The 2017–18 Top 14 competition was the 119th
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). Two new teams from the
2016–17 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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...
(
Oyonnax and
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 ...
) in place of the two relegated teams,
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
and
Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
. It marks the second time in a row that both promoted teams had returned on their first opportunity after relegation (Oyonnax and Agen were both relegated during the 2015–16 Top 14 season).
Teams
Number of teams by regions
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
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 ...
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
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 ...
. The 13th placed team will face the runner-up of the
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 ...
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
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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
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 ...
, with the winner of this match playing in Top 14 in 2018–19 and the loser in Pro D2.
''Grenoble won and were promoted to Top 14, while Oyonnax were relegated to Pro D2.''
Playoffs
Semi-final Qualifiers
* Under LNR rules, when a playoff game ends level after extra time, the first tiebreaker is tries scored. Lyon advanced with 2 tries to Toulon's 1.
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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 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 competit ...
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
*
2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 season
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 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 ...