# 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.

## 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 |
| Petrarca 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 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 3 | Ulster | 15 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Toulouse | 13 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Toulouse | 13 | 3 | Ulster | 33 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Stade Français | 27 | | | |
| 2 | Stade Français | 71 | 2 | Stade Français | 27 | | | |
| 7 | Pontypridd | 14 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Pontypridd | 14 | | | | 3 | Ulster | 21 |
| | | | | | | 4 | Colomiers | 6 |
| 4 | Colomiers | 23 | | | | | | | 4 | Colomiers | 6 |
| 5 | Munster | 9 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Munster | 9 | 4 | Colomiers | 10 | | | |
| | | | 1 | Perpignan | 6 | | | |
| 1 | Perpignan | 34 | 1 | Perpignan | 6 | | | |
| 8 | Llanelli | 17 | | | | | | |

### Quarter-finals

* 11 December 1998 19:15
| Ulster | 15–13 | Toulouse |
| Pen: Mason (3) Drop: Humphreys (2) | Report | Try: Pelous Con: Ougier Pen: Delaigue (2) |
* Ravenhill Attendance: 11,500 Referee: B. Campbell
* 12 December 1998 15:00
| Perpignan | 34–17 | Llanelli |
* Stade Aime Giral Attendance: 10,000
* 12 December 1998 15:30
| Stade Francais | 71–14 | Pontypridd |
* Stade Jean-Bouin Attendance: 5,000
* 13 December 1998 15:00
| Colomiers | 23–9 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Stade Selery Attendance: 8,000 Referee: N Whitehouse

### Semi-finals

* 9 January 1999 13:00
| Ulster | 33–27 | Stade Francais |
| Try: McKinty, Humphreys Con: Mason Pen: Mason (5) Drop: Mason, Humphreys | Report Highlights | Try: Juillet (2), Lièvremont Con: Dominguez (3) Pen: Dominguez (2) |
* Ravenhill Attendance: 20,000 Referee: J. Fleming
* 9 January 1999 14:45
| Colomiers | 10–6 | Perpignan |
* Stadium Municipal, Toulouse Attendance: 30,000

### 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)