The 2002-03 Zurich Premiership was the 16th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 competitions.

The Zurich Championship which had been competed for in seasons 2000–01 and 2001–02 was dropped from this season.

Table

221

93

136

86

43

52

Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Gloucester (F)	22	17	2	3	617	396
67	35	7	3	82
2	London Wasps London Wasps London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...  (C)	22	13	2	7	553	460
55	36	6	5	67
3	Northampton Saints Northampton Saints Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....  (SF)	22	13	0	9	512	376
52	24	5	5	62
4	Sale Sharks Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club who play in England in the Aviva Premiership.The club is an offshoot of Sale FC, which is based at Heywood Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, but Sharks currently play in Stockport at Edgeley Park, ground sharing with Stockport County F.C.Part of the...	22	12	2	8	556	470
61	46	8	2	62
5	Leeds Tykes	22	12	2	8	478	435
38	39	1	5	58
6	Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...	22	12	0	10	448	396
44	32	4	3	55
7	Harlequins Harlequin F.C. The Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop...	22	9	0	13	461	560
43	60	3	5	44
8	Saracens Saracens F.C. Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...	22	8	0	14	499	587
49	61	5	5	42
9	London Irish London Irish London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...	22	8	1	13	432	485
32	46	2	4	40
10	Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...	22	8	0	14	388	545
31	58	3	5	40
11	Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...	22	7	2	13	385	490
33	44	1	3	36
12	Bristol Bristol Rugby Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...  (R)	22	7	1	14	504	633
47	71	3	3	36
Source:Guinness Premiership Green background denotes qualification for the playoffs. These teams and those highlighted in blue qualified for the 2003–04 Heineken Cup.

Wasps won the 2002–03 Parker Pen Challenge Cup

2002–03 Parker Pen Challenge Cup

The 2002–03 Parker Pen Challenge Cup was the seventh year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between October 2002 and May 2003. Unlike previous seasons, the structure of the competition was changed to a...

 therefore automatically qualifying for the 2003–04 Heineken Cup. WIth Leicester Tigers winning the Zurich Wildcard Final, the final 2003–04 Heineken Cup berth was awarded to Leeds Tykes, placed fifth in the league.

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

Semi final

Final

Zurich Wildcard

Meanwhile, Leeds (5th place), Leicester (6th), Harlequins (7th), Saracens (8th) played for a Zurich Wildcard to the 2003–04 Heineken Cup:

First leg

Second leg

Leicester advanced to the wildcard final due to a superior aggregate score of 51-39
Saracens advanced to the wildcard final due to a superior aggregate score of 70-48

Final