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2022–23 Top 14 season

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2022–23 Top 14
Countries France
Number of teams14
Date3 September 2022 – 17 June 2023
ChampionsToulouse (22nd title)
Runners-upLa Rochelle
RelegatedBrive
Matches played182
Attendance2,701,031
(average 14,841 per match)
Highest attendance
Top point scorerFrance Joris Segonds (Stade Français) (240)
Top try scorerFrance Émilien Gailleton (Pau) (14)

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

Format

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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

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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.

Club City (department) Stadium Capacity Previous season
Bayonne Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade Jean Dauger 16,934 Promoted from Pro D2 (runners-up)
Bordeaux Bègles Bordeaux (Gironde) Stade Chaban-Delmas[a 1] 33,500 Semi-finals (4th in league)
Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) Stade Amédée-Domenech 13,979 11th
Castres Castres (Tarn) Stade Pierre-Fabre 12,500 7th
Clermont Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) Stade Marcel-Michelin 19,022 Quarter-finals (5th in league)
La Rochelle La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,000 2nd
Lyon Lyon (Métropole de Lyon) Matmut Stadium de Gerland 25,000 9th
Montpellier Montpellier (Hérault) Altrad Stadium 15,697 10th
Pau Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade du Hameau 18,324 12th
Perpignan Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) Stade Aimé Giral 14,593 Promoted from Pro D2 (champions)
Racing Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) Paris La Défense Arena 30,681 Semi-finals (3rd in league)
Stade Français Paris, 16th arrondissement Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 Quarter-finals (6th in league)
Toulon Toulon (Var) Stade Mayol[a 2] 18,200 8th
Toulouse Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) Stade Ernest-Wallon[a 3] 18,784 1st

Table

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2022–23 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff. Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Toulouse (CH) 26 17 1 8 682 474 +208 8 3 81
2 La Rochelle (RU) 26 17 0 9 673 479 +194 7 3 78
3 Lyon (QF) 26 14 1 11 688 626 +62 4 5 67
4 Stade Français (QF) 26 13 2 11 616 480 +136 5 6 67
5 Racing (SF) 26 14 1 11 734 684 +50 5 3 66
6 Bordeaux Bègles (SF) 26 13 1 12 576 501 +75 4 5 63
7 Toulon 26 14 0 12 588 557 +31 3 2 61
8 Bayonne 26 13 1 12 596 662 –66 2 2 58
9 Castres 26 13 1 12 532 635 –103 1 2 57
10 Clermont 26 11 1 14 588 635 –39 4 6 56
11 Montpellier 26 11 0 15 624 617 +7 4 6 54
12 Pau 26 10 1 15 591 634 –43 6 4 52
13 Perpignan 26 10 0 16 503 724 –221 0 3 43
14 Brive (R) 26 7 0 19 440 731 –291 1 7 36

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  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
Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2023–24 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 (row 7 and 8) receive berths in the Champions Cup.
Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2023–24 Top 14 season.
Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table

Playoffs

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Semi-final Qualifiers Semi-finals Final
1 Toulouse 41
4 Stade Français 20 5 Racing 14
5 Racing 33 1 Toulouse 29
2 La Rochelle 26
2 La Rochelle 24
3 Lyon 25 6 Bordeaux Bègles 13
6 Bordeaux Bègles 32

Semi-final Qualifiers

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3 June 2023
14:00
Stade Français (4)20–33(5) Racing
Try: Macalou 33' c
Penalty try 40+1'
Con: Segonds (1/1) 35'
Pen: Segonds (2/2) 17', 69'
ReportTry: Imhoff 10' c
Lauret 19' c
Fickou 80' c
Con: Gibert (2/2) 11', 20'
Pen: Russell (4/4) 26', 44', 52', 55'
Stade Jean-Bouin
Attendance: 18,691
Referee: Pierre Brousset
4 June 2023
21:05
Lyon (3)25–32(6) Bordeaux Bègles
Try: Dumortier 10' c
Tuisova 30' c
Maraku 74' m
Con: Sopoaga (2/2) 11', 32'
Pen: Sopoaga (2/2) 40+1', 58'
ReportTry: Jalibert 7' m
Diaby 47' c
Tambwe (2) 67' c, 78' c
Con: Jalibert (3/4) 48', 68', 79'
Pen: Jalibert (1/1) 24'
Lucu (1/1) 71'
Matmut Stadium de Gerland
Attendance: 17,304
Referee: Ludovic Cayre

