1998–99 French Rugby Union Championship

1998–99 French Rugby Union Championship
Countries France
ChampionsToulouse (15th title)
Runners-upMontferrand
RelegatedNice, Béziers

The 1998–99 French Rugby Union Championship was played by 24 teams divided in the preliminary phase into three pools of 8. The first five teams from each pool and the best 6th placed were admitted to second round. The other played a relegation tournament divided in two pools.

Toulouse won the title, beating Montferrand in the final (that lose for 6th time the final).

First round

Pool 1

Pos Team Points
1 Stade Français 34
2 Biarritz 34
3 Narbonne 32
4 Castres 32
5 Bourgoin 29
6 Toulon 28
7 Aurillac 21
8 Nîmes 14

Pool 2

Pos Team Points
1 Perpignan 34
2 Montferrand 33
3 Agen 32
4 Dax 31
5 Bègles-Bordeaux 29
6 Béziers 28
7 Auch 20
8 Nice 17

Pool 3

Pos Team Points
1 Toulouse 38
2 Brive 36
3 Pau 33
4 Grenoble 30
5 Colomiers 26
6 Périgueux 23
7 Racing Paris 20
8 La Rochelle 18

Béziers and Toulon had both 28 points. The "best 6th" was Toulon due to having less "red Cards" during the season.

Second round

The first of each pools were qualified to quarter of finals

Pool 1

Pos Team Points
1 Toulouse 15
2 Bourgoin 13
3 Biarritz 10
4 Agen 10

Pool 2

Pos Team Points
1 Colomiers 16
2 Stade Français 12
3 Narbonne 10
4 Pau 10

Pool 3

Pos Team Points
1 CA Bègles-Bordeaux 14
2 Castres 14
3 Perpignan 12
4 Dax 8

Pool 4

Pos Team Points
1 Montferrand 14
2 Grenoble 12
3 Toulon 12
4 Brive 10

Grenoble was 2nd due to having less "red cards" during the season .

Quarters of final

15 may Bordeaux-Begles - Bourgoin 8–14
15 may Toulouse - Stade Français 51–19
16 may Montferrand - Castres 28–27
16 may Colomiers - Grenoble 15–29

Semifinals

22 may Montferrand - Grenoble 26–17
22 may Toulouse - Bourgoin 26–17

Final

29 May 1999
Toulouse15 – 11Montferrand
Try: Stensness
Desbrosse
Con: Marfaing
Pen: Marfaing
Try: Nadau
Pen: Merceron (2)
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Referee: Gérard Borréani
FB 15 France Stéphane Ougier
RW 14 France Xavier Garbajosa
OC 13 France Cédric Desbrosse downward-facing red arrow 72'
IC 12 France Émile Ntamack
LW 11 France Michel Marfaing
FH 10 New Zealand Lee Stensness
SH 9 France Jérôme Cazalbou
N8 8 France Sylvain Dispagne downward-facing red arrow 39'
OF 7 France Christian Labit downward-facing red arrow 77'
BF 6 France Didier Lacroix
RL 5 France Franck Belot (c)
LL 4 France Fabien Pelous
TP 3 France Franck Tournaire downward-facing red arrow 72'
HK 2 France Yannick Bru
LP 1 France Christian Califano
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Patrick Soula
PR 17 France Jean-Louis Jordana upward-facing green arrow 72'
LK 18 France Hugues Miorin upward-facing green arrow 39'
FL 19 France Matthieu Lièvremont upward-facing green arrow 77'
SH 20 France Jérôme Fillol
FH 21 France Christophe Deylaud
CE 22 France Pierre Bondouy upward-facing green arrow 72'
Coach:
France Guy Novès
FB 15 France Nicolas Nadau downward-facing red arrow 78'
RW 14 France Jimmy Marlu
OC 13 France Jérôme Morante
IC 12 France Tony Marsh
LW 11 France David Bory
FH 10 France Gérald Merceron downward-facing red arrow 67'
SH 9 France Stéphane Castaignède downward-facing red arrow 80+3'
N8 8 France David Courteix
OF 7 France Jean-Marc Lhermet (c) downward-facing red arrow 67'
BF 6 France Arnaud Costes
RL 5 France Christophe Sarraute downward-facing red arrow 59'
LL 4 France David Barrier
TP 3 France Fabrice Heyer
HK 2 France Olivier Azam downward-facing red arrow 67'
LP 1 France Emmanuel Menieu downward-facing red arrow 80+1'
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Patrick Laurent-Varange upward-facing green arrow 67'
PR 17 France Christophe Duchêne upward-facing green arrow 80+1'
LK 18 France Olivier Merle upward-facing green arrow 59'
FL 19 France Jérôme Bonvoisin upward-facing green arrow 67'
SH 20 France Christophe Larrue upward-facing green arrow 80+3'
FH 21 France Éric Nicol upward-facing green arrow 67'
FB 22 France Olivier Toulouze upward-facing green arrow 78'
Coach:
France Christophe Mombet

Relegation Pools

Pool 1

Pos Team Points
1 Auch 14
2 Racing Paris 14
3 Nîmes 10
4 Béziers 10

Béziers was classified last for worst point difference in the direct matches (Nîmes-Béziers 15–5 ; 36–37), and was relegated in Pro D2.

Pool 2

Pos Team Points
1 Aurillac 15
2 Périgueux 11
3 La Rochelle 9
4 Nice 5

(ranking after 5 on 6)

RC Nice was relegated in Pro D2.

References