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 (marking their 6th loss in 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 342Montferrand 33 3 Agen 324 Dax 31 5 Bègles-Bordeaux 29 6Béziers 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 mayBordeaux-Begles-Bourgoin8–1415 mayToulouse-Stade Français51–1916 mayMontferrand-Castres28–2716 mayColomiers-Grenoble15–29

Semifinals 22 mayMontferrand-Grenoble26–1722 mayToulouse-Bourgoin26–17

Final

FB 15 Stéphane OugierRW 14 Xavier Garbajosa OC 13 Cédric Desbrosse IC 12 Émile Ntamack LW 11 Michel MarfaingFH 10 Lee Stensness SH 9 Jérôme Cazalbou N8 8 Sylvain Dispagne OF 7 Christian Labit BF 6 Didier Lacroix RL 5 Franck Belot (c)LL 4 Fabien Pelous TP 3 Franck Tournaire HK 2 Yannick Bru LP 1 Christian Califano Substitutions:HK 16 Patrick Soula PR 17 Jean-Louis Jordana LK 18 Hugues Miorin FL 19 Matthieu Lièvremont SH 20 Jérôme Fillol FH 21 Christophe Deylaud CE 22 Pierre Bondouy Coach: Guy Novès FB 15 Nicolas Nadau RW 14 Jimmy Marlu OC 13 Jérôme Morante IC 12 Tony Marsh LW 11 David BoryFH 10 Gérald Merceron SH 9 Stéphane Castaignède N8 8 David Courteix OF 7 Jean-Marc Lhermet (c) BF 6 Arnaud Costes RL 5 Christophe Sarraute LL 4 David BarrierTP 3 Fabrice Heyer HK 2 Olivier Azam LP 1 Emmanuel Menieu Substitutions:HK 16 Patrick Laurent-Varange PR 17 Christophe Duchêne LK 18 Olivier Merle FL 19 Jérôme Bonvoisin SH 20 Christophe Larrue FH 21 Éric Nicol FB 22 Olivier Toulouze Coach: 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