The 2003-4 Heineken Cup was the ninth season for which European teams competed for the Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

. Competing teams, from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, 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

Rugby union bonus points system

The Rugby union bonus points system is a method of deciding table points from a rugby union match. It was implemented in order to encourage attacking play throughout a match, to discourage repetitive goal-kicking, and to reward teams for "coming close" in losing efforts...

 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:

• 4 points for a win
• 2 points for a draw
• 1 bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries, regardless of the final score
• 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points or less

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 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
France Stade Français Stade Français Paris Stade Français CASG is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era....	6	4	0	2	11	8	3	134	80	54	1	1	18
England 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...	6	3	0	3	17	10	7	137	115	22	3	0	15
Ulster Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...	6	3	0	3	10	9	1	109	106	3	1	1	14
Wales Newport Gwent Dragons Newport Gwent Dragons Newport Gwent Dragons are one of the four professional Rugby Union regional teams in Wales. They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union and play all their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the Heineken Cup...	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
France Toulouse Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...	6	5	0	1	18	7	11	157	65	92	4	1	|25
Scotland Edinburgh	6	5	0	1	14	7	7	130	89	41	2	0	22
England Leeds Tykes	6	1	0	5	5	11	−6	66	122	−56	0	1	5
Wales 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
France Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...	6	4	0	2	18	12	6	139	97	42	3	1	20
Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...	6	4	0	2	13	11	2	142	113	29	1	1	18
Wales Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....	6	2	0	4	13	13	0	123	132	−9	0	3	11
England 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...	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
Wales Llanelli Scarlets Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Llanelli, south-west Wales the team play at the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, as well as competing in the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup...	6	5	0	1	17	5	12	160	72	88	2	1	23
England 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....	6	4	0	2	13	4	9	121	54	67	1	1	18
France Agen	6	2	0	4	8	7	1	83	94	−11	1	2	11
Scotland The Borders Border Reivers (Rugby) Border Reivers, originally known as 'Scottish Borders Rugby' and also known as 'The Borders' were one of four professional rugby union teams in Scotland, alongside Edinburgh, Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors....	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 Munster Rugby Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...	6	5	0	1	22	5	17	172	76	96	4	0	24
England Gloucester Gloucester RFC Gloucester Rugby are a professional English rugby union club situated in the west country city of Gloucester. The club plays in the domestic Aviva Premiership...	6	5	0	1	22	11	11	197	100	97	4	0	24
France Bourgoin CS Bourgoin-Jallieu CS Bourgoin-Jallieu is a French rugby union club currently competing in the second level of the French league system in the Pro D2. The club have been runners-up in the French championship and the Challenge Yves du Manoir competitions, and have won the Challenge Cup.Founded in 1906 as "Club...	6	1	0	5	13	22	−9	119	191	−72	2	1	7
Italy Benetton Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso are an Italian professional rugby union club currently competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup.They are based in Treviso in Veneto, and owned by the Benetton clothing company....	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 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...	6	5	0	1	22	8	14	186	85	101	3	1	24
Wales Celtic Warriors Celtic Warriors The Celtic Warriors were a regional rugby union team from Wales, who played in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup between 2003 and 2004.-History:The Warriors were one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era...	6	4	0	2	11	10	1	123	118	5	2	2	20
France Perpignan USA Perpignan Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais or Unió eSportiva Arlequins de Perpinyà , generally abbreviated as USAP in both languages, is a French rugby union club that plays in the city of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The club currently competes in the Top 14, the top level of the French...	6	3	0	3	13	11	2	119	115	4	2	1	15
Italy Ghial Rugby Calvisano Ghial Rugby Calvisano Rugby Calvisano are an Italian rugby union club currently competing in National Championship of Excellence.They are based in Calvisano , in Lombardy....	6	0	0	6	13	30	−17	115	225	−110	1	2	3

Seeding and runners-up

92

101

97

88

42

54

96

41

5

67

29

22

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/-
1	France Toulouse Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...	25	18
2	England 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...	24	22
3	Munster Munster Rugby Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...	24	22
4	Wales Llanelli Scarlets Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Llanelli, south-west Wales the team play at the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, as well as competing in the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup...	23	17
5	France Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...	20	18
6	France Stade Français	18	11
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/-
7	England Gloucester Gloucester RFC Gloucester Rugby are a professional English rugby union club situated in the west country city of Gloucester. The club plays in the domestic Aviva Premiership...	24	22
8	Scotland Edinburgh	22	14
-	Wales Celtic Warriors Celtic Warriors The Celtic Warriors were a regional rugby union team from Wales, who played in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup between 2003 and 2004.-History:The Warriors were one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era...	20	11
-	England 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....	18	13
-	Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...	18	13
-	England 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...	15	17

Quarter-finals

Semifinals

Final