# 2022–23 Top 14 season

The 2022–23 Top 14 is the 124th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

## 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 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.
From the 2017–18 season onwards, 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.

## Teams

Fourteen clubs will compete in the 2022-23 Top 14 season, 13 of them returning. Biarritz were relegated to Pro D2 after finishing at the bottom of the table the previous season. Bayonne is the sole promoted club, finishing second in the Pro D2 the previous season and winning the Pro D2 playoffs. Perpignan, which finished 13th in the previous Top 14 season, defeated Mont-de-Marsan in the relegation playoffs to retain their place.
| Club | City (department) | Stadium | Capacity | Previous season |
| Bayonne | Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) | Stade Jean Dauger | 16,934 | Promoted from Pro D2 (runners-up) |
| Bordeaux Bègles | Bordeaux (Gironde) | Stade Chaban-Delmas | 33,500 | Semi-finals (4th in league) |
| Brive | Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) | Stade Amédée-Domenech | 13,979 | 11th |
| Castres | Castres (Tarn) | Stade Pierre-Fabre | 12,500 | 7th |
| Clermont | Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) | Stade Marcel-Michelin | 19,022 | Quarter-finals (5th in league) |
| La Rochelle | La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) | Stade Marcel-Deflandre | 16,000 | 2nd |
| Lyon | Lyon (Métropole de Lyon) | Matmut Stadium de Gerland | 25,000 | 9th |
| Montpellier | Montpellier (Hérault) | Altrad Stadium | 15,697 | 10th |
| Pau | Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) | Stade du Hameau | 18,324 | 12th |
| Perpignan | Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) | Stade Aimé Giral | 14,593 | Promoted from Pro D2 (champions) |
| Racing | Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) | Paris La Défense Arena | 30,681 | Semi-finals (3rd in league) |
| Stade Français | Paris, 16th arrondissement | Stade Jean-Bouin | 20,000 | Quarter-finals (6th in league) |
| Toulon | Toulon (Var) | Stade Mayol | 18,200 | 8th |
| Toulouse | Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 18,784 | 1st |

## Table

2022–23 Top 14 Table :
| | Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Diff. | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Toulouse (CH) | 26 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 682 | 474 | +208 | 8 | 3 | 81 |
| 2 | La Rochelle (RU) | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 673 | 479 | +194 | 7 | 3 | 78 |
| 3 | Lyon (QF) | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 688 | 626 | +62 | 4 | 5 | 67 |
| 4 | Stade Français (QF) | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 616 | 480 | +136 | 5 | 6 | 67 |
| 5 | Racing (SF) | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 734 | 684 | +50 | 5 | 3 | 66 |
| 6 | Bordeaux Bègles (SF) | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 576 | 501 | +75 | 4 | 5 | 63 |
| 7 | Toulon | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 588 | 557 | +31 | 3 | 2 | 61 |
| 8 | Bayonne | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 596 | 662 | –66 | 2 | 2 | 58 |
| 9 | Castres | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 532 | 635 | –103 | 1 | 2 | 57 |
| 10 | Clermont | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 588 | 635 | –39 | 4 | 6 | 56 |
| 11 | Montpellier | 26 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 624 | 617 | +7 | 4 | 6 | 54 |
| 12 | Pau | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 591 | 634 | –43 | 6 | 4 | 52 |
| 13 | Perpignan | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 503 | 724 | –221 | 0 | 3 | 43 |
| 14 | Brive (R) | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 440 | 731 | –291 | 1 | 7 | 36 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Competition points earned in head-to-head matches Points difference in head-to-head matches Try differential in head-to-head matches Points difference in all matches Try differential in all matches Points scored in all matches Tries scored in all matches Fewer matches forfeited Classification in the previous Top 14 season ||||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. Yellow background (row 7 and 8) receive berths in the Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup. Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2023–24 Top 14 season. Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table |||||||||||||||

## Playoffs

| Semi-final Qualifiers | Semi-final Qualifiers | Semi-final Qualifiers | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | 1 | Toulouse | 41 | | | |
| 4 | Stade Français | 20 | 5 | Racing | 14 | | | |
| 5 | Racing | 33 | | | | 1 | Toulouse | 29 |
| | | | | | | 2 | La Rochelle | 26 |
| | | | 2 | La Rochelle | 24 | | | |
| 3 | Lyon | 25 | 6 | Bordeaux Bègles | 13 | | | |
| 6 | Bordeaux Bègles | 32 | | | | | | |

