# 2004–05 Top 16 season

The 2004–05 Top 16 season was the top level of French club rugby in 2004–05. It was the final season under the 16 club format, as the competition became the Top 14 for the 2005–06 season. Biarritz Olympique won the championship, defeating Stade Français Paris in the final at Stade de France. FC Grenoble, Béziers and Auch were relegated to Rugby Pro D2 after the 2004–05 season.

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | B | Pts |
| 1 | Stade Français | 30 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 858 | 613 | +245 | 11 | 99 |
| 2 | Biarritz | 30 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 838 | 488 | +350 | 16 | 96 |
| 3 | Bourgoin | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 855 | 648 | +207 | 12 | 96 |
| 4 | Toulouse | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 875 | 574 | +301 | 18 | 94 |
| 5 | Perpignan | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 688 | 583 | +105 | 12 | 86 |
| 6 | Castres | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 704 | 678 | +26 | 10 | 84 |
| 7 | Clermont | 30 | 16 | 2 | 12 | 745 | 647 | +98 | 9 | 77 |
| 8 | Agen | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 674 | 568 | +106 | 11 | 77 |
| 9 | Brive | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 668 | 745 | −77 | 8 | 66 |
| 10 | Narbonne | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 588 | 755 | −167 | 7 | 63 |
| 11 | Montpellier | 30 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 628 | 765 | −137 | 14 | 62 |
| 12 | Bayonne | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 587 | 763 | −176 | 6 | 60 |
| 13 | Pau | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 605 | 715 | −110 | 11 | 55 |
| 14 | Grenoble | 30 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 580 | 842 | −262 | 10 | 42 |
| 15 | Béziers | 30 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 600 | 876 | −276 | 8 | 38 |
| 16 | Auch | 30 | 7 | 0 | 23 | 503 | 736 | −233 | 9 | 37 |

## Semi-finals

* 3 June 2005
| Stade Français | 33-18 | Stade Toulousain |
| Try: Pichot, Villiers Skrela 2 Con: Skrela 2 Pen: Skrela 3 | | Try: Elissalde, Heymans Con: Elissalde Pen: Elissalde Drop: Elissalde |
* Bordeaux
* 4 June 2005
| Biarritz olympique | 32-27 | CS Bourgoin-Jallieu |
| Try: Gobelet, Traille Peyrelongue, Brusque Con: Yachvili 3 Pen: Yachvili Drop: Peyrelongue= | | Try: Papé Anthony Forest, G.Davis Con: Péclier 3 Pen: Péclier 2 |
* Stadium Municipal, Touluse

## Final

* 2005-06-11
| Biarritz | 37 – 34 (after extra time) | Stade Français |
| Try Gobelet 17' Con Yachvili 17' Pen Yachvili (9) 4', 13', 24', 36', 50', 55', 63', 69', 102' Drop Peyrelongue 100' | | Try Dominici 26' Con Skrela 26' Pen Skrela (8) 7', 21', 29', 33', 42', 58', 78', 90' Drop Liebenberg 51' |
* Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,475 Referee: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Nicolas Brusque :
| RW | 14 | Philippe Bidabé | | 27' |
| OC | 13 | Guillaume Boussès |
| IC | 12 | Damien Traille |
| LW | 11 | Jean-Baptiste Gobelet |
| FH | 10 | Julien Peyrelongue |
| SH | 9 | Dimitri Yachvili |
| N8 | 8 | Thomas Lièvremont (c) |
| OF | 7 | Imanol Harinordoquy |
| BF | 6 | Serge Betsen |
| RL | 5 | David Couzinet | | 52' |
| LL | 4 | Jérôme Thion | 5' to 15' |
| TP | 3 | Denis Avril | | 73' |
| HK | 2 | Benoît August | | 74' |
| LP | 1 | Petru Bălan |
| Replacements: |||
| HK | 16 | Jean-Michel Gonzalez | | 74' |
| PR | 17 | Benoît Lecouls | | 73' |
| LK | 18 | Olivier Olibeau | | 52' |
| FL | 19 | Didier Chouchan |
| SH | 20 | Julien Dupuy |
| CE | 21 | Federico Martín Aramburú | | 27' |
| FH | 22 | Benjamin Dambielle |
| Coach: |||
| Patrice Lagisquet ||||
27' :
| RW | 14 | Julien Arias |
| OC | 13 | Stéphane Glas |
| IC | 12 | Brian Liebenberg |
| LW | 11 | Christophe Dominici | | 73' |
| FH | 10 | David Skrela |
| SH | 9 | Agustín Pichot |
| N8 | 8 | Shaun Sowerby |
| OF | 7 | Rémy Martin |
| BF | 6 | Pierre Rabadan | | 97' |
| RL | 5 | Mike James |
| LL | 4 | David Auradou (c) | 5' to 15' | 70' |
| TP | 3 | Pieter de Villiers | | 50' 74' |
| HK | 2 | Mathieu Blin | | 60' |
| LP | 1 | Rodrigo Roncero | 40' to 50' | 74' |
| Replacements: |||
| HK | 16 | Benjamin Kayser | | 60' |
| PR | 17 | Sylvain Marconnet | | 50' |
| LK | 18 | Olivier Brouzet | | 70' |
| FL | 19 | Mauro Bergamasco | | 97' |
| WG | 20 | Mirco Bergamasco | | 27' |
| CE | 21 | Olivier Sarraméa | | 73' |
| SH | 22 | Jérôme Fillol |
| Coach: |||
| Fabien Galthié ||||