The 2001-02 Zurich Premiership was the 15th 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.

Leeds Tykes were promoted to replace the relegated Rotherham

Rotherham R.U.F.C.

Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans are a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, Yorkshire, currently playing in the English RFU Championship-History:...

.

Half-way 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 an 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.

Table

Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	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...  (C)	22	18	0	4	658	349	+309	72	19	10	1	83
2	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	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 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	11	3	8	574	465	+109	46	37	3	4	57
5	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....	22	12	1	9	506	426	+80	48	36	4	2	56
6	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	12	1	9	490	458	+32	43	40	3	3	56
7	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...	22	12	0	10	519	507	+12	42	41	3	3	54
8	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'...	22	9	1	12	591	632	-41	55	66	7	5	50
9	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	5	3	14	434	507	-73	33	52	5	4	35
10	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	7	0	15	425	671	-246	33	68	1	5	34
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	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 Green background denotes qualification for the playoffs. These teams and those highlighted in blue qualified for the 2002–03 Heineken Cup. Leeds were spared relegation due to inadequacies of Rotherham's ground.

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

Seeding

309

72

207

109

80

32

12

Seed	Team	Table points	Wins	Points diff
1	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...	83	18
2	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...	69	14
3	Gloucester	68	14
4	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...	57	11
5	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....	56	12
6	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...	56	12
7	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...	54	12
8	Bristol Shoguns 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'...	50	9	−32

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final