The 1997–98 Heineken Cup was the third edition of the Heineken Cup European rugby union club competition. Competing professional club teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into five pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The pool winners automatically qualified for the knock-out stages. The five runners-up and the best third placed team entered the play-offs, where they competed for the remaining three quarter final positions.
Teams England Ireland Italy France Scotland Wales Leicester Tigers London Wasps Bath Harlequins Leinster Munster Ulster Treviso Rugby Milano Toulouse Brive Pau Bourgoin Glasgow Borders Caledonia Swansea Pontypridd Llanelli Cardiff
Pool stage In the pool matches teams received 2 points for a win 1 points for a draw
+ Key to colours Winner of each pool advances to quarter-final stage Advance to quarter-final playoffs
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Toulouse65012512132001217910 Leicester640216142163117468 Leinster62041519−4137167−304 Milan61051526−11111206−952
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Wasps660031121924310413912 Glasgow63031415−1132167−356 Swansea62041516−1157161−44 Ulster6105623−1795195−1002
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Bath6501121201411192210 Brive6411241311210146649 Pontypridd 62131713415414775 Scottish Borders60061429−15129222−930
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Harlequins640221129198141578 Cardiff640217152184146388 Bourgoin62041421−7141180−394 Munster6204711−493149−564
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Pau640227819203891148 Llanelli64021518−314414228 Benetton Treviso62041819−1146162−164 Caledonia6204823−1589189−1004
Seeding SeedPool WinnersPtsTF+/−1 London Wasps1231+139 2 Toulouse1025+793 Bath1012+22 4 Pau827+114 5 Harlequins821+57 SeedPool Runners-up (and best third place)PtsTF+/−6 Brive924+647 Cardiff817+388 Leicester Tigers816+469 Llanelli815+210 Glasgow614−35 11 Pontypridd517+7
Knockout stage
Quarter-final play-offs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Brive advance to final on try count (two tries to one)
Final
References