18	+42
6	Template:Flagicon Stade Français	18	11	+54
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/-
7	Template:Flagicon Gloucester	24	22	+96
8	Template:Flagicon Edinburgh	22	14	+41
–	Template:Flagicon Celtic Warriors	20	11	+5
–	Template:Flagicon Northampton Saints	18	13	+67
–	Template:Flagicon Leinster	18	13	+29
–	Template:Flagicon Leicester Tigers	15	17	+22

---

---

---

---