2022–23 Top 14 season

The 2022–23 Top 14 competition is the 124th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

2022–23 Top 14
Countries France
Date3 September 2022 – 27 May 2023

Format

The top six teams at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away) enter a knockout stage to decide the Champions of France. This consists of three rounds: the teams finishing third to sixth in the table play quarter-finals (hosted by the third and fourth placed teams). The winners then face the top two teams in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The LNR uses a slightly different bonus points system from that used in most other rugby competitions. It trialled a new system in 2007–08 explicitly designed to prevent a losing team from earning more than one bonus point in a match,[1] a system that also made it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for subsequent seasons.[2]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:[2]

  • 4 points for a win.
  • 2 points for a draw.
  • 1 bonus point for winning while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent. This replaces the standard bonus point for scoring 4 tries regardless of the match result.
  • 1 bonus point for losing by 5 points (or fewer). The margin had been 7 points until being changed prior to the 2014–15 season.

From the 2017–18 season onwards, only the 14th placed team is automatically relegated to the Pro D2. The 13th placed team play the runner-up of the Pro D2 play-off, with the winner taking up the final place in the Top 14 for the following season.[3]

Teams
Locations of clubs competing in the 2022–23 Top 14.

Fourteen clubs will compete in the 2022-23 Top 14 season, 13 of them returning. Biarritz were relegated to Pro D2 after finishing at the bottom of the table the previous season. Bayonne is the sole promoted club, finishing second in the Pro D2 the previous season and winning the Pro D2 playoffs. Perpignan, which finished 13th in the previous Top 14 season, defeated Mont-de-Marsan in the relegation playoffs to retain their place.

2022–23 Top 14 clubs
ClubCityStadiumCapacityPrev
Bayonne Bayonne Stade Jean Dauger[lower-alpha 1] 16,934 2nd (D2)
Bordeaux Bègles Bordeaux Stade Chaban-Delmas[lower-alpha 2] 33,500 3rd
Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde Stade Amédée-Domenech 13,979 12th
Castres Castres Stade Pierre-Fabre 12,500 1st
Clermont Clermont-Ferrand Stade Marcel-Michelin 19,022 7th
La Rochelle La Rochelle Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,000 5th
Lyon Lyon Matmut Stadium de Gerland 25,000 9th
Montpellier Montpellier Altrad Stadium 15,697 2nd
Pau Pau Stade du Hameau 18,324 10th
Perpignan Perpignan Stade Aimé Giral 14,593 13th
Racing Nanterre Paris La Défense Arena 30,681 6th
Stade Français Paris Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 11th
Toulon Toulon Stade Mayol[lower-alpha 3] 18,200 8th
Toulouse Toulouse Stade Ernest-Wallon[lower-alpha 4] 18,754 4th
2022–23 Top 14 clubs by region
Teams Region or country Team(s)
5  Nouvelle-AquitaineBayonne, Bordeaux Bègles, Brive, La Rochelle, Pau
4  OccitanieCastres, Montpellier, Perpignan, Toulouse
2  Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesClermont, Lyon
 Île-de-FranceRacing, Stade Français
1  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurToulon

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Toulouse 25 16 1 8 10 628 464 +164 76 Champions Cup & Top 14 finals
2 La Rochelle 25 16 0 9 10 659 469 +190 74
3 Stade Français 25 13 2 10 10 606 466 +140 66
4 Racing 92 25 14 1 10 8 709 652 +57 66
5 Bordeaux Bègles 25 13 1 11 9 557 466 +91 63
6 Lyon 25 13 1 11 8 635 607 +28 62
7 Bayonne 25 13 1 11 4 577 609 −32 58 Challenge Cup
8 Toulon 25 13 0 12 5 553 538 +15 57
9 Montpellier 25 11 0 14 10 614 582 +32 54
10 Castres 25 12 1 12 3 506 619 −113 53
11 Clermont 25 10 1 14 10 556 602 −46 52
12 Pau 25 9 1 15 9 556 624 −68 47
13 Perpignan 25 10 0 15 3 487 698 −211 43 Relegation play-off
14 Brive (R) 25 7 0 18 8 430 677 −247 36 Relegation to Rugby Pro D2
Updated to match(es) played on 13 May 2023. Source: Top 14
Rules for classification: 1) Competition points earned in head-to-head matches; 2) Points difference in head-to-head matches; 3) Try differential in head-to-head matches; 4) Points difference in all matches; 5) Try differential in all matches; 6) Points scored in all matches; 7) Tries scored in all matches; 8) Fewer matches forfeited; 9) Classification in the previous Top 14 season.
(R) Relegated

Results

Regular season
Home \ Away BAY BOR BRI CAS CLE LYO MON PAU PER RAC ROC FRA TON TSE
Bayonne — 20–15 37–9 41–10 21–18 19–7 33–30 20–30 24–20 31–25 29–13 29–26 23–18 26–22
Bordeaux Bègles 23–15 — 33–13 33–12 18–9 23–9 40–10 28–0 43–7 29–17 6–36 15–10 27–26 25–26
Brive 25–22 7–28 — 13–16 20–16 27–31 26–31 22–17 22–24 38–43 17–19 22–27 26–17 7–45
Castres 39–22 23–18 12–6 — 26–22 27–22 26–13 26–22 27 May 26–26 17–32 30–20 31–18 27–17
Clermont 20–25 23–23 38–10 41–26 — 43–20 19–14 33–24 31–20 27 May 22–13 32–16 36–21 13–32
Lyon 27 May 36–21 27–30 26–20 34–14 — 31–21 31–27 39–31 45–11 21–23 33–27 23–27 21–14
Montpellier 35–14 29–19 26–27 19–28 34–6 26–33 — 43–17 38–10 17–12 42–31 23–19 18–20 17–19
Pau 22–22 33–7 22–6 40–3 23–18 12–21 27 May — 16–14 38–19 32–26 29–31 17–34 26–16
Perpignan 34–27 23–20 6–17 14–10 10–20 28–21 22–23 49–29 — 30–21 10–29 31–24 19–13 26–21
Racing 92 55–14 31–28 34–24 25–19 46–12 32–19 38–31 26–13 44–20 — 39–36 10–48 43–7 35–39
La Rochelle 26–6 8–12 32–16 53–7 26–13 16–20 26–22 21–38 43–8 24–19 — 27 May 32–5 30–7
Stade Français 26–16 12–6 27–0 26–7 24–18 31–31 27–17 37–3 52–3 13–17 27–14 — 12–17 19–10
Toulon 40–25 27 May 47–0 28–20 30–29 21–3 16–26 27–16 37–15 14–31 8–23 37–9 — 17–6
Toulouse 21–16 31–17 27 May 22–18 46–10 36–31 23–9 34–10 34–13 37–10 26–17 16–16 28–8 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14 May 2023. Source: Top 14
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

See also

References

Notes

  1. Bayonne will play one home match at the Reale Arena in San Sebastián, Spain
  2. In recent years, Bordeaux Bègles has taken occasional home matches to Matmut Atlantique.
  3. In recent years, Toulon has taken occasional home matches to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and Allianz Riviera in Nice.
  4. Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium de Toulouse.

Citations

  1. "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-rugby.com. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  2. "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain"" (PDF). Règlements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel (in French). LNR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  3. Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
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