2019–20 Top 14 season
The 2019–20 Top 14 competition was the 121st French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2018–19 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 (Bayonne and Brive) in place of the two relegated teams, Perpignan and Grenoble.
Playing was suspended after the 17th Matchday due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The season was officially cancelled without any winner or relegation/promotion on 6 May.[1]
| 2019–20 Top 14 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 24 August 2019 – 1 March 2020 |
| Matches played | 119 |
| Attendance | 1,672,486 (average 14,055 per match) |
| Highest attendance | 38,503 Bordeaux Bègles v La Rochelle 22 December 2019 |
| Lowest attendance | 6,009 Agen v Montpellier 15 September 2019 |
| Top point scorer | Thomas Laranjeira (Brive) 181 points |
| Top try scorer | Arthur Retière (La Rochelle) 9 tries |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Teams
Number of teams by regions
| Teams | Region or country | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Agen, Bayonne, Bordeaux Bègles, Brive, La Rochelle, Pau |
| 3 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Occitanie | Castres, Montpellier, Toulouse |
| 2 |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Clermont, Lyon |
 Île-de-France | Racing, Stade Français | |
| 1 |  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Toulon |
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,[2] 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.[3]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[3]
- 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
| |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Diff. | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bordeaux Bègles | 17 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 475 | 317 | 158 | 53 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 61 | ||||
| 2 | Lyon | 17 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 465 | 304 | 161 | 50 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 53 | ||||
| 3 | Racing | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 451 | 326 | 125 | 51 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 46 | ||||
| 4 | Toulon | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 396 | 334 | 62 | 37 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 45 | ||||
| 5 | La Rochelle | 17 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 370 | 377 | -7 | 38 | 38 | 3 | 3 | 42 | ||||
| 6 | Clermont | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 423 | 415 | 8 | 39 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 41 | ||||
| 7 | Toulouse | 17 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 368 | 331 | 37 | 37 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 40 | ||||
| 8 | Montpellier | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 404 | 390 | 14 | 42 | 37 | 2 | 5 | 37 | ||||
| 9 | Castres | 17 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 392 | 460 | -68 | 38 | 43 | 3 | 2 | 33 | ||||
| 10 | Brive | 17 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 364 | 441 | -77 | 32 | 48 | 1 | 2 | 33 | ||||
| 11 | Bayonne | 17 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 327 | 409 | -82 | 27 | 45 | 0 | 3 | 33 | ||||
| 12 | Pau | 17 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 334 | 414 | -80 | 31 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 28 | ||||
| 13 | Agen | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 323 | 414 | -91 | 36 | 46 | 0 | 4 | 26 | ||||
| 14 | Stade Français | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 328 | 488 | -160 | 30 | 50 | 0 | 3 | 25 | ||||
|
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 to 8) receive berths in the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Final table — source: | |||||||||||||||||
Relegation
Starting from the 2017–18 season forward, only the 14th placed team will be automatically relegated to Pro D2. The 13th placed team will face the runner-up of the Pro D2 play-off, with the winner of that play-off taking up the final place in Top 14 for the following season.[4]
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
Positions by round
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
| Leader, semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup | |
| Semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup | |
| Quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. | |
| Qualification to relegation play-off | |
| Relegation to Rugby Pro D2 |
Results by round
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
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
|
Top try scorers
|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Attendances
- Attendances do not include the semi-finals or final as these are at neutral venues.
