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2021–22 Top 14
Countries	France
Date	4 September 2021 - 5 June 2022
Champions	Montpellier (1st title)
Runners-up	Castres
Relegated	Biarritz
Official website
www.lnr.fr/rugby-top-14
← 2020–212022–23 →

The 2021–22 Top 14 competition was the 123rd French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

Teams

Number of teams by region

Teams	Region or country	Team(s)
5	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Biarritz, Bordeaux Bègles, Brive, La Rochelle, Pau
4	Occitanie	Castres, Montpellier, Perpignan, Toulouse
2	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	Clermont, Lyon
	Île-de-France	Racing, Stade Français
1	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Toulon

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 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 scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent. This replaces the standard bonus point for scoring 4 tries regardless of the opponent scoring.
• 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

1. Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
2. Points difference in head-to-head matches
3. Try differential in head-to-head matches
4. Points difference in all matches
5. Try differential in all matches
6. Points scored in all matches
7. Tries scored in all matches
8. Fewer matches forfeited
9. Classification in the previous Top 14 season
   Notes:

1. Contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2020–21 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2022–23 Top 14 season
2. Lyon received a berth for winning the 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup

Relegation

From the 2017–18 season, only the 14th placed team is automatically relegated to the Pro D2. The 13th placed team play the runner-up of the Pro D2 play-off, with the winner taking up the final place in the Top 14 for the following season.

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Relegation playoff

The team finishing in 13th place faces the runner-up of the Pro D2, with the winner of this match playing in the 2022–23 Top 14 and the loser in the 2022–23 Pro D2.

Playoffs

Semi-final Qualifiers

Semi-finals

Final

FB 15 Julien Dumora RW 14 Geoffrey Palis OC 13 Thomas Combezou IC 12 Vilimoni Botitu LW 11 Filipo Nakosi FH 10 Benjamín Urdapilleta SH 9 Santiago Arata N8 8 Teariki Ben-Nicholas OF 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny BF 6 Mathieu Babillot (c) RL 5 Tom Staniforth LL 4 Florent Vanverberghe TP 3 Wilfrid Hounkpatin HK 2 Gaëtan Barlot LP 1 Quentin Walcker Substitutions: HK 16 Paul Ngauamo PR 17 Wayan De Bendittis LK 18 Loïc Jacquet BR 19 Baptiste Delaporte SH 20 Jérémy Fernandez CE 21 Adrea Cocagi CE 22 Antoine Zeghdar PR 23 Levan Chilachava Coach: Pierre-Henry Broncan

FB 15 Anthony Bouthier RW 14 Arthur Vincent OC 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou IC 12 Jan Serfontein LW 11 Vincent Rattez FH 10 Paolo Garbisi SH 9 Benoît Paillaugue N8 8 Zach Mercer OF 7 Yacouba Camara (c) BF 6 Alexandre Bécognée RL 5 Bastien Chalureau LL 4 Florian Verhaeghe TP 3 Mohamed Haouas HK 2 Guilhem Guirado LP 1 Titi Lamositele Substitutions: HK 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa PR 17 Robert Rodgers LK 18 Mickaël Capelli LK 19 Nico Janse van Rensburg SH 20 Gela Aprasidze WG 21 Gabriel N'Gandebe FH 22 Handré Pollard PR 23 Henry Thomas Coach: Philippe Saint-André

See also

• 2021–22 Rugby Pro D2 season

Notes

1. In recent years, Bordeaux Bègles has taken occasional home matches to Matmut Atlantique.
2. In recent years, Toulon has taken occasional home matches to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and Allianz Riviera in Nice.
3. Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium de Toulouse.

References

1. "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-rugby.com. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
2. ^ "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain"" (PDF). Règlements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel (in French). LNR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
3. Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
4. "Résultat et résumé Bordeaux-Bègles - Racing 92, match en direct - Top 14 2021-2022, Barrages, dimanche 12 juin 2022".
5. "Résultat et résumé Castres - Toulouse, match en direct - Top 14 2021-2022, Demi-finales, vendredi 17 juin 2022".
6. "Résultat et résumé Montpellier - Bordeaux-Bègles, match en direct - Top 14 2021-2022, Demi-finales, samedi 18 juin 2022".

• 2021–22 Top 14 season
• Top 14 seasons
• 2021–22 in French rugby union leagues