# 1997–98 European Challenge Cup

The 1997–98 European Challenge Cup was the second year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between September 1997 and February 1998

## Pool stage
### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Agen | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 219 | 105 | +114 | 12 |
| Bristol | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 115 | 180 | −65 | 4 |
| Ebbw Vale | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 117 | 155 | −38 | 4 |
| La Rochelle | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 128 | 139 | −11 | 4 |

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| AS Montferrand | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 11 | +17 | 203 | 120 | +83 | 10 |
| Newport | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 27 | −7 | 172 | 192 | −20 | 6 |
| Sale Sharks | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 163 | 117 | +46 | 6 |
| Montpellier | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 90 | 199 | −109 | 2 |

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Stade Français | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 18 | +30 | 337 | 131 | +206 | 10 |
| London Irish | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 169 | 133 | +36 | 8 |
| Dax | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 139 | 180 | −41 | 6 |
| Farul Constanţa | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 38 | −28 | 94 | 295 | −201 | 0 |

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Connacht | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 144 | 97 | +47 | 10 |
| Northampton Saints | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 161 | 116 | +45 | 6 |
| Bordeaux-Begles | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 112 | 110 | +2 | 6 |
| Nice | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 94 | 188 | −94 | 2 |

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Colomiers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 13 | +27 | 290 | 121 | +169 | 12 |
| Richmond | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 196 | 133 | +63 | 8 |
| Bridgend RFC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 37 | −25 | 130 | 259 | −129 | 4 |
| Grenoble | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 24 | −15 | 112 | 215 | −103 | 0 |

### Pool 6

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Gloucester | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 170 | 101 | +69 | 10 |
| Toulon | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 136 | 104 | +32 | 7 |
| Béziers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 150 | 147 | +3 | 5 |
| Petrarca Rugby | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 108 | 212 | −104 | 2 |

### Pool 7

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Newcastle Falcons | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 8 | +28 | 264 | 98 | +166 | 10 |
| Biarritz Olympique | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 123 | 153 | −30 | 6 |
| Perpignan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 98 | 138 | −40 | 4 |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 29 | −20 | 109 | 205 | −96 | 4 |

### Pool 8

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
| Castres Olympique | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 10 | +16 | 206 | 97 | +109 | 10 |
| Saracens | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 197 | 128 | +69 | 10 |
| Narbonne | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 168 | 138 | +30 | 4 |
| Neath | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 41 | −31 | 93 | 301 | −208 | 0 |

## Qualifiers

| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 1 | Colomiers | 12 | 40 | +169 |
| 2 | Agen | 12 | 27 | +114 |
| 3 | Stade Français | 10 | 48 | +206 |
| 4 | Newcastle Falcons | 10 | 36 | +166 |
| 5 | Montferrand | 10 | 28 | +83 |
| 6 | Castres Olympique | 10 | 26 | +109 |
| 7 | Gloucester | 10 | 19 | +69 |
| 8 | Connacht | 10 | 11 | +47 |

## Knockout stage
### Quarter-finals

* 8 November 1997 14:15
| Stade Français | 53–22 | Gloucester |
* Stade Jean-Bouin
* 8 November 1997 20:00
| Agen | 40–27 | Connacht |
* Stade Armandie
* 9 November 1997 15:00
| Colomiers | 23–13 | AS Montferrand |
* Stade Selery
* 9 November 1997 15:00
| Newcastle Falcons | 44–0 | Castres Olympique |
* Kingston Park Stadium

### Semi-finals

* 20 December 1997 14:15
| Agen | 12–9 | Newcastle Falcons |
* Stade Armandie Attendance: 6,000
* 20 December 1997 15:00
| Colomiers | 19–13 | Stade Français |
* Stade Selery Attendance: 4,500

### Final

* 2 February 1998 15:15
| Colomiers | 43–5 | Agen |
* Les Sept Deniers Attendance: 12,500