2012–13 Top 14 season

2012–13 Top 14 season
Countries France
Champions Castres Olympique
Runners-up Toulon
Relegated Agen, Mont-de-Marsan
Matches played 187
Attendance 2,589,905 (average 13,850 per match)
Tries scored 664 (average 3.551 per match)
Top point scorer Rory Kockott (376)
Top try scorer Napolioni Nalaga (13)

The 2012–13 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2011–12 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Grenoble and Stade Montois in place of the two relegated teams, CA Brive and Lyon OU. Home-and-away play began on 17 August 2012 and continued through to 5 May 2013.[1] The regular season was followed by a three-round playoff involving the top six sides. The final was contested at the Stade de France between Toulon and Castres; the match was won 19–14 by Castres[2] to earn them their first title since the controversial final in 1993.[3][4]

Teams

ClubFull nameCity (department)Stadium
SU Agen Sporting Union Agen Lot-et-Garonne Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) Stade Armandie
Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade Jean Dauger[a 1]
Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Parc des Sports Aguiléra[a 2]
Union Bordeaux Bègles Union Bordeaux Bègles Bordeaux (Gironde) Stade Chaban-Delmas (Bordeaux)
Stade André Moga (Bègles)[a 3]
Castres Olympique Castres Olympique Castres (Tarn) Stade Pierre-Antoine
ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
FC Grenoble Football Club Grenoble Rugby Grenoble (Isère) Stade Lesdiguières[a 4]
Stade Montois Stade Montois Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) Stade Guy Boniface
Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier (Hérault) Stade Yves-du-Manoir
USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) Stade Aimé Giral[a 5]
Racing Métro Racing Métro 92 Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir[a 6]
Stade Français Paris Stade Français Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux Paris Paris, 16th arrondissement[a 7] Stade Charléty[a 8]
RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais Toulon (Var) Stade Mayol[a 9]
Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) Stade Ernest-Wallon[a 10]
  1. ↑ Bayonne took one match across the Spanish border to Estadio Anoeta in Donostia-San Sebastián in 2012–13.
  2. ↑ Biarritz has historically taken at least one home match per season to the Anoeta, but has not done so since the 2010–11 season.
  3. ↑ In 2012–13, Bordeaux Bègles played eight of their 13 home matches at the larger Stade Chaban-Delmas and only five at their traditional home of Stade André-Moga.
  4. ↑ In 2012–13, Grenoble played four home matches at the city's largest venue, Stade des Alpes.
  5. ↑ In 2012–13, Perpignan played one home match at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona.
  6. ↑ Racing took two 2012–13 home matches to Stade de France.
  7. ↑ Stade Français' offices are in the 16th arrondissement, although they are currently playing in the 13th arrondissement.
  8. ↑ Stade Français' traditional home, Stade Jean-Bouin, is closed while a new stadium is built on the site; the new Jean-Bouin is expected to open for the 2013–14 season. The club also regularly takes at least three home matches per season to Stade de France; in 2012–13, they played three at Stade de France plus one at Grand Stade Lille Métropole in Villeneuve d'Ascq.
  9. ↑ Toulon took one home match to Stade Vélodrome in Marseille in 2012–13, resuming a past practice that they skipped in 2011–12.
  10. ↑ Toulouse often takes high-demand home matches to the city's largest sporting venue, Stadium Municipal. Two of their 2012–13 home matches were played there.

Team information

Club Last Promotion Budget 2012–13 million EUR[5] Position in 2011–12 season Coach(es) Stadium Capacity
SU Agen 2010 13.2 10 Philippe Sella
Mathieu Blin
David Darricarrère 		Stade Armandie 14,000
Aviron Bayonnais 2004 17.9 12 Christophe Deylaud
Christian Lanta		 Stade Jean-Dauger 16,934
Biarritz Olympique 1996 17.3 9 Laurent Rodriguez
Serge Milhas
John Isaac 		Parc des sports d'Aguiléra 15,000
Bordeaux Bègles 2011 11.9 8 Raphaël Ibañez
Régis Sonnes
Vincent Etcheto 		Stade André-Moga 09,088
Castres Olympique 1989 15.6 4 Laurent Labit
Laurent Travers 		Stade Pierre-Antoine 11,500
ASM Clermont Auvergne 1925 25.5 2 Vern Cotter
Franck Azéma 		Stade Marcel-Michelin 18,030
FC Grenoble 2012 14.9 1 (Pro D2) Fabrice Landreau
Sylvain Bégon
Franck Corrihons 		Stade Lesdiguières 12,000
Stade Montois 2012 6.2 3 (Pro D2) Marc Dantin
Stéphane Prosper 		Stade Guy-Boniface 22,000
Montpellier HR 2003 17.5 5 Fabien Galthié
Mario Ledesma
Stéphane Glas 		Stade Yves-du-Manoir 14,700
Stade Français 1997 22.8 7 Richard Pool-Jones
Christophe Laussucq
David Auradou 		Stade Charléty
Stade de France 		20,000
USA Perpignan 1911 14.4 11 Marc Delpoux
Giampiero de Carli
Patrick Arlettaz 		Stade Aimé-Giral 14,593
Racing Métro 92 2009 21.7 6 Gonzalo Quesada
Simon Raiwalui		 Stade Yves-du-Manoir
Stade de France 		14,000
RC Toulon 2008 21.8 3 (finalist) Bernard Laporte
Pierre Mignoni
Olivier Azam 		Stade Mayol 15,000
Stade Toulousain 1907 34.9 1 (Champion) Guy Novès
William Servat
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde 		Stade Ernest-Wallon
Stadium municipal 		19,500