### Semi-final Qualifiers

* 3 June 2023 14:00
| Stade Français (4) | 20–33 | (5) Racing |
| Try: Macalou 33' c Penalty try 40+1' Con: Segonds (1/1) 35' Pen: Segonds (2/2) 17', 69' | Report | Try: Imhoff 10' c Lauret 19' c Fickou 80' c Con: Gibert (2/2) 11', 20' Pen: Russell (4/4) 26', 44', 52', 55' |
* Stade Jean-Bouin Attendance: 18,691 Referee: Pierre Brousset
* 4 June 2023 21:05
| Lyon (3) | 25–32 | (6) Bordeaux Bègles |
| Try: Dumortier 10' c Tuisova 30' c Maraku 74' m Con: Sopoaga (2/2) 11', 32' Pen: Sopoaga (2/2) 40+1', 58' | Report | Try: Jalibert 7' m Diaby 47' c Tambwe (2) 67' c, 78' c Con: Jalibert (3/4) 48', 68', 79' Pen: Jalibert (1/1) 24' Lucu (1/1) 71' |
* Matmut Stadium de Gerland Attendance: 17,304 Referee: Ludovic Cayre

### Semi-finals

* 9 June 2023 21:00
| Toulouse (1) | 41–14 | (5) Racing |
| Try: Lebel 18' c Meafou 23' c Roumat 50' c Retière 58' c Cros 80' c Con: Ramos (5/5) 19', 24', 51', 59', 80+1' Pen: Ramos (2/2) 34', 40+1' | Report | Try: Fickou 71' c Diallo 76' c Con: Russell (2/2) 72', 77' |
* Anoeta Stadium Attendance: 39,252 Referee: Mathieu Raynal
* 10 June 2023 17:00
| La Rochelle (2) | 24–13 | (6) Bordeaux Bègles |
| Try: Leyds 9' c Bourgarit 21' c Boudehent 38' c Con: Hastoy (3/3) 10', 22', 39' Pen: Hastoy (1/2) 71' | Report | Try: Penalty try 49' Pen: Jalibert (2/2) 4', 44' |
* Anoeta Stadium Attendance: 39,314 Referee: Adrien Marbot

### Final

* 17 June 2023 21:00
| Toulouse (1) | 29–26 | (2) La Rochelle |
| Try: Chocobares 23' c Ntamack 78' c Con: Ramos (2/2) 25', 79' Pen: Ramos (5/6) 10', 21', 51', 60', 63' | Report | Try: Kerr-Barlow 39' c Atonio 45' c Con: Hastoy (2/2) 40', 46' Pen: Hastoy (4/6) 16', 30', 67', 71' |
* Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,804 Referee: Tual Trainini
| FB | 15 | Thomas Ramos |
| RW | 14 | Arthur Retière |
| OC | 13 | Santiago Chocobares |
| IC | 12 | Pita Ahki |
| LW | 11 | Matthis Lebel |
| FH | 10 | Romain Ntamack |
| SH | 9 | Antoine Dupont (c) |
| N8 | 8 | Alexandre Roumat |
| OF | 7 | Francois Cros |
| BF | 6 | Jack Willis |
| RL | 5 | Emmanuel Meafou |
| LL | 4 | Richie Arnold |
| TP | 3 | Dorian Aldegheri |
| HK | 2 | Julien Marchand |
| LP | 1 | Cyril Baille |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Peato Mauvaka |
| PR | 17 | Rodrigue Neti |
| LK | 18 | Thibaud Flament |
| N8 | 19 | Alban Placines |
| FL | 20 | Selevasio Tolofua |
| CE | 21 | Pierre-Louis Barassi |
| WG | 22 | Juan Cruz Mallia |
| PR | 23 | Charlie Faumuina |
| Coach: ||
| Ugo Mola ||
| FB | 15 | Brice Dulin |
| RW | 14 | Dillyn Leyds |
| OC | 13 | Ulupano Seuteni |
| IC | 12 | Jonathan Danty |
| LW | 11 | Raymond Rhule |
| FH | 10 | Antoine Hastoy |
| SH | 9 | Tawera Kerr-Barlow |
| N8 | 8 | Grégory Alldritt |
| OF | 7 | Levani Botia |
| BF | 6 | Paul Boudehent |
| RL | 5 | Will Skelton |
| LL | 4 | Romain Sazy |
| TP | 3 | Uini Atonio (c) |
| HK | 2 | Pierre Bourgarit |
| LP | 1 | Reda Wardi |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Quentin Lespiaucq |
| PR | 17 | Joel Sclavi |
| LK | 18 | Thomas Lavault |
| FL | 19 | Ultan Dillane |
| FL | 20 | Remi Bourdeau |
| FH | 21 | Thomas Berjon |
| CE | 22 | Jules Favre |
| PR | 23 | Georges-Henri Colombe |
| Coach: ||
| Ronan O'Gara ||