2020–21 Top 14 season
The 2020–21 Top 14 competition is the 122nd French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). After play was suspended following the 17th matchday of the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, the season was officially cancelled without any winner or promotion/relegation on 6 May 2020.[1] Of the 2020–21 season, some last round matches were rescheduled for 16/17 January 2021, with the playoffs and final taking place in June 2021.
| 2020–21 Top 14 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 4 September 2020 – 25 June 2021 |
| Champions | Toulouse (21st title) |
| Runners-up | La Rochelle |
| Relegated | Agen Bayonne |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Teams
Number of teams by regions
| Teams | Region or country | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Agen, Bayonne, Bordeaux Bègles, Brive, La Rochelle, Pau |
| 3 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Occitanie | Castres, Montpellier, Toulouse |
| 2 |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Clermont, Lyon |
 Île-de-France | Racing, Stade Français | |
| 1 |  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Toulon |
Competition 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,[2] 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.[3]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[3]
- 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.
Table
| |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff. | Tries for | Tries against | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toulouse (C) | 26 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 767 | 557 | +210 | 92 | 53 | 8 | 3 | 81 | ||||
| 2 | La Rochelle (RU) | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 726 | 452 | +274 | 79 | 41 | 6 | 4 | 78 | ||||
| 3 | Racing (SF) | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 757 | 577 | +180 | 82 | 48 | 6 | 4 | 78 | ||||
| 4 | Bordeaux Bègles (SF) | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 740 | 546 | +216 | 78 | 41 | 7 | 3 | 72 | ||||
| 5 | Clermont (QF) | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 830 | 619 | +211 | 88 | 61 | 6 | 3 | 71 | ||||
| 6 | Stade Français (QF) | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 701 | 622 | +79 | 69 | 63 | 6 | 6 | 70 | ||||
| 7 | Castres | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 625 | 676 | −51 | 61 | 63 | 3 | 5 | 69 | ||||
| 8 | Toulon | 26 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 641 | 605 | +36 | 62 | 53 | 7 | 4 | 66 | ||||
| 9 | Lyon | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 678 | 568 | +110 | 74 | 56 | 3 | 4 | 65 | ||||
| 10 | Montpellier | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 579 | 615 | –36 | 51 | 58 | 6 | 9 | 54 | ||||
| 11 | Brive | 26 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 585 | 711 | −126 | 52 | 78 | 2 | 5 | 51 | ||||
| 12 | Pau | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 688 | 752 | −64 | 65 | 76 | 3 | 10 | 46 | ||||
| 13 | Bayonne (R) | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 565 | 796 | −231 | 48 | 94 | 1 | 5 | 46 | ||||
| 14 | Agen (R) | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 315 | 1101 | −696 | 30 | 146 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||
|
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. Yellow background (rows 7 and Montpellier) indicates teams outside the play-offs that also earn a place in the Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Pink background (row 13) will qualify to the relegation play-offs. Red background (row 14) will automatically be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table — source: Updated: 5 June 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
Relegation
Starting from the 2017–18 season forward, only the 14th placed team will be automatically relegated to Pro D2. The 13th placed team will face the runner-up of the Pro D2 play-off, with the winner of that play-off taking up the final place in Top 14 for the following season.[4]
Fixtures & Results
Round 1
Round 1 rescheduled match
Round 2
Round 3
Round 3 rescheduled match
Round 4
Round 4 rescheduled match
Round 5
Round 5 rescheduled match
Round 6
Round 7
Round 7 rescheduled match
Round 8
Round 8 rescheduled match
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 12 rescheduled match
Round 13
Round 13 rescheduled match
Relegation playoff
The team finishing in 13th place faces the runner-up of the Pro D2, with the winner of this match playing in the 2021–22 Top 14 and the loser in the 2021–22 Pro D2.
Playoffs
| Semi-final Qualifiers | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toulouse | 24 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Bordeaux Bègles | 25 | 4 | Bordeaux Bègles | 21 | |||||||||
| 5 | Clermont | 16 | 1 | Toulouse | 18 | |||||||||
| 2 | La Rochelle | 8 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | La Rochelle | 19 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Racing 92 | 38 | 3 | Racing 92 | 6 | |||||||||
| 6 | Stade Français | 21 | ||||||||||||
Semi-final Qualifiers
11 June 2021 20:45 |
| Racing (3) | 38–21 | Stade Français (6) |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Fickou 5' c Thomas 10' c Machenaud 18' c Zebo 29' c Kolingar 42' c Con: Machenaud (5/5) 6', 11', 19', 30', 43' Pen: Le Garrec (1/1) 50' |
Report | Try: Naivalu 47' c Macalou 62' c Nayacalevu 66' c Con: Segonds (3/3) 48', 63', 67' |
12 June 2021 20:45 |
| Bordeaux Bègles (4) | 25–16 | Clermont (5) |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Maynadier 37' c Con: Jalibert (1/1) 38' Pen: Jalibert (6/6) 24', 35', 50', 59', 66', 77' |
Report | Try: Penaud 7' c Con: Parra (1/1) 8' Pen: Parra (3/3) 44', 54', 63' |
Semi-finals
18 June 2021 20:45 |
| La Rochelle (2) | 19–6 | Racing 92 (3) |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Retière 29' c Con: West (1/1) 31' Pen: West (4/4) 12', 21', 27', 53' |
Report | Pen: Machenaud (2/2) 8', 14' |
19 June 2021 20:45 |
| Toulouse (1) | 24–21 | Bordeaux Bègles (4) |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Ntamack 5' m Ramos 67' c Con: Ramos (1/2) 69' Pen: Ramos (4/4) 11', 18', 35', 59' |
Report | Try: Lam 12' c Cordero 54' m Con: Jalibert (1/2) 13' Pen: Jalibert (3/3) 44', 61', 76' |
Final
25 June 2021 20:45 |
| Toulouse (1) | 18–8 | La Rochelle (2) |
|---|---|---|
| Pen: Ramos (4/4) 3', 34', 64', 73' Drop: Ramos (1/1) 9' Kolbe (1/1) 40' |
Report | Try: Priso 77' m Pen: West (1/3) 43' |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.
Top points scorers
|
Top try scorers
|
See also
Notes
- In recent years, Bordeaux Bègles has taken occasional home matches to Matmut Atlantique.
- In recent years, Toulon has taken occasional home matches to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and Allianz Riviera in Nice.
- Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium de Toulouse.
References
- "Top 14 - Pro D2 : les présidents d'accord pour ne pas attribuer de titre". L'Equipe. 6 May 2020.
- "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.
- "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.
- Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- "Classement marqueurs Top 14 2020–21". L'Équipe. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- "RUGBY TOP 14 : STATISTIQUES DÉTAILLÉES SAISON 2020-2021". Ligue Nationale Rugby. Retrieved 27 March 2021.