The 2022–23 Top 14 is the 124th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
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, 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.
France's bonus point system operates as follows:
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.
Teams
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 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 18,200 8th Toulouse Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) Stade Ernest-Wallon 18,784 1st
Table 2022–23 Top 14 TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Try BonusLosing BonusPoints 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 36If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Competition points earned in head-to-head matches Points difference in head-to-head matches Try differential in head-to-head matches Points difference in all matches Try differential in all matches Points scored in all matches Tries scored in all matches Fewer matches forfeited 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
Relegation play-off
Perpignan won and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.
Playoffs
Semi-final Qualifiers
Semi-finals
Final
FB 15 Thomas RamosRW 14 Arthur RetièreOC 13 Santiago ChocobaresIC 12 Pita AhkiLW 11 Matthis LebelFH 10 Romain NtamackSH 9 Antoine Dupont (c)N8 8 Alexandre RoumatOF 7 Francois CrosBF 6 Jack WillisRL 5 Emmanuel MeafouLL 4 Richie ArnoldTP 3 Dorian AldegheriHK 2 Julien MarchandLP 1 Cyril BailleSubstitutions:HK 16 Peato MauvakaPR 17 Rodrigue NetiLK 18 Thibaud FlamentN8 19 Alban PlacinesFL 20 Selevasio TolofuaCE21 Pierre-Louis BarassiWG 22 Juan Cruz Mallia PR 23 Charlie FaumuinaCoach: Ugo Mola FB 15 Brice DulinRW 14 Dillyn LeydsOC 13 Ulupano SeuteniIC 12 Jonathan DantyLW 11 Raymond RhuleFH 10 Antoine HastoySH 9 Tawera Kerr-BarlowN8 8 Grégory AlldrittOF 7 Levani BotiaBF 6 Paul Boudehent RL 5 Will SkeltonLL 4 Romain SazyTP 3 Uini Atonio (c)HK 2 Pierre Bourgarit LP 1 Reda WardiSubstitutions:HK 16 Quentin LespiaucqPR 17 Joel Sclavi LK 18 Thomas LavaultFL 19 Ultan DillaneFL20 Remi BourdeauFH 21 Thomas BerjonCE 22 Jules FavrePR 23 Georges-Henri ColombeCoach: Ronan O'Gara
See also List of 2022–23 Top 14 transfers 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season
Notes
References