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2006–07 Top 14 season
Countries	France
Champions	Stade Français (13th title)
Runners-up	Clermont
Relegated	Narbonne, Agen
Matches played	185
Attendance	2,065,975 (average 11,167 per match)
Highest attendance	79,741 Stade Français v Toulouse 27 January 2007
Lowest attendance	4,553 Bourgoin v Montpellier 26 September 2006
Top point scorer	Brock James (Clermont) 377 points
Top try scorer	Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont) 13 tries
← 2005–062007–08 →

The 2006–07 Top 14 competition was the 108th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) and the 2nd using the name Top 14. Biarritz were out to defend their crown, after their defeat of Toulouse in the 2005–06 Top 14 final. New teams to the league included Albi and Montauban who were promoted from 2004–05 Pro D2, replacing relegated sides Toulon and Pau. During the season attendance records in the league were once again broken with 79,741 attending the Round 19 clash between Stade Français and Toulouse at the Stade de France, and over 2 million supporters attended games across the campaign.

In the league Stade Français jumped out to an early lead, winning their first nine matches. Although they faded somewhat as the season went on, they held on to top the regular-season ladder. Toulouse and Clermont each entered the final week with a chance to top the ladder, but Stade Français' win over Agen (without a bonus point) made it impossible for Clermont to overtake them, while Toulouse failed to secure the bonus point in their win over Bourgoin that would have made it possible for them to pip the Parisians for the top seed. The last playoff berth came down to the last round between Biarritz and Perpignan, with Biarritz securing fourth place in style with a bonus-point win over Castres.

The final Heineken Cup berth came down to the last round as well, with Bourgoin holding off the challenge of Top 14 newcomers Montauban. The relegation battle came down to the last week. Narbone had been assured of the drop after Round 25, while any of six other clubs were in mathematical danger of the drop going into the final week. In the end, Agen, who were next-to-last entering the final week, were consigned to the drop by league leaders Stade Français. Both clubs would be relegated to the 2007–08 Pro D2.

The play-offs saw Stade Français and Clermont win their respective semi-finals to qualify for the final. In the end it was Stade Français who lifted the Bouclier de Brennus as Top 14 champions for the 13th time in the club's history, beating Clermont 23–18 at the Stade de France.

Teams

Club City (department) Stadium Capacity Previous season Agen Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) Stade Armandie 13,000 5th Albi Albi (Tarn) Stadium Municipal d'Albi 12,000 Promoted from Pro D2 (runners up) Bayonne Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade Jean Dauger 16,934 12th Biarritz Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Parc des Sports Aguiléra 15,000 Champions (1st in league) Bourgoin Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère) Stade Pierre Rajon 9,441 6th Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) Stade Amédée-Domenech 15,000 9th Castres Castres (Tarn) Stade Pierre-Fabre 11,500 7th Clermont Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) Stade Marcel-Michelin 16,334 8th Montauban Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) Stade Sapiac 11,500 Promoted from Pro D2 (champions) Montpellier Montpellier (Hérault) Stade Sabathé 8,000 11th Narbonne Narbonne (Aude) Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié 12,000 10th Perpignan Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) Stade Aimé Giral 16,593 Semi-finals (4th in league) Stade Français Paris, 16th arrondissement Stade Jean-Bouin 12,000 Semi-finals (2nd in league) Toulouse Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Runners up (3rd in league)

AgenAlbiBayonneBiarritzBourgoinBriveCastresClermontMontaubanMontpellierNarbonnePerpignanStade FrançaisToulouseclass=notpageimage| Locations of the 2006–07 Top 14 teams

Table

The seventh-place team would have received a Heineken Cup place if a French club had advanced farther in that season's Heineken Cup than any club from England or Italy. However, the quarterfinal losses of Biarritz and Stade Français, the last two remaining French sides in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup, to English sides Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers, meant that the "extra" Heineken Cup place would go to England. (The remaining two semifinalists were another English side, eventual winners London Wasps, and Welsh side Llanelli Scarlets.)

The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was in doubt earlier this season. French clubs announced plans to boycott the competition, and the English PRL clubs joined them, demanding a financial stake in the competition from the RFU. However, recent negotiations have ensured that top teams from both countries will now play.

