# 2001–02 Top 16 season

The 2001–02 Top 16 season was the top level of French club rugby in 2001–02. The competition was played by 16 team. In the first phase, two pool of 8 was Played. The first 4 of each pool was admitted to the "top 8", the tournament for the title, the other to a relegation tournament.
Biarritz won his third title, the first from 1939, beating Agen in the final

## First round

(3 point for victories, 2 point for drawn, 1 point for losses)

### Pool A

| Home \ Away | BEZ | BIA | COL | DAX | ROC | MON | STF | TOU |
| Béziers | | 18–20 | 49–10 | 33–13 | 40–37 | 37–7 | 19–23 | 31–26 |
| Biarritz olympique | 32–17 | | 26–16 | 37–27 | 40–15 | 37–10 | 22–6 | 9–13 |
| Colomiers | 28–24 | 12–11 | | 35–9 | 15–21 | 23–18 | 24–17 | 27–20 |
| Dax | 9–15 | 14–50 | 33–20 | | 28–25 | 14–24 | 15–16 | 15–25 |
| La Rochelle | 9–15 | 14–27 | 19–20 | 24–16 | | 29–18 | 3–8 | 9–10 |
| Montauban | 6–16 | 22–35 | 26–23 | 26–22 | 34–27 | | 24–21 | 16–29 |
| Stade Français | 33–19 | 13–9 | 29–25 | 46–16 | 39–6 | 36–21 | | 18–20 |
| Toulouse | 32–33 | 24–30 | 35–28 | 35–19 | 40–21 | 16–6 | 21–10 | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Biarritz | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 385 | 221 | +164 | 36 |
| 2 | Toulouse | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 346 | 272 | +74 | 34 |
| 3 | Béziers | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 366 | 285 | +81 | 32 |
| 4 | Stade Français | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 315 | 244 | +71 | 32 |
| 5 | Colomiers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 309 | 337 | −28 | 28 |
| 6 | Montauban | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 258 | 365 | −107 | 24 |
| 7 | La Rochelle | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 259 | 350 | −91 | 20 |
| 8 | Dax | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 250 | 411 | −161 | 18 |

### Pool B

| Home \ Away | AGE | BOR | BOU | CAS | MON | NAR | PAU | PER |
| Agen | | 33–6 | 32–3 | 40–17 | 9–14 | 26–9 | 29–9 | 45–14 |
| CA Bordeaux-Bègles | 10–28 | | 25–21 | 39–25 | 12–20 | 22–15 | 39–10 | 13–26 |
| CS Bourgoin-Jallieu | 37–20 | 56–25 | | 33–21 | 23–3 | 32–19 | 64–6 | 15–23 |
| Castres | 39–15 | 19–22 | 14–29 | | 39–30 | 42–20 | 38–26 | 16–20 |
| AS Montferrand | 19–27 | 24–6 | 56–23 | 36–19 | | 36–25 | 15–19 | 45–14 |
| Narbonne | 21–24 | 22–20 | 31–30 | 47–31 | 24–23 | | 42–18 | 34–19 |
| Pau | 17–20 | 18–13 | 29–16 | 21–19 | 27–9 | 46–23 | | 3–30 |
| Perpignan | 30–16 | 44–26 | 34–10 | 40–27 | 29–21 | 39–25 | 51–17 | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Perpignan | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 413 | 313 | +100 | 36 |
| 2 | Agen | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 364 | 245 | +119 | 34 |
| 3 | Montferrand | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 351 | 296 | +55 | 28 |
| 4 | Bourgoin | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 392 | 338 | +54 | 28 |
| 5 | Narbonne | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 357 | 408 | −51 | 26 |
| 6 | Pau | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 266 | 408 | −142 | 26 |
| 7 | Bordeaux-Begles | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 278 | 361 | −83 | 24 |
| 8 | Castres | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 366 | 418 | −52 | 22 |

## Relegation pool

The teams sum to the point obtained in the first round, the point obtained in the matches played with the 4 team from other group (hone and away).
| Home \ Away | BOR | CAS | COL | DAX | ROC | MON | NAR | PAU |
| Bègles-Bordeaux | | | 42–19 | 30–12 | 16–12 | 13–19 | | |
| Castres | | | 27–17 | 58–6 | 34–36 | 62–21 | | |
| Colomiers | 15–16 | 15–15 | | | | | 22–6 | 34–14 |
| Dax | 19–11 | 10–25 | | | | | 48–12 | 25–16 |
| La Rochelle | 33–32 | 19–13 | | | | | 40–10 | 26–18 |
| Montauban | 36–19 | 28–24 | | | | | 29–28 | 52–34 |
| Narbonne | | | 27–26 | 48–19 | 45–33 | 44–17 | | |
| Pau | | | 33–33 | 37–8 | 47–27 | 21–23 | | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Montauban | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 483 | 610 | −127 | 44 | |
| 2 | Colomiers | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 487 | 517 | −30 | 42 | |
| 3 | Narbonne | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 577 | 642 | −65 | 42 | |
| 4 | Bordeaux-Begles | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 457 | 526 | −69 | 40 | |
| 5 | Castres | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 624 | 570 | +54 | 39 | |
| 6 | Pau | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 484 | 636 | −152 | 39 | |
| 7 | La Rochelle | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 485 | 565 | −80 | 38 | Relegated in Pro-D2 for next season |
| 8 | Dax | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 399 | 648 | −249 | 32 | Relegated in Pro-D2 for next season |

