The 1998-1999 Heineken Cup (the rugby union club championship of Europe) is the fourth of the series. Competing teams, from France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales - apart from Cardiff and Swansea, who were in dispute with the union -(Teams from England did not compete due to a dispute between European Rugby and the RFU), were divided into four pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners and runners-up of the pools qualified for the knock-out stages.