1998–99 Heineken Cup

The 1998–99 Heineken Cup was the fourth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, and Scotland, were divided into four pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. Cardiff and Swansea did not compete due to a dispute with their union, the Welsh Rugby Union, whereas teams from England did not compete due to a dispute between European Rugby and the Rugby Football Union. The pool winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages.

1998–99 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries	France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	18 September 1998 to 30 January 1999
Tournament statistics
Teams	16
Matches played	55
Attendance	322,340 (5,861 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Simon Mason (Ulster) (144 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Thomas Lombard (Stade Français) Michel Marfaing (Toulouse) Émile Ntamack (Toulouse) (7 tries)
Final
Venue	Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance	49,000
Champions	Ulster (1st title)
Runners-up	Colomiers

Teams

France	Wales	Scotland	Ireland	Italy
Stade Français Bègles-Bordeaux Perpignan Toulouse Colomiers	Llanelli Neath Ebbw Vale Pontypridd	Edinburgh Glasgow	Leinster Munster Ulster	Petrarca Treviso

Pool stage

In the pool matches teams received 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a defeat.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Stade Français	6	5	0	1	27	10	17	219	117	102	10
Llanelli	6	3	0	3	12	22	−10	113	180	−67	6
Leinster	6	2	0	4	17	12	5	141	124	17	4
Bègles-Bordeaux	6	2	0	4	11	23	−12	127	179	−52	4

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Perpignan	6	5	0	1	35	13	22	238	108	130	10
Munster	6	4	1	1	17	13	4	144	108	36	9
Neath	6	1	1	4	14	27	−13	118	194	−76	3
Safilo Petraca Rugby Padova	6	1	0	5	8	21	−13	79	169	−90	2

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Ulster	6	4	1	1	23	20	3	197	168	29	9
Toulouse	6	4	0	2	31	11	20	234	103	131	8
Edinburgh Reivers	6	2	1	3	21	14	7	179	146	33	5
Ebbw Vale	6	1	0	5	11	41	−30	114	307	−193	2

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Colomiers	6	4	0	2	22	10	12	176	121	55	8
Pontypridd	6	3	0	3	13	16	−3	160	141	19	6
Benetton Treviso	6	3	0	3	13	13	0	142	150	−8	6
Glasgow Caledonians	6	2	0	4	10	19	−9	121	187	−66	4

Seeding

Seed	Pool winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Perpignan	10	35	+130
2	Stade Français	10	27	+102
3	Ulster	9	23	+29
4	Colomiers	8	22	+55
Seed	Pool runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
5	Munster	9	17	+36
6	Toulouse	8	31	+131
7	Pontypridd	6	13	+19
8	Llanelli	6	12	−67

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

11 December 1998 19:15

Ulster	15–13	Toulouse

Ravenhill Attendance: 11,500

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12 December 1998 15:00

Perpignan	34–17	Llanelli

Stade Aime Giral Attendance: 10,000

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12 December 1998 15:30

Stade Francais	71–14	Pontypridd

Stade Jean-Bouin Attendance: 5,000

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13 December 1998 15:00

Colomiers	23–9	Munster

Stade Selery Attendance: 8,000

Semi-finals

9 January 1999 13:00

Ulster	33–27	Stade Francais

Ravenhill Attendance: 20,000

9 January 1999 14:45

Colomiers	10–6	Perpignan

Stadium Municipal, Toulouse Attendance: 30,000

Final

Main article: 1999 Heineken Cup Final

30 January 1999 14:45

Ulster	21–6	Colomiers
Pen: Mason (6) Drop: Humphreys	Report	Pen: Labit Mickael Carre

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 49,000 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

References