2013–14 Top 14 season
| 2013–14 Top 14 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Countries |
 France |
| Date | 16 August 2013 – 31 May 2014 |
| Champions | Toulon |
| Runners-up | Castres Olympique |
| Relegated |
Perpignan Biarritz Olympique |
| Matches played | 187 |
| Attendance | 2,678,932 (average 14,326 per match) |
| Tries scored | 607 (average 3.246 per match) |
| Top point scorer |
Gaëtan Germain (Brive) 299 points[1] |
| Top try scorer |
Metuisela Talebula (Bordeaux Bègles) 15 tries[1] |
| Official website | |
|
www | |
|
← 2012–13 2014–15 → | |
The 2013–14 Top 14 competition is a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2012–13 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Oyonnax and Brive in place of the two relegated teams, Agen and Mont-de-Marsan. Home-and-away play began on 16 August 2013 and continued through to 3 May 2014.[2]
The regular season was very closely fought, with a record few away wins, but ended up with the same six teams qualifying for the play-offs as the previous year. Toulon topped the table for the first time, one point clear of second-placed Montpellier, whilst defending champions Castres just managed to hold on to the last qualifying spot, finishing in sixth. At the other end of the table, Biarritz had a nightmarish season, spending virtually the whole year in the relegation zone, and finished bottom, while Perpignan, who had been in the top tier of French rugby since 1911, were also relegated. Oyonnax and Brive finished 12th and 9th, respectively, marking the first time since 2007 that both newly promoted teams managed to keep their places in the Top 14.
The quarter-final stage saw two major upsets, with Racing Métro avenging their loss from the previous year with a 21–16 away win at Toulouse, whose run of twenty consecutive semi-final appearances thus came to end, while Castres put an end to Clermont's record streak of 77 straight wins at Stade Marcel Michelin with a 22–16 win. This is the first time that both quarterfinals have resulted in away wins.
Teams
- ↑ Bayonne took one match across the Spanish border to Estadio Anoeta in Donostia-San Sebastián in 2012–13, and is doing so again in 2013–14.
- ↑ Biarritz has historically taken at least one home match per season to the Anoeta, but has not done so since the 2010–11 season.
- ↑ In 2012–13, Bordeaux Bègles played eight of their 13 home matches at the larger Stade Chaban-Delmas and only five at their traditional home of Stade André-Moga. They intend to do the same in 2013–14.[3]
- ↑ In 2012–13, Grenoble played four home matches at the city's largest venue, Stade des Alpes. In 2013–14, they intend to play five matches there.[4]
- ↑ In 2012–13, Perpignan played one home match at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc, Barcelona.
- ↑ Racing took two 2012–13 home matches to Stade de France. For 2013–14, they are doing the same, and have additionally taken home matches to Stade Marcel-Deflandre in La Rochelle and Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
- ↑ Stade Français returned to their traditional home, Stade Jean-Bouin, for the 2013–14 season. The club will take at least one home Top 14 match to Stade de France;[5] their Round 10 match at Stade de France was a home match for their opponent, Racing Métro.
- ↑ Toulon took one home match to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille in 2012–13, resuming a past practice that they skipped in 2011–12. They will do likewise in 2013–14, and they took one home match to Allianz Riviera in Nice.
- ↑ Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium Municipal. Two of their 2012–13 home matches were played there, but they have no confirmed plans to do so in 2013–14.
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 Stade de France.[6]
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,[7] 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.[8]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[8]
- 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 7 points (or less).
Table
| |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||
| 1 | Toulon (CH) | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 660 | 466 | +194 | 54 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 77 | ||||
| 2 | Montpellier (SF) | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 670 | 525 | +145 | 59 | 46 | 7 | 7 | 76 | ||||
| 3 | Clermont Auvergne (QF) | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 659 | 500 | +159 | 59 | 37 | 6 | 5 | 73 | ||||
| 4 | Toulouse (QF) | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 548 | 442 | +106 | 53 | 30 | 7 | 6 | 69[n 1] | ||||
| 5 | Racing Métro (SF) | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 459 | 448 | +11 | 32 | 34 | 1 | 4 | 69 | ||||
| 6 | Castres Olympique (RU) | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 567 | 488 | +79 | 50 | 35 | 6 | 4 | 66 | ||||
| 7 | Stade Français | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 529 | 496 | +33 | 46 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 65 | ||||
| 8 | Bordeaux Bègles | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 629 | 573 | +56 | 58 | 44 | 5 | 7 | 64 | ||||
| 9 | Brive | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 473 | 476 | -3 | 32 | 36 | 4 | 9 | 61 | ||||
| 10 | Bayonne | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 424 | 549 | -125 | 29 | 48 | 1 | 7 | 54 | ||||
| 11 | Grenoble | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 465 | 625 | -160 | 32 | 52 | 1 | 4 | 53 | ||||
| 12 | Oyonnax | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 456 | 562 | -106 | 34 | 49 | 1 | 4 | 51[n 2] | ||||
| 13 | Perpignan (R) | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 486 | 593 | -107 | 35 | 48 | 2 | 7 | 51 | ||||
| 14 | Biarritz Olympique (R) | 26 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 374 | 656 | -282 | 27 | 68 | 0 | 8 | 30 | ||||
|
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 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup. Yellow background (rows 3 and 4) receive home quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) receive away quarter-final play-off places, and will also receive Champions Cup berths. Orange background (row 7) indicates team that advances to a play-off against the seventh-place team from the English Premiership for a place in the Champions Cup. Red background (row 13 and 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Updated 31 May 2014 Source: ESPN Scrum | |||||||||||||||||
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
After the General Assembly of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, held at Aix-en-Provence on 5 and 6 July 2013, the outline calendar of fixtures for the 2013–14 season were released.[9] Detailed fixtures information evolves as the season progresses (i.e. specific kick off times).[2] Match attendances are from the official web site (Affluences).[10]
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
- This match was postponed due to heavy rain. Despite the pitch being covered since Friday, the referee took the decision to cancel the match.[11] It has been rescheduled to 14 March.[2]
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 17 rescheduled match
- This match – originally scheduled to be played on 25 January 2014 – was postponed due to heavy rain.[11]
Round 22
Round 23
- This result means that Biarritz Olympique will finish the season at the bottom of the table.
