The 2018–19 Top 14 competition was the 120th season of the
French domestic
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club competition operated by the
Ligue Nationale de Rugby
The French National Rugby League (french: Ligue Nationale de Rugby), known as the LNR, manages the professional rugby sector in France, by delegation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the French Rugby Federation.
LNR
* organises, manages and ...
(LNR). Two new teams from the
2017–18 Pro D2 season were promoted to
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
(
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
and
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
) in place of the two relegated teams,
Oyonnax
Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Haut- ...
and
Brive.
On 27 April 2019,
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
were relegated after they lost at home to
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
, condemning the newly promoted side to the drop with three games still to play.
It was a truly dreadful season for Perpignan and one of the worst ever by a club in the history of the Top 14 - at one point it even looked like they might go through the whole season without a win but mercifully they finally achieved a victory on 16 February 2019 against
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
. They will be joined in
2018–19 Rugby Pro D2 by
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, who lost the relegation playoff game, 22-28, to
Brive. Brive and Rugby Pro D2 champions,
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
, will play in the
2019–20 Top 14.
The Top 14 final was contested between the top two teams in the league stage –
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
(1st) and Clermont (2nd) – who both won their semi-finals with relative ease. In the end it was Toulouse who triumphed at the
Stade de France
The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...
, seeing out a 24-18 victory to win its 20th title and the clubs first since 2012. It was a well deserved victory for Le Stade, who were head and shoulders the best team in the league, finishing 15 points clear of
Clermont and beating them twice out of three meetings (the other result was a draw). Despite missing out on the title, it was a still excellent season for Clermont, who massively improved on 2017-18 when they finished 9th, and also won the
2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
In terms of attendances, the Top 14 once again proved to be the most popular rugby union league in the world, with over 2.7 million supporters watching games that season. This was an average of 14,624 per game, slightly higher than the second best supported league - the
2018–19 English Premiership - which had an average of 14,507.
Teams
Number of teams by region
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
The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...
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.
Table
Relegation
Starting from the 2017–18 season forward, only the 14th placed team will be automatically relegated to
Pro D2
Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...
. The 13th placed team will face the runner-up of the
Pro D2
Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...
play-off, with the winner of that play-off taking up the final place in Top 14 for the following season.
Fixtures and results
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 17
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Round 20
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
*Perpignan are relegated.
----
Round 24
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Round 25
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Round 26
Relegation playoff
The team finishing in 13th place faces the runner-up of the
Pro D2
Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...
, with the winner of this match playing in the
2019–20 Top 14 and the loser in the
2019–20 Pro D2.
Playoffs
Semi-final Qualifiers
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Semi-finals
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Final
Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under
World Rugby
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
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
Attendances
* Attendances do not include the semi-finals or final as these are at neutral venues.
See also
*
2018–19 Rugby Pro D2 season
The 2018–19 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2018–19 season. It ran alongside the 2018–19 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby ( ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Top 14 season
Top 14 seasons
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...