The 2006–07 Top 14 competition was the 108th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) and the 2nd using the name Top 14. Biarritz were out to defend their crown, after their defeat of Toulouse in the 2005–06 Top 14 final. New teams to the league included Albi and Montauban who were promoted from 2004–05 Pro D2, replacing relegated sides Toulon and Pau. During the season attendance records in the league were once again broken with 79,741 attending the Round 19 clash between Stade Français and Toulouse at the Stade de France, and over 2 million supporters attended games across the campaign.
In the league Stade Français jumped out to an early lead, winning their first nine matches. Although they faded somewhat as the season went on, they held on to top the regular-season ladder. Toulouse and Clermont each entered the final week with a chance to top the ladder, but Stade Français' win over Agen (without a bonus point) made it impossible for Clermont to overtake them, while Toulouse failed to secure the bonus point in their win over Bourgoin that would have made it possible for them to pip the Parisians for the top seed. The last playoff berth came down to the last round between Biarritz and Perpignan, with Biarritz securing fourth place in style with a bonus-point win over Castres.
The final Heineken Cup berth came down to the last round as well, with Bourgoin holding off the challenge of Top 14 newcomers Montauban. The relegation battle came down to the last week. Narbone had been assured of the drop after Round 25, while any of six other clubs were in mathematical danger of the drop going into the final week. In the end, Agen, who were next-to-last entering the final week, were consigned to the drop by league leaders Stade Français. Both clubs would be relegated to the 2007–08 Pro D2.
The play-offs saw Stade Français and Clermont win their respective semi-finals to qualify for the final. In the end it was Stade Français who lifted the Bouclier de Brennus as Top 14 champions for the 13th time in the club's history, beating Clermont 23–18 at the Stade de France.
Teams
ClubCity (department)StadiumCapacityPrevious season Agen Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) Stade Armandie 13,000 5th Albi Albi (Tarn) Stadium Municipal d'Albi 12,000 Promoted from Pro D2 (runners up) Bayonne Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade Jean Dauger 16,934 12th Biarritz Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Parc des Sports Aguiléra 15,000 Champions (1st in league) Bourgoin Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère) Stade Pierre Rajon 9,441 6th Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) Stade Amédée-Domenech 15,000 9th Castres Castres (Tarn) Stade Pierre-Fabre 11,500 7th Clermont Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) Stade Marcel-Michelin 16,334 8th Montauban Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) Stade Sapiac 11,500 Promoted from Pro D2 (champions) Montpellier Montpellier (Hérault) Stade Sabathé 8,000 11th Narbonne Narbonne (Aude) Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié 12,000 10th Perpignan Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) Stade Aimé Giral 16,593 Semi-finals (4th in league) Stade Français Paris, 16th arrondissement Stade Jean-Bouin 12,000 Semi-finals (2nd in league) Toulouse Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Runners up (3rd in league)
Table
The seventh-place team would have received a Heineken Cup place if a French club had advanced farther in that season's Heineken Cup than any club from England or Italy. However, the quarterfinal losses of Biarritz and Stade Français, the last two remaining French sides in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup, to English sides Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers, meant that the "extra" Heineken Cup place would go to England. (The remaining two semifinalists were another English side, eventual winners London Wasps, and Welsh side Llanelli Scarlets.)
The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was in doubt earlier this season. French clubs announced plans to boycott the competition, and the English PRL clubs joined them, demanding a financial stake in the competition from the RFU. However, recent negotiations have ensured that top teams from both countries will now play.
Fixtures & Results 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
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Round 23
Round 24
Round 25
Round 26
Knock-out stages
Semi-finals
Final
FB 15 Nicolas JeanjeanRW 14 Julien AriasOC 13 Stéphane GlasIC 12 David SkrelaLW 11 Christophe DominiciFH 10 Juan Martín HernándezSH 9 Agustín Pichot (c)N8 8 Pierre RabadanOF 7 Rémy MartinBF 6 Mauro Bergamasco RL 5 Mike James LL 4 Arnaud Marchois TP 3 Pedro LedesmaHK 2 Benjamin Kayser LP 1 Rodrigo RonceroReplacements:HK 16 Dimitri Szarzewski PR 17 Damien WeberLK 18 David Auradou N8 19 Radike Samo N8 20 Sergio Parisse SH 21 Jérôme FillolCE 22 Brian Liebenberg Coach: Fabien Galthié
FB 15 Anthony FlochRW 14 Aurélien Rougerie (c)OC 13 Tony MarshIC 12 Gonzalo CanaleLW 11 Julien MalzieuFH 10 Brock JamesSH 9 Pierre MignoniN8 8 Elvis VermeulenOF 7 Alexandre AudebertBF 6 Sam BroomhallRL 5 Thibaut Privat LL 4 Jamie Cudmore TP 3 Martín Scelzo HK 2 Mario LedesmaLP 1 Laurent EmmanuelliReplacements:PR 16 Davit Zirakashvili HK 17 Brice MiguelLK 18 Loïc Jacquet LK 19 Gonzalo Longo SH 20 Alessandro TronconFH 21 Seremaia BaiCE 22 Grant EsterhuizenCoach: Vern Cotter
Leading scorers Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.
Top points scorers
Rank Player Club Points 1 Brock James Clermont 377 2 Cédric Rosalen Narbonne 278 3 Romain Teulet Castres 271 4 Benjamin Boyet Bourgoin 253 5 David Skrela Stade Français 220 6 Dimitri Yachvili Biarritz 208 7 Sébastien Fauqué Montauban 198 8 Richard Dourthe Bayonne 180 9 Jean-Baptiste Élissalde Toulouse 178 10 Andre Hough Albi 173
Top try scorers Rank Player Club Tries 1 Aurélien Rougerie Clermont 13 2 Julien Candelon RC Narbonne 12 3 Cédric Heymans Toulouse 10 4 Philippe Bidabé Biarritz 9 Julien Malzieu Clermont 9 Laloa Milford Castres 9 Lei Tomiki RC Narbonne 9 5 Vincent Clerc Toulouse 8 6 Julien Arias Stade Français 7 Sam Broomhall Clermont 7 Anthony Floch Clermont 7
Attendances
Attendances do not include the semi-finals or final as these are at neutral venues.
ClubHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Agen 13 97,662 7,512 11,293 5,321 58% Albi 13 88,252 6,789 9,690 5,054 57% Bayonne 13 146,618 11,278 13,926 7,969 67% Biarritz 13 121,583 9,353 13,013 6,711 62% Bourgoin 13 87,177 6,706 16,914 4,553 61% Brive 13 122,145 9,396 12,747 6,908 63% Castres 13 90,932 6,995 9,293 5,652 61% Clermont 13 151,950 11,688 13,685 8,943 72% Montauban 13 94,007 7,231 9,053 5,669 63% Montpellier 13 78,442 6,034 6,545 5,449 75% Narbonne 13 100,154 7,704 9,756 6,236 64% Perpignan 13 162,576 12,506 13,860 11,116 75% Stade Français 13 313,015 24,078 79,741 6,698 75% Toulouse 13 243,100 18,700 33,661 13,557 81%
See also 2006–07 Heineken Cup 2006–07 Rugby Pro D2 season
Notes
References
External links Ligue Nationale de Rugby - Official website Top 14 on Planetrugby.com