2002–03 Celtic League
The 2002–03 Celtic League was the second season of the Celtic League, a rugby union tournament involving teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
| 2002–03 Celtic League | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Countries |  Ireland Scotland Wales |
| Champions | Munster (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Neath |
| Matches played | 63 |
| Attendance | 308,374 (average 4,895 per match) |
| Tries scored | 302 (average 4.8 per match) |
| Top point scorer | Brendan Laney (Edinburgh) 137 points[1] |
| Top try scorer | Mossie Lawlor (Munster) Craig Morgan (Cardiff) Mike Mullins (Munster) 6 tries[2] |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Teams
Location of 2002–03 Celtic League teams in Wales. | |
 Pool A;  Pool B. | |
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City, Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borders |
Netherdale[lower-alpha 1] | 6,000 | Galashiels, Scotland |
| Bridgend |
Brewery Field | 6,000 | Bridgend, Wales |
| Caerphilly |
Virginia Park | 5,000 | Caerphilly, Wales |
| Cardiff |
Cardiff Arms Park | 12,500 | Cardiff, Wales |
| Connacht |
Galway Sportsgrounds | 6,000 | Galway, Republic of Ireland |
| Ebbw Vale |
Eugene Cross Park | 8,000 | Ebbw Vale, Wales |
| Edinburgh |
Meadowbank Stadium | 16,500 | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Glasgow |
Hughenden Stadium | 6,000 | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Leinster |
Donnybrook Stadium | 6,000 | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| Llanelli |
Stradey Park | 10,800 | Llanelli, Wales |
| Munster |
Thomond Park Musgrave Park |
13,200 8,500 |
Limerick, Republic of Ireland Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| Neath |
The Gnoll | 6,000 | Neath, Wales |
| Newport |
Rodney Parade | 11,676 | Newport, Wales |
| Pontypridd |
Sardis Road | 7,861 | Pontypridd, Wales |
| Swansea |
St Helen's | 4,500 | Swansea, Wales |
| Ulster |
Ravenhill | 12,300 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Pool stage
The teams were split into two pools and the pool stage consisted of a single round-robin; each team played the others in its pool once only.
Pool A Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Munster |
7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 227 | 129 | +98 | 25 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| 2 | Edinburgh |
7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 231 | 145 | +86 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| 3 | Ulster |
7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 173 | 111 | +62 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| 4 | Neath |
7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 153 | 121 | +32 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 5 | Llanelli |
7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 191 | 168 | +23 | 23 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 6 | Swansea |
7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 177 | 212 | −35 | 18 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 7 | Ebbw Vale |
7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 140 | 226 | −86 | 16 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Caerphilly |
7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 144 | 324 | −180 | 17 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
|
Under the standard bonus point system, points are awarded as follows:
| |||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 to 4) qualify for the knock-out stage. Source: RaboDirect PRO12 | |||||||||||||
Pool A Fixtures
| 30 August 2002 19:15 |
| Ebbw Vale | 0–19 | Ulster |
| Report[3] | Try: Wallace Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys (4) |
| Eugene Cross Park Referee: Dave Pearson |
| 6 September 2002 19:30 |
| Ulster | 18–19 | Edinburgh |
| Pen: Wallace (6) | Report[4] | Try: Laney Con: Laney Pen: Laney (3) Drop: Hodge |
| Ravenhill Attendance: 7,500 |
| 14 September 2002 14:30 |
| Swansea | 38–10 | Ulster |
| Try: K. Morgan, Robinson, Gibbs, Payne Con: A. Thomas (3) Pen: A. Thomas (4) | Report[5] | Try: Howe Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys |
| St Helen's Attendance: 2,500 |
| 20 September 2002 19:30 |
| Ulster | 17–13 | Neath |
| Try: B. Cunningham, Howe Con: Doak (2) Pen: Doak | Report[6] | Try: S. Williams Con: Jarvis Pen: Jarvis (2) |
