2016–17 Top 14 season
| 2016–17 Top 14 | |
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| Countries |
 France |
| Official website | |
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www | |
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← 2015–16 2017–18 → | |
The 2016–17 Top 14 competition is the 118th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2015–16 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Bayonne and Lyon in place of the two relegated teams, Agen and Oyonnax. It marks the first time that both promoted teams had returned on their first opportunity after relegation (Bayonne and Lyon where both relegated during the 2014–15 Top 14 season.
Teams
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,[3] 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.[4]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[4]
- 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
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Diff. | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clermont | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 343 | 246 | +97 | 34 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 40 | ||||
| 2 | La Rochelle | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 289 | 242 | +47 | 27 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 34 | ||||
| 3 | Bordeaux | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 306 | 260 | +46 | 26 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 34 | ||||
| 4 | Montpellier | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 267 | 216 | +51 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 32 | ||||
| 5 | Toulon | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 299 | 256 | +43 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 31 | ||||
| 6 | Racing | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 268 | 262 | +6 | 27 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 30 | ||||
| 7 | Castres | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 312 | 240 | +72 | 27 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 30 | ||||
| 8 | Toulouse | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 242 | 240 | +2 | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 28 | ||||
| 9 | Brive | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 276 | 311 | –35 | 17 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 27 | ||||
| 10 | Stade Français | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 287 | 308 | –21 | 25 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 24 | ||||
| 11 | Lyon | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 244 | 275 | –31 | 18 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 23 | ||||
| 12 | Pau | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 256 | 307 | –51 | 22 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 21 | ||||
| 13 | Bayonne | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 183 | 290 | –107 | 10 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| 14 | Grenoble | 12 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 260 | 379 | –119 | 24 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 14 | ||||
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If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
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| Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2017–18 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) advances to a play-off for a chance to compete in the Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2017–18 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Red background (row 13 and 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table | |||||||||||||||||
Relegation
Normally, the teams that finish in 13th and 14th places in the table are relegated to Pro D2 at the end of the season. In certain circumstances, "financial reasons" may cause a higher placed team to be demoted instead. This last happened at the end of the 2009–10 season when 12th place Montauban were relegated thereby reprieving 13th place Bayonne.
Fixtures
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
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
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Top try scorers
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Since 2012–13, Bordeaux Bègles have played most of their home matches at the larger Stade Chaban-Delmas instead of their traditional home of Stade André-Moga.[1] In 2015–16, they also played select home matches at the even larger Matmut Atlantique.
- ↑ Grenoble's traditional home is Stade Lesdiguières; however, beginning in 2012–13, they moved high-demand home matches to the larger Stade des Alpes.[2] Starting in 2014–15, they became the primary tenants of Stade des Alpes.
- ↑ In recent years, Racing has taken occasional home matches to Stade de France, MMArena in Le Mans, and Stade Océane in Le Havre.
- ↑ 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 Municipal. The 2015–16 season was the first since 2013 in which the stadium was available, following renovations for UEFA Euro 2016.
References
- ↑ "Abonnement saison complète 2013–2014". Ubbrugby.com (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "ABONNEMENTS SAISON 2013–2014". Fcgrugby.com (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "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.
- 1 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.
- ↑ "Top 14 Top Points Scorers". eurosport. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ↑ "Top 14 Top Try Scorers". lnr.fr. Retrieved 27 September 2016.