Semi-finals

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9 June 2023
21:00
Toulouse (1)41–14(5) Racing
Try: Lebel 18' c
Meafou 23' c
Roumat 50' c
Retière 58' c
Cros 80' c
Con: Ramos (5/5) 19', 24', 51', 59', 80+1'
Pen: Ramos (2/2) 34', 40+1'
ReportTry: Fickou 71' c
Diallo 76' c
Con: Russell (2/2) 72', 77'
Anoeta Stadium
Attendance: 39,252
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
10 June 2023
17:00
La Rochelle (2)24–13(6) Bordeaux Bègles
Try: Leyds 9' c
Bourgarit 21' c
Boudehent 38' c
Con: Hastoy (3/3) 10', 22', 39'
Pen: Hastoy (1/2) 71'
ReportTry: Penalty try 49'
Pen: Jalibert (2/2) 4', 44'
Anoeta Stadium
Attendance: 39,314
Referee: Adrien Marbot

Final

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17 June 2023
21:00
Toulouse (1)29–26(2) La Rochelle
Try: Chocobares 23' c
Ntamack 78' c
Con: Ramos (2/2) 25', 79'
Pen: Ramos (5/6) 10', 21', 51', 60', 63'
ReportTry: Kerr-Barlow 39' c
Atonio 45' c
Con: Hastoy (2/2) 40', 46'
Pen: Hastoy (4/6) 16', 30', 67', 71'
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 79,804
Referee: Tual Trainini
FB 15 France Thomas Ramos
RW 14 France Arthur Retière
OC 13 Argentina Santiago Chocobares
IC 12 Tonga Pita Ahki
LW 11 France Matthis Lebel
FH 10 France Romain Ntamack
SH 9 France Antoine Dupont (c)
N8 8 France Alexandre Roumat
OF 7 France Francois Cros
BF 6 England Jack Willis
RL 5 Australia Emmanuel Meafou
LL 4 Australia Richie Arnold
TP 3 France Dorian Aldegheri
HK 2 France Julien Marchand
LP 1 France Cyril Baille
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Peato Mauvaka
PR 17 France Rodrigue Neti
LK 18 France Thibaud Flament
N8 19 France Alban Placines
FL 20 France Selevasio Tolofua
CE 21 France Pierre-Louis Barassi
WG 22 Argentina Juan Cruz Mallia
PR 23 New Zealand Charlie Faumuina
Coach:
France Ugo Mola
FB 15 France Brice Dulin
RW 14 South Africa Dillyn Leyds
OC 13 Samoa Ulupano Seuteni
IC 12 France Jonathan Danty
LW 11 South Africa Raymond Rhule
FH 10 France Antoine Hastoy
SH 9 New Zealand Tawera Kerr-Barlow
N8 8 France Grégory Alldritt
OF 7 Fiji Levani Botia
BF 6 France Paul Boudehent
RL 5 Australia Will Skelton
LL 4 France Romain Sazy
TP 3 France Uini Atonio (c)
HK 2 France Pierre Bourgarit
LP 1 France Reda Wardi
Substitutions:
HK 16 France Quentin Lespiaucq
PR 17 Argentina Joel Sclavi
LK 18 France Thomas Lavault
FL 19 Republic of Ireland Ultan Dillane
FL 20 France Remi Bourdeau
FH 21 France Thomas Berjon
CE 22 France Jules Favre
PR 23 France Georges-Henri Colombe
Coach:
Ireland Ronan O'Gara

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In recent years, Bordeaux Bègles has taken occasional home matches to Matmut Atlantique.
  2. ^ In recent years, Toulon has taken occasional home matches to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and Allianz Riviera in Nice.
  3. ^ Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium de Toulouse.

References

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  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. ^ a b "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.