1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship

1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship
Countries France
ChampionsStade Français (9th title)
Runners-upMontferrand
RelegatedMontpellier

The 1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship was played by 20 teams divided in the preliminary phase in two pools of 12. The first four team of each pool were admitted to quarters of final.

Stade Français won the title beating in the final the Montferrand (that lose for 5th time the final). It was the first victory for Stade Français after 90 years, the last was in 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 Français34 – 7Perpignan
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 France Arthur Gomes
RW 14 France Christophe Dominici
OC 13 France Franck Comba
IC 12 New Zealand Cliff Mytton
LW 11 Fiji Emori Bolobolo downward-facing red arrow 64'
FH 10 Italy Diego Dominguez
SH 9 France Christophe Laussucq
N8 8 France Christophe Juillet
OF 7 England Richard Pool-Jones downward-facing red arrow 72'
BF 6 France Marc Lièvremont
RL 5 France Hervé Chaffardon downward-facing red arrow 62'
LL 4 France David Auradou downward-facing red arrow 72'
TP 3 France Philippe Gimbert downward-facing red arrow 62'
HK 2 France Vincent Moscato (c) downward-facing red arrow 78'
LP 1 France Serge Simon
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Laurent Pedrosa upward-facing green arrow 78'
PR 17 France Sylvain Marconnet upward-facing green arrow 62'
LK 18 New Zealand Grant Ross upward-facing green arrow 62'
LK 19 France Olivier Roumat upward-facing green arrow 72'
FL 20 France Christophe Moni upward-facing green arrow 72'
SH 21 France Ludovic Loustau
WG 22 France Geofrey Abadie upward-facing green arrow 64'
Coach:
France Bernard Laporte
FB 15 France Gérald Bastide
RW 14 South Africa Alewyn Joubert
OC 13 France Didier Plana
IC 12 France Mathieu Barrau
LW 11 France Grégory Tutard
FH 10 France Laurent Saliès downward-facing red arrow 56'
SH 9 France Jacques Basset downward-facing red arrow 65'
N8 8 France Thomas Lièvremont (c)
OF 7 France Gérard Majoral
BF 6 France Sylvain Deroeux downward-facing red arrow 78'
RL 5 Canada Mike James
LL 4 France Jérôme Pradal downward-facing red arrow 62'
TP 3 France Stéphane de Besombes
HK 2 France Jacques Lançon downward-facing red arrow 36' upward-facing green arrow 80'
LP 1 France Renaud Peillard downward-facing red arrow 37'
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Michel Konieck upward-facing green arrow 36' downward-facing red arrow 80'
PR 17 France Pascal Méya upward-facing green arrow 37'
LK 18 France Alain Fourny upward-facing green arrow 62'
LK 19 France Olivier Olibeau upward-facing green arrow 78'
SH 20 France Christophe Pérarnau upward-facing green arrow 65'
FH 21 France Hervé Laporte
FB 22 France Gaël Arandiga upward-facing green arrow 56'
Coach:
France Alain Hyardet