Table

2012–13 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points Head-to-Head
1 Clermont Auvergne 26 19 1 6 779 418 +361 81 32 8 5 91
2 RC Toulon 26 18 1 7 779 456 +323 69 33 11 5 90
3 Stade Toulousain 26 17 0 9 702 501 +201 67 37 7 4 79
4 Castres Olympique 26 15 2 9 599 489 +110 49 33 4 6 74
5 Montpellier Hérault 26 16 0 10 570 520 +50 52 38 5 4 73 Montpellier 5–5, 31–29
6 Racing Métro 26 16 0 10 512 431 +81 32 28 2 7 73
7 USA Perpignan 26 13 0 13 593 607 -14 50 48 2 7 61
8 Aviron Bayonnais 26 12 1 13 467 609 -142 32 54 1 6 57 Bayonne 6–3
9 Biarritz Olympique 26 12 1 13 505 540 -35 36 40 2 5 57
10 Stade Français 26 12 1 13 578 691 -113 42 60 2 2 54 Stade Français 5–4
11 FC Grenoble 26 12 0 14 480 606 -126 37 60 1 5 54
12 Bordeaux Bègles 26 8 1 17 561 584 -23 51 44 4 9 47
13 SU Agen 26 6 0 20 423 709 -286 33 67 0 7 31
14 Stade Montois 26 2 0 24 374 761 -387 22 79 1 7 16

Updated 18 May 2013
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  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.
  9. Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Yellow background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup. Green background (rows 3 and 4) receive home quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) receive away quarter-final play-off places, and will also receive Heineken Cup berths (barring highly unlikely circumstances). Orange background (row 7) indicates team that receives an extra Heineken Cup berth because Toulon won the Heineken Cup. Red background (row 13 and 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Source:ESPN Scrum

Playoffs

  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Final
                           
      1  Clermont 9  
  4  Castres 25     4  Castres 25    
  5  Montpellier 12         4  Castres 19
      2  Toulon 14
      2  Toulon 24    
  3  Toulouse 33     3  Toulouse 9  
  6  Racing Métro 19  

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

Quarter-finals

10 May 2013
21:00
Toulouse 33–19 Racing Métro
Try: Fickou 18' m
Picamoles 54' c
Con: McAllister (1/2)
Pen: McAllister (7/7) 3', 28', 40', 48', 58', 68', 75'
 Try: Matadigo 36' m
Chavancy 55' m
Pen: Wisniewski (3/3) 5', 12', 61'
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Jérôme Garcès
11 May 2013
14:40
Castres 25–12 Montpellier
Try: Claassen 46' c
Con: Kockott (1/1)
Pen: Kockott (5/9) 25', 30', 39', 53', 63'
Drop: Talès (1/1) 13'
 Pen: Paillaugue (4/4) 2', 19', 34', 58'
Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres
Attendance: 11,500
Referee: Romain Poite

Semi-finals

24 May 2013
21:00
Toulon 24–9 Toulouse
Try: Rossouw 2' m
D. Armitage 72' c
Con: Wilkinson (1/2)
Pen: Wilkinson (3/4) 10', 54' 70'
Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 64'
 Report Pen: McAlister (3/3) 6', 30', 43'
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Attendance: 36,726
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère
25 May 2013
16:30
Clermont 9–25 Castres
Pen: Delany (3/3) 28', 46', 59'
 Report Try: Cabannes 63' c
Con: Kockott (1/1)
Pen: Kockott (6/8) 9', 19', 36', 40', 44', 53'

