2021–22 Top 14 season
The 2021–22 Top 14 competition is the 123rd French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
| 2021–22 Top 14 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Teams
Number of teams by regions
| Teams | Region or country | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Biarritz, Bordeaux Bègles, Brive, La Rochelle, Pau |
| 4 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Occitanie | Castres, Montpellier, Perpignan, 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,[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.
Table
| |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff. | Tries for | Tries against | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bordeaux Bègles | 19 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 442 | 338 | +104 | 47 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 57 | ||||
| 2 | Montpellier | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 452 | 318 | +134 | 44 | 31 | 4 | 4 | 56 | ||||
| 3 | Lyon | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 498 | 380 | +118 | 54 | 31 | 5 | 5 | 54 | ||||
| 4 | Castres | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 420 | 447 | –27 | 44 | 38 | 3 | 1 | 54 | ||||
| 5 | Racing | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 492 | 463 | +29 | 50 | 49 | 1 | 2 | 51 | ||||
| 6 | La Rochelle | 19 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 485 | 332 | +153 | 55 | 32 | 5 | 5 | 50 | ||||
| 7 | Toulouse | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 403 | 311 | +92 | 44 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 48 | ||||
| 8 | Clermont | 19 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 482 | 428 | +54 | 50 | 42 | 4 | 4 | 44 | ||||
| 9 | Pau | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 424 | 497 | –73 | 37 | 55 | 1 | 2 | 41 | ||||
| 10 | Stade Français | 19 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 406 | 439 | –33 | 38 | 39 | 2 | 3 | 41 | ||||
| 11 | Brive | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 347 | 477 | –130 | 32 | 49 | 3 | 4 | 37 | ||||
| 12 | Toulon | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 339 | 371 | –32 | 30 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 36 | ||||
| 13 | Perpignan | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 379 | 529 | –150 | 36 | 60 | 2 | 4 | 34 | ||||
| 14 | Biarritz | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 373 | 612 | –239 | 39 | 78 | 1 | 4 | 24 | ||||
|
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 2022–23 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 8) 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 2022–23 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Pink background (row 13) will qualify to the relegation play-offs. Red background (row 14) will automatically be relegated to 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2. Final table — source: Updated: 31 October 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
Relegation
From the 2017–18 season, 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]
Fixtures & results
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
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
- "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.