1997–98 Heineken Cup

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.

1997–1998 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	October 1997 to 31 January 1998
Tournament statistics
Teams	20
Matches played	70
Attendance	462,958 (6,614 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Lee Jarvis (Cardiff) (134 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Kenny Logan (Wasps) (7 tries)
Final
Venue	Stade Lescure, Bordeaux
Attendance	36,500
Champions	Bath (1st title)
Runners-up	Brive

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

Further information: 1997-98 Heineken Cup pool stage

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Toulouse	6	5	0	1	25	12	13	200	121	79	10
Leicester	6	4	0	2	16	14	2	163	117	46	8
Leinster	6	2	0	4	15	19	−4	137	167	−30	4
Milan	6	1	0	5	15	26	−11	111	206	−95	2

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Wasps	6	6	0	0	31	12	19	243	104	139	12
Glasgow	6	3	0	3	14	15	−1	132	167	−35	6
Swansea	6	2	0	4	15	16	−1	157	161	−4	4
Ulster	6	1	0	5	6	23	−17	95	195	−100	2

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Bath	6	5	0	1	12	12	0	141	119	22	10
Brive	6	4	1	1	24	13	11	210	146	64	9
Pontypridd	6	2	1	3	17	13	4	154	147	7	5
Scottish Borders	6	0	0	6	14	29	−15	129	222	−93	0

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Harlequins	6	4	0	2	21	12	9	198	141	57	8
Cardiff	6	4	0	2	17	15	2	184	146	38	8
Bourgoin	6	2	0	4	14	21	−7	141	180	−39	4
Munster	6	2	0	4	7	11	−4	93	149	−56	4

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Pau	6	4	0	2	27	8	19	203	89	114	8
Llanelli	6	4	0	2	15	18	−3	144	142	2	8
Benetton Treviso	6	2	0	4	18	19	−1	146	162	−16	4
Caledonia	6	2	0	4	8	23	−15	89	189	−100	4

Seeding

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	/−
1	London Wasps	12	31	139
2	Toulouse	10	25	79
3	Bath	10	12	22
4	Pau	8	27	114
5	Harlequins	8	21	57
Seed	Pool Runners-up (and best third place)	Pts	TF	/−
6	Brive	9	24	64
7	Cardiff	8	17	38
8	Leicester Tigers	8	16	46
9	Llanelli	8	15	2
10	Glasgow	6	14	−35
11	Pontypridd	5	17	7

Knockout stage

Quarter-final play-offs

1 November 1997 15:00

Leicester Tigers	90 – 19	Glasgow

Welford Road Attendance: 6,500

1 November 1997 16:30

Brive	25 – 20	Pontypridd

Parc Municipal des Sports Attendance: 13,000

1 November 1997 17:15

Cardiff	24 – 20	Llanelli

Cardiff Arms Park Attendance: 8,000

Quarter-finals

8 November 1997 14:15

Bath	32 – 21	Cardiff

Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,200

8 November 1997 15:30

Toulouse	51 – 10	Harlequins

Stade Municipal Attendance: 18,000

9 November 1997 14:15

London Wasps	18 – 25	Brive

Loftus Road Stadium Attendance: 10,481

9 November 1997 15:20

Pau	35 – 18	Leicester Tigers

Stade Municipal du Hameau Attendance: 12,000

Semi-finals

20 December 1997 14:00

Bath	20 – 14	Pau

Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,200

21 December 1997 15:20

Toulouse	22 – 22	Brive

Stade Municipal Attendance: 26,000

Brive advance to final on try count (two tries to one)

Final

Main article: 1998 Heineken Cup Final

31 January 1998 15:30

Bath	19 – 18	Brive
Try: Callard Con: Callard Pen: Callard (4)	Report	Pen: Lamaison (5) Drop: Penaud

Stade du Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 36,500 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)