| 1998–99 Heineken Cup | |
| Countries: |  France Ireland Italy |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Date: | 18 September 1998 to 30 January 1999 |
| Teams: | 16 |
| Matches: | 55 |
| Attendance: | 322340 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Simon Mason (Ulster) (144 points) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Thomas Lombard (Stade Français) Michel Marfaing (Toulouse) Émile Ntamack (Toulouse) (7 tries) |
| Venue: | Lansdowne Road, Dublin |
| Attendance2: | 49,000 |
| Champions: | Ulster |
| Count: | 1 |
| Runner-Up: | Colomiers |
| Website: | https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/ |
| Previous Year: | 1997–98 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
| Next Year: | 1999–2000 |
| Next Tournament: | 1999–2000 Heineken Cup |
The 1998–99 Heineken Cup was the fourth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, and Scotland, were divided into four pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. Cardiff and Swansea did not compete due to a dispute with their union, the Welsh Rugby Union, whereas teams from England did not compete due to a dispute between European Rugby and the Rugby Football Union. The pool winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages.
In the pool matches teams received 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a defeat.
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stade Français | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 10 | 17 | 219 | 117 | 102 | 10 | |
| Llanelli | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 22 | −10 | 113 | 180 | −67 | 6 | |
| Leinster | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 141 | 124 | 17 | 4 | |
| Bègles-Bordeaux | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 127 | 179 | −52 | 4 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perpignan | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 13 | 22 | 238 | 108 | 130 | 10 | |
| Munster | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 144 | 108 | 36 | 9 | |
| Neath | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 27 | −13 | 118 | 194 | −76 | 3 | |
| Petrarca Padova | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 21 | −13 | 79 | 169 | −90 | 2 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 197 | 168 | 29 | 9 | |
| Toulouse | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 11 | 20 | 234 | 103 | 131 | 8 | |
| Edinburgh Reivers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 179 | 146 | 33 | 5 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 41 | −30 | 114 | 307 | −193 | 2 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colomiers | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 176 | 121 | 55 | 8 | |
| Pontypridd | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 160 | 141 | 19 | 6 | |
| Benetton Treviso | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 142 | 150 | −8 | 6 | |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 121 | 187 | −66 | 4 |
| Seed | Pool winners | Pts | TF | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perpignan | 10 | 35 | +130 | |
| 2 | Stade Français | 10 | 27 | +102 | |
| 3 | Ulster | 9 | 23 | +29 | |
| 4 | Colomiers | 8 | 22 | +55 | |
| Seed | Pool runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− | |
| 5 | Munster | 9 | 17 | +36 | |
| 6 | 8 | 31 | +131 | ||
| 7 | Pontypridd | 6 | 13 | +19 | |
| 8 | Llanelli | 6 | 12 | −67 |
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See main article: 1999 Heineken Cup Final.