The 1997–98 French Rugby Union Championship was played by 20 teams divided in the preliminary phase in two pools of 10. The first four teams of each pool advanced to the quarter-finals.

Stade Français won the title by defeating Perpignan in the final. This victory was Stade Français' first in 90 years, with their previous title win dating back to 1908.

For the first time, the final was played in the new Stade de France.

Montpellier was relegated in second division. Five teams were promoted from the second division in order to increase the 1998–99 championship to 24 teams.

Preliminary Phase

Pool 1 Pos Team Points 1 Stade toulousain 46 2 US Colomiers 43 3 RC Narbonne 42 4 Montferrand 40 5 Brive 37 6 Biarritz 36 7 Dax 34 8 Béziers 32 9 La Rochelle 28 10 Nice 22 Pool 2 Pos Club Points 1 Stade Français 43 2 Perpignan 43 3 Bègles-Bordeaux 43 4 Castres 42 5 Pau 39 6 Bourgoin 37 7 Agen 37 8 Toulon 35 9 Grenoble 23 10 Montpellier 18

Quarter-final May '98Bordeaux-Begles-Stade Français31–2618–24 May '98Montferrand-Toulouse19–109–22 May '98Castres-Perpignan25–197–42 May '98Narbonne-Colomiers19–198–8

Semi-final May '98Stade Français-Toulouse39–3May '98Perpignan-Colomiers15–12

Final

FB 15 Arthur GomesRW 14 Christophe Dominici OC 13 Franck Comba IC 12 Cliff Mytton LW 11 Emori Bolobolo FH 10 Diego Dominguez SH 9 Christophe Laussucq N8 8 Christophe Juillet OF 7 Richard Pool-Jones BF 6 Marc Lièvremont RL 5 Hervé Chaffardon LL 4 David Auradou TP 3 Philippe Gimbert HK 2 Vincent Moscato (c) LP 1 Serge Simon Substitutions:HK 16 Laurent Pedrosa PR 17 Sylvain Marconnet LK 18 Grant Ross LK 19 Olivier Roumat FL 20 Christophe Moni SH 21 Ludovic Loustau WG 22 Geofrey Abadie Coach: Bernard Laporte FB 15 Gérald Bastide RW 14 Alewyn Joubert OC 13 Didier Plana IC 12 Mathieu Barrau LW 11 Grégory TutardFH 10 Laurent Saliès SH 9 Jacques Basset N8 8 Thomas Lièvremont (c)OF 7 Gérard Majoral BF 6 Sylvain Deroeux RL 5 Mike James LL 4 Jérôme Pradal TP 3 Stéphane de Besombes HK 2 Jacques Lançon LP 1 Renaud Peillard Substitutions:HK 16 Michel Konieck PR 17 Pascal Méya LK 18 Alain Fourny LK 19 Olivier Olibeau SH 20 Christophe Pérarnau FH 21 Hervé Laporte FB 22 Gaël Arandiga Coach: Alain Hyardet

References