2001-2002 Zurich Premiership
Countries	England
Champions	Leicester Tigers (6th title)
Runners-up	Sale Sharks
Relegated	None
Matches played	139
Attendance	1,043,625 (average 7,508 per match)
←  2000–01 2002–03 →

The 2001-02 Zurich Premiership was the 15th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions.

Leeds Tykes were promoted to replace the relegated Rotherham.

Halfway through the season, with Leicester odds-on to win their fourth title in succession, it was decided that the winners of the playoffs would be crowned champions. After a public outcry at moving the goalposts halfway through the tournament, this was not followed through. Instead, they launched the Zurich Championship, a play off competition involving 8 teams below the champions, providing the winner with a 'wildcard' European qualification. Leicester did finish top of the league and were crowned champions; their fourth title in succession and their sixth overall. Gloucester won the eight team Zurich Championship play-offs in 2001–02.

Leeds Tykes finished bottom of the table but avoided relegation due to the inadequacies of Rotherham's ground.

Participating teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Bath	8,200	Bath, Somerset
Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Bristol
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	16,250	Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish	Madejski Stadium	24,161	Reading, Berkshire
London Wasps	Loftus Road	18,439	Shepherd's Bush, London
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park	10,000	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints	Franklin's Gardens	11,700	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale	Heywood Road	5,400	Sale, 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	Leicester Tigers (C)	22	18	0	4	658	349	+309	72	19	10	1	83
2	Sale Sharks	22	14	1	7	589	517	+72	67	47	9	2	69
3	Gloucester	22	14	0	8	692	485	+207	68	45	8	4	68
4	London Irish	22	11	3	8	574	465	+109	46	37	3	4	57
5	Northampton Saints	22	12	1	9	506	426	+80	48	36	4	2	56
6	Newcastle Falcons	22	12	1	9	490	458	+32	43	40	3	3	56
7	London Wasps	22	12	0	10	519	507	+12	42	41	3	3	54
8	Bristol Shoguns	22	9	1	12	591	632	-41	55	66	7	5	50
9	Harlequins	22	5	3	14	434	507	-73	33	52	5	4	35
10	Saracens	22	7	0	15	425	671	-246	33	68	1	5	34
11	Bath	22	7	0	15	311	524	-213	21	47	0	5	33
12	Leeds Tykes	22	6	0	16	406	654	-248	38	68	2	2	28
Source: Guinness Premiership[ permanent dead link] Green background denotes qualification for the playoffs and the 2002–03 Heineken Cup. Blue background denotes qualification for the playoffs and the 2002–03 Challenge Cup. Plain background donates qualification for the 2002–03 Challenge Cup. Leeds were reprieved of relegation due to inadequacies of Rotherham's ground.

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

Playoff

Seeding

Seed	Team	Table points	Wins	Points diff
1	Leicester Tigers	83	18	+309
2	Sale Sharks	69	14	+72
3	Gloucester	68	14	+207
4	London Irish	57	11	+109
5	Northampton Saints	56	12	+80
6	Newcastle Falcons	56	12	+32
7	London Wasps	54	12	+12
8	Bristol Shoguns	50	9	−32

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Team details

Bristol Shoguns Gloucester Lee Best Jamie Williams David Rees Jason Little ( c) Phil Christophers Felipe Contepomi Agustin Pichot Neil McCarthy Darren Crompton Julian White Gareth Archer Alex Brown Craig Short Michael Lipman Ben Sturnham Replacements: Shane Drahm Paul Johnstone Ross Beattie Andrew Sheridan Coach: Dean Ryan Henry Paul Dylan O'Leary Terry Fanolua Robert Todd Ludovic Mercier Andy Gomarsall Patrice Collazo Tom Beim Olivier Azam Phil Vickery ( c) Rob Fidler James Forrester Ed Pearce Jake Boer Junior Paramore Replacements: Chris Catling Trevor Woodman Chris Fortey Craig Gillies Koli Sewabu Coach: Laurent Seigne

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.

References