1998–99 European Challenge Cup

1998–1999 European Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	France; Ireland; Italy; Portugal; Romania; Spain; Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	19 September 1998 to 27 February 1999
Tournament statistics
Teams	21
Top point scorer(s)	Christophe Lamaison (Brive); Gérald Merceron (Montferrand); (109 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Renaud Calvel (Narbonne); Eremodo Tuni (Bourgoin); (7 tries)
Final
Venue	Stade de Gerland
Attendance	31,986
Champions	AS Montferrand (1st title)
Runners-up	Bourgoin

The 1998–99 European Challenge Cup was the third year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between September 1998 and February 1999

Pool stage

Pool 1

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Narbonne	6	6	0	32	13	+19	228	98	+130	12
Caerphilly	6	4	2	16	19	−3	167	154	+13	8
Périgueux	6	3	3	23	13	+10	168	119	+49	6
Racing Club de France	6	3	3	17	23	−6	127	184	−57	6
Connacht	6	3	3	16	19	−3	129	156	−27	6
Newport	6	1	5	14	23	−9	123	183	−60	2
Rugby Rovigo	6	1	5	12	20	−8	108	156	−48	2

Pool 2

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Montferrand	6	5	1	43	9	+34	303	86	+217	10
Bourgoin	6	5	1	36	8	+28	222	86	+136	10
Dax	6	5	1	20	15	+5	163	124	+39	10
Castres	6	3	3	32	10	+22	229	101	+128	6
Rugby Roma	6	2	4	14	34	−20	117	213	−96	4
Aberavon	6	1	5	14	42	−28	86	287	−201	2
Spain XV	6	0	6	7	48	−41	65	288	−223	0

Pool 3

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Brive	6	5	1	35	14	+21	241	102	+139	10
Agen	6	4	2	30	11	+19	231	93	+138	8
Pau	6	4	2	25	8	+17	211	87	+124	8
Biarritz	6	4	2	30	14	+16	187	124	+63	8
Bridgend RFC	6	2	4	19	28	−9	158	206	−48	4
Dinamo București	6	2	4	19	31	−12	131	246	−115	4
Portugal XV	6	0	6	8	60	−52	73	374	−301	0

Knockout stage

Quarter finals

12 December 1998
15:30

Narbonne	30–13	Pau

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitie

12 December 1998
19:30

Brive	43–12	Caerphilly

Parc Municipal des Sports
Attendance: 4,000

13 December 1998
15:00

AS Montferrand	66–13	Dax

Stade Marcel Michelin
Attendance: 3,872

13 December 1998
15:00

Bourgoin	29–19	SU Agen

Stade Pierre Rajon
Attendance: 6,000

Semi finals

10 January 1999
15:15

AS Montferrand	27–21	Narbonne

Stade Marcel Michelin
Attendance: 10,500

10 January 1999
15:15

Bourgoin	26–23	Brive

Stade Pierre Rajon
Attendance: 12,000

Final

27 February 1999
16:00

Bourgoin	16–35	AS Montferrand

Stade de Gerland
Attendance: 31,986

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