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2011–12 Top 14 season

The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Lyon and Bordeaux Bègles in place of the two relegated teams, La Rochelle and Bourgoin.

Toulouse claimed the Bouclier de Brennus as champions for the 19th time, defeating Toulon 18–12 in the final on June 9, 2012 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. At the other end of the table, Brive and Lyon were relegated.

Competition format

Each club played every other club twice. The second half of the season was conducted in the same order as the first, with the club at home in the first half of the season away in the second. This season maintained the format introduced the previous season for the knockout stage: the top two teams qualified directly to the semifinals, while teams ranked from third to sixth qualified for a quarterfinal held at the home ground of the higher-ranked team.

The teams

2011–12 Top 14 season is located in France
Agen
Agen
Bayonne
Biarritz
Bordeaux Bègles
Brive
Castres
Clermont
Lyon
Lyon
Montpellier
Perpignan
Racing Métro
Stade Français
Toulon
Toulouse
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Locations of the 2011–12 Top 14 teams

During the regular season, three teams changed coaches a total of four times:

Table

Source: [6][7]
Notes:
  1. ^ Qualified by winning the 2011–12 European Challenge Cup
  2. ^ Head-to-head: Toulouse 5–4
  3. ^ a b Head-to-head: Biarritz 6–2

Due to the interplay between LNR's schedule for Heineken Cup qualification and the rules of European Rugby Cup (ERC), which operates both European cup competitions, it is theoretically possible that a team finishing as high as fourth in the league table may not qualify for the Heineken Cup. Under ERC rules, the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup each earn a place in the following season's Heineken Cup. If a team from France wins one of these competitions, the Top 14 will receive a seventh Heineken Cup place. However, if French teams win both cups, the Top 14 is capped at seven Heineken Cup places. Biarritz' victory in the Challenge Cup gave France an extra place for the 2012–13 Heineken Cup.

The LNR presents teams for the Heineken Cup in the following order, skipping any steps occupied by clubs outside the Top 14 or filled in a prior step.[8] The clubs involved in each step for this season are indicated in the numbered list.

  1. Champion – Toulouse
  2. Runner-up – Toulon
  3. Heineken Cup holder – Skipped (won by Leinster of Pro12)
  4. Semifinalist that finished higher in the league table – Clermont
  5. Semifinalist that finished lower in the league table – Castres
  6. Challenge Cup holder – Biarritz
  7. Additional berths based on league position – Montpellier, Racing Métro

Under LNR rules, only Top 14 clubs are eligible for European competition. This means that in the (unlikely) event that the winner of one of the two European Cups is relegated from the Top 14 in the same season, its European place will go to a current Top 14 team, based on league position in that season.[8]

Under another ERC rule, if teams from England, which is also capped at seven Heineken Cup places, win both European cups, the extra place will go to the highest-ranked non-English team in the European Rugby Club Rankings that is not already qualified for the Heineken Cup. If that club is in the Top 14, it will receive a Heineken Cup place regardless of its league position, as long as it avoids relegation.

For a team in the top six to be left out of the Heineken Cup, French teams must win both European Cups, and those teams must have finished outside the top six in the league while also avoiding relegation.

Playoffs

All times are in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Statistics

Top points scorers

Updated 19 May 2012

Top try scorers

Updated 6 May 2012

See also

References

  1. ^ "Saint-Andre confirmed as next France coach". ESPN Scrum. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Laporte takes charge at Toulon". ESPN Scrum. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Bernard Laporte takes charge at Toulton". ESPN Scrum. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Bayonne sack coaching staff". ESPN Scrum. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Elissalde axed by Bayonne". ESPN Scrum. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Yahoo UK | News, email and search".
  7. ^ "Rugby Radar | Provides results, fixtures and table information from the top 18 rugby tournaments around the world". Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  8. ^ a b "Règlement Sportif des Compétitions Professionnelles, Article 328, Participations des clubs français en Coupes d'Europe" (PDF). Statuts et Règlements Généraux de la LNR – Saison 2011/2012 (in French). Ligue nationale de rugby. pp. 134–35. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Top 14 2011-2012 - Demi-finales : Toulouse–Castres" (in French). L'Équipe. 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Top 14 2011-2012 - Demi-finales : Clermont–Toulon" (in French). L'Équipe. 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  11. ^ "Ô Toulouse ! Ô Brennus !" (in French). L'Équipe. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Top 14 2011-2012.