The 2011–12

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 ...

competition was a 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 it ...

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). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the

2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

were promoted to Top 14 this year,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and Bordeaux Bègles in place of the two relegated teams,

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. Wi ...

and Bourgoin.

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 Pa ...

claimed the

Bouclier de Brennus The Bouclier de Brennus, or Brennus Shield in English, is a trophy awarded to the winners of the French rugby union domestic league. The shield was not named, as it is often believed, after the famous Gallic warrior Brennus but rather artist Ch ...

as champions for the 19th time, defeating

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

18–12 in the final on June 9, 2012 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. At the other end of the table, Brive and

were relegated.

Competition format

Each club played every other club twice. The second half of the season was conducted in the same order as the first, with the club at home in the first half of the season away in the second. This season maintained the format introduced the previous season for the knockout stage: the top two teams qualified directly to the semifinals, while teams ranked from third to sixth qualified for a quarterfinal held at the home ground of the higher-ranked team.

The teams

During the regular season, three teams changed coaches a total of four times: * Toulon was forced to find a replacement for

Philippe Saint-André Philippe Georges Saint-André (; born 19 April 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer and currently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wing but he ...

once he was named to become the new head coach of the France national team, effective 1 December.

Bernard Laporte Bernard Laporte (born 1 July 1964) is a rugby player, coach and former French Secretary of State for Sport. From 1999 to 2007, Laporte was the head coach of the France national team. In 2011, he became the head coach at Toulon, after Philippe Sa ...

, a former France head coach (1999–2007), was named as Toulon's new head coach, and took over in September after Saint-André was granted an early release by Toulon. * Perpignan sacked Jacques Delmas on 21 November, only four months after he had taken over from Jacques Brunel, who left to become the new head coach of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The Catalans had lost seven of their 12 matches in all competitions under Delmas. Assistants Bernard Goutta and Christophe Manas were named as replacements. * Bayonne sacked their entire coaching staff—director of rugby Christian Gajan, forwards coach Thomas Lièvremont and backs coach Frédéric Tauzin—on 6 December. Gajan's position was filled by

Jean-Pierre Élissalde Jean-Pierre Élissalde (born 31 December 1953) is a rugby union coach and former player. Playing career Élissalde began his career with his local team La Rochelle. He went on to play for Bayonne for two years between 1978 and 1980 before returnin ...

, former Japan head coach and also father of former France international and current Toulouse backs coach

Jean-Baptiste Élissalde Jean-Baptiste Élissalde (born 23 November 1977) is a former French rugby union player, playing either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half, and current defense coach for Montpellier in the Top 14. Biography Early life Born on 23 November 1977 i ...

. After six weeks, in which Bayonne remained near the bottom of the table with two losses and one draw in league play, Élissalde was sacked on 16 January, with former Stade Français head coach Didier Faugeron named as his replacement.

Table

: Due to the interplay between LNR's schedule for Heineken Cup qualification and the rules of

European Rugby Cup European Rugby Cup Ltd (or ERC) was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in ...

(ERC), which operates both European cup competitions, it is theoretically possible that a team finishing as high as fourth in the league table may not qualify for the Heineken Cup. Under ERC rules, the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup each earn a place in the following season's Heineken Cup. If a team from France wins one of these competitions, the Top 14 will receive a seventh Heineken Cup place. However, if French teams win both cups, the Top 14 is capped at seven Heineken Cup places. Biarritz' victory in the Challenge Cup gave France an extra place for the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. The LNR presents teams for the Heineken Cup in the following order, skipping any steps occupied by clubs outside the Top 14 or filled in a prior step. The clubs involved in each step for this season are indicated in the numbered list. # Champion – Toulouse # Runner-up – Toulon # Heineken Cup holder – Skipped (won by

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

of Pro12) # Semifinalist that finished higher in the league table – Clermont # Semifinalist that finished lower in the league table – Castres # Challenge Cup holder – Biarritz # Additional berths based on league position – Montpellier, Racing Métro Under LNR rules, only Top 14 clubs are eligible for European competition. This means that in the (unlikely) event that the winner of one of the two European Cups is relegated from the Top 14 in the same season, its European place will go to a current Top 14 team, based on league position in that season. Under another ERC rule, if teams from England, which is also capped at seven Heineken Cup places, win both European cups, the extra place will go to the highest-ranked non-English team in the

European Rugby Club Rankings The European Rugby Club Rankings were introduced for the 2008–09 European season. They were based on the points earned by teams in the now defunct Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup over the past four years. They were used to aid in the ...

that is not already qualified for the Heineken Cup. If that club is in the Top 14, it will receive a Heineken Cup place regardless of its league position, as long as it avoids relegation. For a team in the top six to be left out of the Heineken Cup, French teams must win both European Cups, ''and'' those teams must have finished outside the top six in the league while also avoiding relegation.

Playoffs

All times are in

Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...

(UTC+2).

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

Statistics

Top points scorers

Updated 19 May 2012 File:ST vs RCT 2012 12 03041.JPG, Jonny Wilkinson
(RC Toulon) File:ST vs CO 2012-03-10 - Romain Teulet.jpg, Romain Teulet
(Castres Olympique) File:Bustos Moyano.jpg, Martín Bustos Moyano
(Montpellier HR) File:ST vs SF - Julien Dupuy-1 cropped.jpg, Julien Dupuy
(Stade Français) File:Boyet Penality.JPG, Benjamin Boyet
(Aviron Bayonnais)

Top try scorers

Updated 6 May 2012 File:ST vs LOU - 49 - Crop.jpg, File:ST vs Harlequins - Matanavu - Crop.jpg, File:Sireli bobo 2.jpg, File:Henry Chavancy Racing Metro training 2012-03-16.jpg, File:ST vs UBB - Blair Connor.jpg,

References

External links

*
Ligue Nationale de Rugby
– Official website
Top 14
on Planetrugby.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...