Round 19 rescheduled match
- This match – originally scheduled to be played on 15 February 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.[12]
Round 24
Round 25
Round 26
Playoffs
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| 1 | Toulon | 16 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Toulouse | 16 | 5 | Racing Métro | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | Racing Métro | 21 | 1 | Toulon | 18 | ||||||||
| 6 | Castres Olympique | 10 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Montpellier | 19 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Clermont | 16 | 6 | Castres Olympique | 22 | ||||||||
| 6 | Castres Olympique | 22 | |||||||||||
All times are in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).
Quarter-finals
| 9 May 2014 20:45 |
| Toulouse | 16 – 21 | Racing Métro |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Gear 43' c Con: Doussain (1/1) 44' Pen: Doussain (3/5) 4', 50', 58' |
Stats | Pen: Sexton (7/7) 11', 16', 26', 31', 54' , 62', 78' |
| 10 May 2014 16:30 |
| Clermont | 16 – 22 | Castres Olympique |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Chouly 77' c Con: James (1/1) 77' Pen: James (3/3) 4', 25', 32' |
Stats | Try: Lamerat 62' c Con: Kockott (1/1) 62' Pen: Kockott (5/6) 6', 9', 47', 50', 67' |
Semi-finals
| 16 May 2014 20:45 |
| Toulon | 16 – 6 | Racing Métro |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Giteau 12' c Con: Wilkinson (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (2/5) 45', 57' Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 71' |
Stats | Pen: Sexton (2/3) 16', 32' |
| 17 May 2014 16:30 |
| Montpellier | 19 – 22 | Castres Olympique |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Ranger 33' c Con: Trinh-Duc (1/1) 34' Pen: Trinh-Duc (3/4) 54', 57', 64' Drop: Trinh-Duc (1/1) 15' |
Stats | Try: Claassen 30' m Con: Kockott (1/1) 31' Pen: Kockott (4/8) 4', 22', 44', 66' Drop: Bai (1/1) 90' |
Final
| 31 May 2014 21:00 |
| Toulon | 18 – 10 | Castres Olympique |
|---|---|---|
| Pen: Wilkinson (4/4) 8', 23', 32', 54' D. Armitage (1/1) 74' Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 36' |
Stats | Try: Evans 12' c Con: Kockott (1/1) Pen: Kockott (1/4) 29' |
|
Touch judges:
|
Top scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-IRB nationalities.
Top points scorers
|
Top try scorers
|
Notes and references
- 1 2 3 4 "Statistiques joueurs Top 14" (in French). Midi Olympique. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "Le calendrier officiel des oppositions de rugby - TOP 14 saison 2013-2014" (in French). LNR. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ↑ "Abonnement saison complète 2013-2014" (in French). www.ubbrugby.com. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "ABONNEMENTS SAISON 2013-2014" (in French). www.fcgrugby.com. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "Billetterie Informations" (in French). www.stade.fr. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "CALENDRIER - SAISON 2013/2014" (PDF) (in French). LNR. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ↑ "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 27 June 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. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ↑ "TOP 14 / PRO D2 : les calendriers des oppositions 2013-2014" (in French). LNR. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ↑ "Statistiques générales" (in French). LNR. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- 1 2 "17e journée Top 14 - Biarritz-Oyonnax reporté à cause des intempéries" (in French). Midi Olympique. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- 1 2 "19e journée Top 14 - Oyonnax-Bordeaux-Bègles reporté!" (in French). Midi Olympique. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "Toulouse 16 – 21 Racing-Métro 92". L'Équipe. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ↑ "Clermont 16 – 22 Castres". L'Équipe. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ↑ "Toulon 16 – 6 Racing-Métro 92". L'Équipe. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ↑ "Montpellier 19 – 22 Castres". L'Équipe. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ↑ "Toulon 18 – 10 Castres". L'Équipe. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
See also
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Top 14 2013-2014. |
- (French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
- (French) Midi Olympique
- Top 14 on ESPN Scrum
- Top 14 on Planet Rugby