2003-04 Parker Pen Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England   France   Ireland   Italy   Romania   Scotland   Spain
Tournament format(s)	Knockout
Date	5 December 2003 – 22 May 2004
Tournament statistics
Teams	28
Matches played	57
Attendance	225,213 (3,951 per match)
Tries scored	323 (5.67 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Olly Barkley ( Bath) (120 points) [1]
Top try scorer(s)	Simon Danielli ( Bath) (6 tries) [2]
Final
Venue	Madejski Stadium, Reading, Berkshire
Attendance	13,123
Champions	NEC Harlequins (2nd title)
Runners-up	Montferrand
←  2002–03 (Previous) (Next) 2004–05 →

The 2003–04 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 8th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams participated, representing seven countries. This was the first year of the competition following the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales. With the reduction of Welsh teams from nine to five, and with all teams participating in the 2003-04 Heineken Cup, there were no Welsh teams in the 2003–04 Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

The competition began when Rotherham hosted Narbonne and Leonessa hosted Montferrand on 5 December 2003 and culminated in the final at the Madejski Stadium in Reading on 22 May 2004.

As in the previous season, the competition was organised in a knockout format. Teams played each other on a home and away basis, with the aggregate points winner proceeding to the next round. The final was a single leg. For the second time, a third tier tournament was held - the European Shield. This was contested between the first round losers from the European Challenge Cup. ^[3] As there were only 28 teams involved, the 2 "best" 1st Round losers were reprieved and proceeded to the 2nd Round.

The defending champions, England's London Wasps, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. NEC Harlequins claimed the narrowest of victories over Montferrand in the final and picked up their second piece of European Club silverware.

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows:

England: 6 teams — all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2003–04 Heineken Cup

France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Ireland: 1 team — the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Scotland: 1 team — the Scottish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby

England	France	Ireland	Italy	Scotland	Spain
Bath NEC Harlequins London Irish Newcastle Falcons Rotherham Saracens	Béziers Brive Castres Olympique Colomiers Grenoble Montauban Montferrand Montpellier Narbonne Pau	Connacht	Gran Parma L'Aquila Leonessa Overmach Parma Petrarca Padova Rugby Roma Rovigo Viadana	Glasgow	El Salvador Valladolid RAC

Matches

All kickoff times are local to the match location. ^[4]

Round 1

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Key to colours

	14 winners and 2 best losers advance to 2nd Round.
	12 other teams to Shield.

Winners	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Losers
Bath	4 – 0	125 – 11	114	L'Aquila
Montferrand	4 – 0	113 – 3	110	Leonessa
Saracens	4 – 0	127 – 18	109	Rugby Roma
Castres Olympique	4 – 0	128 – 24	104	Rovigo
Newcastle Falcons	4 – 0	137 – 37	100	Valladolid RAC
NEC Harlequins	4 – 0	94 – 21	73	El Salvador
Grenoble	4 – 0	76 – 16	60	Gran Parma
Glasgow	4 – 0	68 – 24	44	Montpellier
Colomiers	4 – 0	75 – 32	43	Petrarca Padova
Narbonne	4 – 0	52 – 23	29	Rotherham
Pau	4 – 0	58 – 34	24	Overmach Parma
Brive	2 – 2	61 – 41	20	Viadana
London Irish	2 – 2	62 – 54	8	Montauban
Connacht	2 – 2	29 – 23	6	Béziers

Round 2

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Quarter-final	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
NEC Harlequins	4 – 0	79 – 25	54	Montauban
Béziers	4 – 0	43 – 23	20	Grenoble
Bath	4 – 0	58 – 42	16	Colomiers
Connacht	2 – 2	35 – 17	18	Pau
Narbonne	2 – 2	42 – 30	12	London Irish
Brive	2 – 2	58 – 48	10	Castres Olympique
Montferrand	2 – 2	28 – 23	5	Newcastle Falcons
Saracens	2 – 2	42 – 39	3	Glasgow

Quarter-finals

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Semifinal	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
Connacht	4 – 0	43 – 28	15	Narbonne
NEC Harlequins	2 – 2	61 – 44	17	Brive
Bath	2 – 2	45 – 31	14	Béziers
Montferrand	2 – 2	40 – 28	12	Saracens

Semi-finals

1st leg

2nd leg

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Final	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
NEC Harlequins	2 – 2	49 – 45	4	Connacht
Montferrand	2 – 2	53 – 51	2	Bath

Final

See also

• 2003-04 Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• 2003–04 European Shield

References