The 2007–08
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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...
Competition was a French domestic
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club competition, operated by the
Ligue Nationale de Rugby
The National Rugby League (, LNR) manages the professional rugby union clubs in France, by delegation of the Minister of Sports and the French Rugby Federation. It organises and regulates the two French rugby club divisions, Top 14 and Pro D2, p ...
(LNR). Because France hosted the
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
, the competition did not begin at its normal time of August, but instead started on the last weekend in October 2007, one week after the Rugby World Cup final. The league compensated for the late start by playing on several weekends that it normally skips, namely the weekends of the
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship.
Fifteen ...
and the semifinals and final of the
2007–08 Heineken Cup
The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.
The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup ...
. The season ended on June 28, 2008, with
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
defeating regular-season league leader
Clermont 26–20 in the final and thereby lifting the
Bouclier de Brennus
The Bouclier de Brennus (), or Brennus Shield in English, is a trophy awarded annually to the French rugby union club that wins the domestic league.
The shield was not named, as it is often believed, after the famous Gallic warrior Brennus bu ...
.
This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed
Auch
Auch (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in southwestern France. Located in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers Departments of France, department.
Geography
Localiza ...
and
Dax
The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...
, who earned
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
from
Rugby Pro D2
The 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 introduced in 2000. It ...
.
Agen
Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485.
Geography
The city of Agen l ...
and
Narbonne
Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
were relegated from the Top 14.
As in previous seasons, the top four clubs at the end of the home-and-away season advanced to a single-elimination playoff. The semifinals were held at neutral sites, with the final at
Stade de France
Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
. Going into the season, the top six clubs were guaranteed of berths in the 2008-09
Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
. Since Toulouse advanced to the
2007–08 Heineken Cup
The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.
The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup ...
final against
Irish club
Munster
Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
, thereby assuring a higher finish for a French team in that competition than for any team from
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
or
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, the seventh-place club also earned a berth in the 2008-09 Heineken Cup. The bottom two teams were provisionally relegated to Pro D2, with the possibility of one or both of the bottom teams to be reprieved if a team above them failed a postseason financial audit. This happened in 2007-08, as
Albi
Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...
failed the audit, ultimately giving a reprieve to second-from bottom Dax.
This season, LNR trialled a modification to the
bonus point system in both the Top 14 and Pro D2. The system to be used this season was:
*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).
This system was explicitly intended to prevent a losing team from earning two bonus points, as is possible under the standard system.
[
* Second division: 2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season
]
Teams
Number of teams by regions
Table
Fixtures & 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
*Game postponed due to Toulouse playing in Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
semi-finals on the same date. Game to be rescheduled for 7 May 2008.
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Round 20
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Round 19 (rescheduled game)
*Rescheduled from 26 April 2008.
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
*Game postponed due to Toulouse playing in Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
final on the same date. Game to be rescheduled for 3 June 2008.
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Round 24
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Round 23 (rescheduled game)
*Rescheduled from 24 May 2008.
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Round 25
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Round 26
Knock-out stages
Semi-finals
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Final
Leading scorers
* Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Attendances
The league has seen a major increase in attendance in recent years. In 2006-07, per-game attendance averaged 10,549,[ and 9,267 in 2006-07,][ both well above the 2004-05 figures.
The final average attendance for the 2007-08 regular season was 11,106, another increase from the previous season. The LNR also reported that league-wide season ticket sales were up by 11% from 2006-07.]
See also
* 2007–08 Heineken Cup
The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.
The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup ...
* 2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season
Notes
References
*
Ligue Nationale de Rugby
. ''lnr.fr''. Accessed August 13, 2007.
External links
*
Ligue Nationale de Rugby
- Official website
Top 14
on Planetrugby.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Top 14 season
Top 14 seasons
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...