1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship

1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship
1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship
Countries	France
Champions	Stade Français (9th title)
Runners-up	Perpignan
Relegated	Montpellier

The 1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship was played by 20 teams divided in the preliminary phase in two pools of 10. The first four teams of each pool advanced to the quarter-finals.

Stade Français won the title by defeating Perpignan in the final. This victory was Stade Français' first in 90 years, with their previous title win dating back to 1908.

For the first time, the final was played in the new Stade de France.

Montpellier was relegated in second division. Five teams were promoted from the second division in order to increase the 1998–99 championship to 24 teams.

Preliminary Phase

Pool 1

Pos	Team	Points
1	Stade toulousain	46
2	US Colomiers	43
3	RC Narbonne	42
4	Montferrand	40
5	Brive	37
6	Biarritz	36
7	Dax	34
8	Béziers	32
9	La Rochelle	28
10	Nice	22

Pool 2

Pos	Club	Points
1	Stade Français	43
2	Perpignan	43
3	Bègles-Bordeaux	43
4	Castres	42
5	Pau	39
6	Bourgoin	37
7	Agen	37
8	Toulon	35
9	Grenoble	23
10	Montpellier	18

Quarter-final

May '98	Bordeaux-Begles	-	Stade Français	31–26	18–24
May '98	Montferrand	-	Toulouse	19–10	9–22
May '98	Castres	-	Perpignan	25–19	7–42
May '98	Narbonne	-	Colomiers	19–19	8–8

Semi-final

May '98	Stade Français	-	Toulouse	39–3
May '98	Perpignan	-	Colomiers	15–12

Final

16 May 1998

Stade Français	34 – 7	Perpignan
Try: Simon (18') Mytton (28') Bolobolo (41') Gomes (60') Dominici (80'+1) Con: Dominguez (3) (18', 28', 80'+1) Pen: Dominguez (80')		Try: Pérarnau (77') Con: Arandiga (77')

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Referee: Joël Dumé


FB	15	Arthur Gomes
RW	14	Christophe Dominici
OC	13	Franck Comba
IC	12	Cliff Mytton
LW	11	Emori Bolobolo	64'
FH	10	Diego Dominguez
SH	9	Christophe Laussucq
N8	8	Christophe Juillet
OF	7	Richard Pool-Jones	72'
BF	6	Marc Lièvremont
RL	5	Hervé Chaffardon	62'
LL	4	David Auradou	72'
TP	3	Philippe Gimbert	62'
HK	2	Vincent Moscato (c)	78'
LP	1	Serge Simon
Substitutions:
HK	16	Laurent Pedrosa	78'
PR	17	Sylvain Marconnet	62'
LK	18	Grant Ross	62'
LK	19	Olivier Roumat	72'
FL	20	Christophe Moni	72'
SH	21	Ludovic Loustau
WG	22	Geofrey Abadie	64'
Coach:
Bernard Laporte


FB	15	Gérald Bastide
RW	14	Alewyn Joubert
OC	13	Didier Plana
IC	12	Mathieu Barrau
LW	11	Grégory Tutard
FH	10	Laurent Saliès	56'
SH	9	Jacques Basset	65'
N8	8	Thomas Lièvremont (c)
OF	7	Gérard Majoral
BF	6	Sylvain Deroeux	78'
RL	5	Mike James
LL	4	Jérôme Pradal	62'
TP	3	Stéphane de Besombes
HK	2	Jacques Lançon	36'	80'
LP	1	Renaud Peillard	37'
Substitutions:
HK	16	Michel Konieck	36'	80'
PR	17	Pascal Méya	37'
LK	18	Alain Fourny	62'
LK	19	Olivier Olibeau	78'
SH	20	Christophe Pérarnau	65'
FH	21	Hervé Laporte
FB	22	Gaël Arandiga	56'
Coach:
Alain Hyardet