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

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Knock-out stages

Semi-finals

Final

FB 15 Nicolas Jeanjean RW 14 Julien Arias OC 13 Stéphane Glas IC 12 David Skrela LW 11 Christophe Dominici FH 10 Juan Martín Hernández SH 9 Agustín Pichot (c) N8 8 Pierre Rabadan OF 7 Rémy Martin BF 6 Mauro Bergamasco  46' RL 5 Mike James  48' LL 4 Arnaud Marchois  48' TP 3 Pedro Ledesma HK 2 Benjamin Kayser  57' LP 1 Rodrigo Roncero Replacements: HK 16 Dimitri Szarzewski  57' PR 17 Damien Weber LK 18 David Auradou  48' N8 19 Radike Samo  48' N8 20 Sergio Parisse  46' SH 21 Jérôme Fillol CE 22 Brian Liebenberg  49' Coach: Fabien Galthié

FB 15 Anthony Floch RW 14 Aurélien Rougerie (c) OC 13 Tony Marsh IC 12 Gonzalo Canale LW 11 Julien Malzieu FH 10 Brock James SH 9 Pierre Mignoni N8 8 Elvis Vermeulen OF 7 Alexandre Audebert BF 6 Sam Broomhall RL 5 Thibaut Privat  49' LL 4 Jamie Cudmore  46' TP 3 Martín Scelzo  50' HK 2 Mario Ledesma LP 1 Laurent Emmanuelli Replacements: PR 16 Davit Zirakashvili  50' HK 17 Brice Miguel LK 18 Loïc Jacquet  46' LK 19 Gonzalo Longo  49' SH 20 Alessandro Troncon FH 21 Seremaia Bai CE 22 Grant Esterhuizen Coach: Vern Cotter

Leading scorers

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals.

Top points scorers Rank Player Club Points 1 Brock James Clermont 377 2 Cédric Rosalen Narbonne 278 3 Romain Teulet Castres 271 4 Benjamin Boyet Bourgoin 253 5 David Skrela Stade Français 220 6 Dimitri Yachvili Biarritz 208 7 Sébastien Fauqué Montauban 198 8 Richard Dourthe Bayonne 180 9 Jean-Baptiste Élissalde Toulouse 178 10 Andre Hough Albi 173

Top try scorers Rank Player Club Tries 1 Aurélien Rougerie Clermont 13 2 Julien Candelon RC Narbonne 12 3 Cédric Heymans Toulouse 10 4 Philippe Bidabé Biarritz 9 Julien Malzieu Clermont 9 Laloa Milford Castres 9 Lei Tomiki RC Narbonne 9 5 Vincent Clerc Toulouse 8 6 Julien Arias Stade Français 7 Sam Broomhall Clermont 7 Anthony Floch Clermont 7

Attendances

• Attendances do not include the semi-finals or final as these are at neutral venues.

See also

• 2006–07 Heineken Cup
• 2006–07 Rugby Pro D2 season

Notes

1. Bourgoin would also play one game at the 35,616 capacity Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne.
2. Stade Français would also play three games at the 81,338 capacity Stade de France.
3. Toulouse would also play three games at the 35,575 capacity Stadium Municipal.

References

1. "lnr.fr". Top 14 . Les clubs. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
2. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS PARC DES SPORTS AGUILERA". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
3. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS JEAN BOUIN". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
4. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE MUNCIPAL". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
5. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE ALFRED ARMANDIE". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
6. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE SAPIAC". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
7. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE AIME GIRAL". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
8. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS PARC DES SPORTS". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
9. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE PIERRE ANTOINE". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
10. ^ "CLASSEMENT DU TOP 14 ET DE PRO D2 DE RUGBY 2007". Rugby Stats. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
11. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE PIERRE RAJON". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
12. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE ERNEST WALLON". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
13. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE JEAN DAUGER". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
14. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS PARC DE L\'AMITIE". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
15. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE MARCEL MICHELIN". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
16. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADIUM". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
17. "CLASSEMENT DU TOP 14 ET DE PRO D2 DE RUGBY 2007". Rugby Stats. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
18. ^ "RECORDS DE SPECTATEURS STADE DE FRANCE". STADES ET SPECTATEURS. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
19. ^ "CLASSEMENT DU TOP 14 ET DE PRO D2 DE RUGBY 2007 (PLAY OFF)". Rugby Stats. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
20. ^ "Top 14 : 2006/2007 - Statistiques - Rugby". It's Rugby. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

External links

• (in French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby - Official website
• Top 14 on Planetrugby.com

• Top 14 seasons
• 2006–07 in French rugby union leagues
• 2006–07 in European rugby union leagues