| Ravenhill Attendance: 9,500 |
| 27 September 2002 19:35 |
| Ulster | 26–17 | Munster |
| Try: Doak (2) Con: Doak (2) Pen: Doak (2) | Report[7] | Try: Lawler Pen: Staunton (2) Drop: Staunton, Holland |
| Ravenhill Attendance: 6,000 Referee: P. Adams |
| 4 October 2002 19:05 |
| Llanelli | 62–6 | Swansea |
| Report |
| Stradey Park Attendance: 6,883 Referee: David McHugh (Ireland) [8] |
| 5 October 2002 14:30 |
| Caerphilly | 15–67 | Ulster |
| Try: Chiltern (2) Con: McLaughlin Pen: McLaughlin | Report[9][10] | Try: Neil Best (2), Howe, Brosnihan, McWhirter, Stewart, Bell, Sexton Con: Humphreys (6) Pen: Humphreys (5) |
| Virginia Park Attendance: 750 |
Pool B Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pontypridd |
7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 182 | 120 | +62 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| 2 | Glasgow |
7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 216 | 166 | +50 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| 3 | Cardiff |
7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 178 | 151 | +27 | 17 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| 4 | Connacht |
7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 176 | −50 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 5 | Leinster |
7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 191 | 154 | +37 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 | Borders |
7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 142 | 169 | −27 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | Bridgend |
7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 127 | 187 | −60 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | Newport |
7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 121 | 160 | −39 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
|
Under the standard bonus point system, points are awarded as follows:
| |||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 to 4) qualify for the knock-out stage. Source: RaboDirect PRO12 | |||||||||||||
Pool B Fixtures
Knockout stages
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 29 November 2002 – Musgrave Park | ||||||||||
| Munster | 33 | |||||||||
| 3 January 2003 – Thomond Park | ||||||||||
| Connacht | 3 | |||||||||
| Munster | 42 | |||||||||
| 30 November 2002 – Hughenden | ||||||||||
| Ulster | 10 | |||||||||
| Glasgow | 17 | |||||||||
| 1 February 2003 – Millennium Stadium | ||||||||||
| Ulster | 20 | |||||||||
| Munster | 37 | |||||||||
| 29 November 2002 – Sardis Road | ||||||||||
| Neath | 17 | |||||||||
| Pontypridd | 12 | |||||||||
| 4 January 2003 – The Gnoll | ||||||||||
| Neath | 13 | |||||||||
| Neath | 32 | |||||||||
| 30 November 2002 – Meadowbank | ||||||||||
| Cardiff | 10 | |||||||||
| Edinburgh | 22 | |||||||||
| Cardiff | 26 | |||||||||
Quarter finals
Final
| 1 February 2003 14:45 |
| Munster | 37–17 | Neath |
| Try: Alan Quinlan Marcus Horan Rob Henderson Con: Jeremy Staunton (2) Pen: Jeremy Staunton (2) Ronan O'Gara (4) | Report | Try: Adam Jones Pen: Lee Jarvis (3) Drop: Lee Jarvis |
| Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 30,076 Referee: Chris White (England) |
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Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-IRB nationalities.
Top points scorers
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Top try scorers
|
Notes
- Borders also played matches at Philiphaugh Stadium, Selkirk and Mansfield Park, Hawick.
External links
References
- "Leading Points-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- "Leading Try-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- "Scrappy victory for Ulster", BBC Sport, 30 August 2002
- Gavin Mairs "Last gasp agony for jaded Ulster", Belfast Telegraph, 7 September 2002
- "Swansea's blistering pace exposes Ulster's deficiencies", Irish Independent, 15 September 2002
- "Ulster edge out Neath", BBC Sport, 20 September 2002
- "Doak one-man show just too much for Munster", Irish Independent, 28 September 2002
- "'We got what we deserved' - Connolly". www.walesonline.co.uk. 5 October 2002. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- Mark McAuley, "Over and rout... Ulster whip the Welsh boyos", Sunday Life", 6 October 2002
- "Ulster hammer Caerphilly", BBC Sport, 5 October 2002
- "Ulster sneak past Llanelli", BBC Sport, 25 October 2002
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