The 1997-98 Heineken Cup (the rugby union club championship of Europe) is the third of the series. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into five pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners of the pools qualified for the quarter finals of the knock-out stages, whereas the five runners-up and the best third place team would face one another in play-offs for the last three quarter final positions.