## Top 8

POOL A :
| 30 March | Stade Français | - | Bourgoin | 34 - 36 |
| 31 March | Biarritz | - | Agen | 28 - 23 |
| 13 April | Agen | - | Stade Français | 34 - 16 |
| 13 April | Bourgoin | - | Biarritz | 12 - 16 |
| 20 April | Stade Français | - | Biarritz | 20 - 20 |
| 20 April | Bourgoin | - | Agen | 22 - 20 |
| 4 May | Agen | - | Bourgoin | 39 - 10 |
| 4 May | Biarritz | - | Stade Français | 28 - 18 |
| 11 May | Bourgoin | - | Stade Français | 22 - 22 |
| 11 May | Agen | - | Biarritz | 24 - 17 |
| 18 May | Stade Français | - | Agen | 23 - 23 |
| 18 May | Biarritz | - | Bourgoin | 48 - 25 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Biarritz | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 153 | 122 | +31 | 15 | Promoted to Semifinals |
| 2 | Agen | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 163 | 116 | +47 | 13 | Promoted to Semifinals |
| 3 | Bourgoin | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 127 | 179 | −52 | 11 | Admitted to 2002–03 Heineken Cup |
| 4 | Stade Français | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 133 | 159 | −26 | 9 | |
POOL B :
| 30 March | Béziers | - | Toulouse | 16 - 26 |
| 31 March | Perpignan | - | Montferrand | 21 - 27 |
| 13 April | Toulouse | - | Perpignan | 30 - 14 |
| 13 April | Montferrand | - | Béziers | 27 - 21 |
| 20 April | Toulouse | - | Montferrand | 45 - 23 |
| 20 April | Béziers | - | Perpignan | 18 - 17 |
| 4 May | Perpignan | - | Béziers | 27 - 24 |
| 4 May | Montferrand | - | Toulouse | 16 - 19 |
| 11 May | Toulouse | - | Béziers | 44 - 15 |
| 11 May | Montferrand | - | Perpignan | 21 - 12 |
| 18 May | Béziers | - | Montferrand | 43 - 32 |
| 18 May | Perpignan | - | Toulouse | 36 - 34 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toulouse | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 198 | 120 | +78 | 16 | Promoted to Semifinals |
| 2 | Montferrand | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 146 | 161 | −15 | 12 | Promoted to Semifinals |
| 3 | Perpignan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 127 | 154 | −27 | 10 | Admitted to 2002–03 Heineken Cup |
| 4 | Béziers | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 137 | 173 | −36 | 10 | |

## Semifinals

* 1 June 2002
| Toulouse | 15 - 21 | Agen |
| Try: mete: X.Garbajosa, C.Desbrosse Con: Y.Delaigue Pen: Y.Delaigue | | Pen: C. Lamaison 4, F. Gelez 3 |
* Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
* 1 June 2002
| Biarritz | 31 - 12 | Montferrand |
| Try: P.Bidabé, J.Roff J.Peyrelongue Con: J.Roff Pen: J.Roff S. Lgg 2 | | Pen: G.Merceron 4 |
* Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux

## Final

* 8 June 2002
| Biarritz | 25 – 22 a.e.t. | Agen |
| Try: Bernat-Salles Con: Roff Pen: Roff (5) Drop: Mazas | | Try: Barrau Con: Gelez Pen: Gelez (5) |
* Stade de France, Saint-Denis Referee: Didier Mené
| FB | 15 | Nicolas Brusque |
| RW | 14 | Philippe Bernat-Salles |
| OC | 13 | Joe Roff |
| IC | 12 | Jack Isaac | 92' |
| LW | 11 | Philippe Bidabé | 98' |
| FH | 10 | Julien Peyrelongue |
| SH | 9 | Nicolas Morlaes | 75' |
| N8 | 8 | Thomas Lièvremont |
| OF | 7 | Christophe Milhères | 56' |
| BF | 6 | Serge Betsen |
| RL | 5 | Olivier Roumat |
| LL | 4 | Jean-Philippe Versailles | 48' |
| TP | 3 | Denis Avril | 96' |
| HK | 2 | Jean-Michel Gonzalez (c) |
| LP | 1 | Emmanuel Menieu | 63' |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Noël Curnier | 96' |
| PR | 17 | Sotele Puleoto | 63' |
| LK | 18 | Olivier Nauroy | 48' |
| FL | 19 | Didier Chouchan | 56' |
| FH | 20 | Laurent Mazas | 75' |
| CE | 21 | Guillaume Boussès | 92' |
| WG | 22 | Stuart Legg | 98' |
| Coach: ||
| Patrice Lagisquet ||
| FB | 15 | Christophe Lamaison |
| RW | 14 | Pépito Elhorga |
| OC | 13 | Conrad Stoltz | 47' |
| IC | 12 | Luc Lafforgue |
| LW | 11 | Christophe Manas |
| FH | 10 | François Gelez | 95' |
| SH | 9 | Mathieu Barrau |
| N8 | 8 | Thierry Labrousse | |
| OF | 7 | Philippe Benetton (c) |
| BF | 6 | Matthieu Lièvremont |
| RL | 5 | Christophe Porcu | 70' |
| LL | 4 | David Couzinet |
| TP | 3 | Omar Hasan | |
| HK | 2 | Jean-Baptiste Rué |
| LP | 1 | Jean-Jacques Crenca |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Philippe Piacentini |
| PR | 17 | Patrick Blanco |
| FL | 18 | Xavier Guillemet |
| N8 | 19 | Maurice Barragué | 70' |
| SH | 20 | François Tandonnet |
| CE | 21 | Guillaume Bouic | 47' |
| CE | 22 | Nicolas Martin | 95' |
| Coach: ||
| Christian Lanta ||