| Club | Home Games |
Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agen | 9 | 74,809 | 8,312 | 13,500 | 6,009 | 59% |
| Bayonne | 9 | 129,795 | 14,422 | 16,630 | 12,517 | 85% |
| Bordeaux Bègles | 9 | 220,662 | 24,518 | 38,503 | 17,172 | 68% |
| Brive | 9 | 97,306 | 10,812 | 12,273 | 9,457 | 68% |
| Castres | 8 | 79,525 | 9,941 | 10,724 | 9,325 | 80% |
| Clermont | 8 | 134,530 | 16,816 | 18,804 | 14,957 | 88% |
| La Rochelle | 8 | 128,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 100% |
| Lyon | 9 | 130,301 | 14,478 | 16,256 | 10,778 | 58% |
| Montpellier | 8 | 91,738 | 11,467 | 16,153 | 8,000 | 63% |
| Pau | 9 | 100,752 | 11,195 | 16,153 | 8,000 | 61% |
| Racing | 9 | 135,384 | 15,043 | 26,292 | 7,102 | 49% |
| Stade Francais | 7 | 72,499 | 10,357 | 14,050 | 8,000 | 52% |
| Toulon | 9 | 122,371 | 13,597 | 17,287 | 12,124 | 75% |
| Toulouse | 8 | 167,253 | 20,907 | 33,000 | 14,573 | 90% |
See also
Notes
- In recent years, Bordeaux Bègles has taken occasional home matches to Matmut Atlantique.
- 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 de Toulouse.
References
- "Top 14 - Pro D2 : les présidents d'accord pour ne pas attribuer de titre". L'Equipe. 6 May 2020.
- "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.
- "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.
- Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- "1re journée". L'Equipe. 25 August 2019.
- "2e journée". L'Equipe. 1 September 2019.
- "Castres. Urios gâche l'asado de Reggiardo". L'Equipe. 7 September 2019.
- "3e journée". L'Equipe. 8 September 2019.
- "4e journée". L'Equipe. 15 September 2019.
- "5e journée". L'Equipe. 29 September 2019.
- "6e journée". L'Equipe. 6 October 2019.
- "Le SU Agen a retrouvé ses combattants". La Dépêche. 13 October 2019.
- "7e journée". L'Equipe. 13 October 2019.
- "8e journée". L'Equipe. 20 October 2019.
- "Top 14 : le Racing enfonce le Stade français". La Parisien. 10 November 2019.
- "9e journée". L'Equipe. 10 November 2019.
- "10e journée". L'Equipe. 1 December 2019.
- "11e journée". L'Equipe. 22 December 2019.
- "Brive stoppé net par le Racing". La Dépêche. 29 December 2019.
- "Rugby - Top 14 Montpellier/Stade Français en direct". Orange Sports. 28 December 2019.
- "12e journée". L'Equipe. 29 December 2019.
- "13e journée". L'Equipe. 5 January 2019.
- "Top 14 : Lyon réussit un gros coup contre Toulon". Républicain Lorrain. 25 January 2020.
- "CA Brive : un succès miraculeux et capital dans la course au maintien". France 3 Régions. 25 January 2020.
- "La Rochelle s'est fait peur". La Dépêche. 26 January 2020.
- "Clermont renverse le Stade Français". La Dépêche. 26 January 2020.
- "Top 14 : Agen frappe un gros coup et s'impose sur le fil à Bayonne (22–23)". Sud Ouest. 26 January 2020.
- "Toulouse. Ce Stade Toulousain a de la réserve". La Dépêche. 27 January 2020.
- "14e journée". L'Equipe. 26 January 2019.
- "15e journée". L'Equipe. 16 February 2020.
- "La Rochelle au forceps". La Dépêche. 22 February 2020.
- "Top 14 : le Stade Français chute à Bayonne et au classement". Le Parisien. 22 February 2020.
- "LE LEADER BORDELAIS RÉALISE UN COUP AU MICHELIN". ASM Clermont Auvergne Rugby. 22 February 2020.
- "Toulouse. Le Stade Toulousain roi de l'efficacité". La Dépêche. 24 February 2020.
- "Top 14: Toulouse, malmené par Montpellier, signe un succès bonifié". France 24. 23 February 2020.
- "17e journée". L'Equipe. 29 February 2020.
- "Classement marqueurs Top 14 2019–20". L'Équipe. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- "RUGBY TOP 14 : STATISTIQUES DÉTAILLÉES SAISON 2019-2020". Ligue Nationale Rugby. Retrieved 1 March 2020.