Final

1 June 2013
21:00
Toulon 14–19 Castres
Try: D. Armitage 80'+1 m
Pen: Wilkinson (3/6) 7', 47' 67'
 Report Try: Kockott 40'+1 c
Con: Kockott (1/1)
Pen: Kockott (2/3) 14', 79'
Drop: Talès (2/2) 72', 74'
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,033
Referee: Jérôme Garcès
FB 15England Delon Armitage
RW 14New Zealand Rudi Wulf  65'
OC 13France Mathieu Bastareaud
IC 12Australia Matt Giteau
LW 11France Alexis Palisson
FH 10England Jonny Wilkinson (c)
SH 9 France Frédéric Michalak  50'
N8 8 New Zealand Chris Masoe  70'
OF 7 Argentina Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe
BF 6 South Africa Danie Rossouw  58'
RL 5 England Nick Kennedy
LL 4 South Africa Bakkies Botha
TP 3 New Zealand Carl Hayman  19'  28'
HK 2 France Sébastien Bruno  47'
LP 1 England Andrew Sheridan  66'
Substitutions:
HK 16France Jean-Charles Orioli  47'
PR 17France Xavier Chiocci  66'
LK 18France Jocelino Suta
N8 19England Steffon Armitage  70'
FL 20South Africa Joe van Niekerk  58'
CE 21France Maxime Mermoz  65'
FH 22France Sébastien Tillous-Borde  50'
PR 23Georgia (country) Davit Kubriashvili  19'  28'
Coach:
France Bernard Laporte
FB 15France Brice Dulin
RW 14France Romain Martial
OC 13France Romain Cabannes
IC 12Fiji Seremaia Bai
LW 11France Marc Andreu
FH 10France Rémi Talès (c)  78'
SH 9 France Rory Kockott
N8 8 France Antonie Claassen
OF 7 France Yannick Caballero
BF 6 France Ibrahim Diarra  73'
RL 5 Uruguay Rodrigo Capó Ortega  59'
LL 4 France Christophe Samson
TP 3 New Zealand Karena Wihongi  80'
HK 2 France Brice Mach
LP 1 New Zealand Saimone Taumoepeau  75'
Substitutions:
HK 16France Mathieu Bonello
PR 17France Yannick Forestier  75'
LK 18Samoa Iosefa Tekori  59'
N8 19South Africa Jannie Bornman  73'
FL 20France Romain Teulet
CE 21New Zealand Daniel Kirkpatrick  78'
FH 22France Paul Bonnefond
PR 23Romania Mihaita Lazăr  80'
Coaches:
France Laurent Labit, France Laurent Travers

Touch judges:
Pascal Gaüzère
Sébastien Clouté
Television match official:
Philippe Bonhoure

Statistics

Top points scorers

Updated 11 June 2013

Rank Player Club Position Points Tries Conversions Penalties Drop goals
1 Kockott, RoryRory Kockott Castres Olympique Scrum-half 376 8 33 90 0
2 Wilkinson, JonnyJonny Wilkinson RC Toulon Fly-half 373 0 47 85 8
3 Hook, JamesJames Hook USA Perpignan Fly-half 262 2 21 68 2
4 Lopez, CamilleCamille Lopez Union Bordeaux Bègles Fly-half 232 2 33 49 3
5 Porical, JérômeJérôme Porical Stade Français Fullback 224 0 13 66 0
6 McAlister, LukeLuke McAlister Stade Toulousain Fly-half 222 3 33 47 0
7 Wisniewski, JonathanJonathan Wisniewski Racing Metro 92 Fly-half 191 2 14 49 2
8 Parra, MorganMorgan Parra ASM Clermont Auvergne Scrum-half 186 1 35 37 0
9 Barnard, ConradConrad Barnard SU Agen Fly-half 179 0 10 51 2
10 Paillaugue, BenoîtBenoît Paillaugue Stade Toulousain Fly-half 179 3 13 46 0

Top try scorers

Updated 11 June 2013

Rank Player Club Position Tries
1 Nalaga, NapolioniNapolioni Nalaga ASM Clermont Auvergne Wing 13
2 Fofana, WesleyWesley Fofana ASM Clermont Auvergne Centre 10
3 Clerc, VincentVincent Clerc Stade Toulousain Wing 9
Smith, DavidDavid Smith RC Toulon Wing
5 Kockott, RoryRory Kockott Castres Olympique Scrum-half 8
Matanavou, TimociTimoci Matanavou Stade Toulousain Wing
Nakaitaci, NoaNoa Nakaitaci ASM Clermont Auvergne Wing
Talebula, MetuiselaMetuisela Talebula Union Bordeaux Bègles Fullback
9 Andreu, MarcMarc Andreu Castres Olympique Wing 7
Armitage, SteffonSteffon Armitage RC Toulon Flanker
Giteau, MattMatt Giteau RC Toulon Centre
Martial, RomainRomain Martial Castres Olympique Wing
Nagusa, TimociTimoci Nagusa Montpellier HR Wing
Palisson, AlexisAlexis Palisson RC Toulon Wing
Sivivatu, SitiveniSitiveni Sivivatu ASM Clermont Auvergne Wing

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "2012–13 Calendar". Ligue National de Rugby. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  2. ↑ Chesterman, Barnaby (2 June 2013). "Castres stun Toulon to win French Top 14 title". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Top 14: Toulon-Castres, souviens-toi, il y a vingt ans..." [Top 14: Toulon, Castres, remember, there are twenty ...]. www.lepoint.fr (in French). 1 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Pulze, Stéphane (3 June 2013). "Castres et "la magie du rugby"" [Castres and "the magic of rugby"]. Républicain Lorrain (in French). Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "Les budgets 2012–2013 des clubs du Top 14" [The 2012-2013 budgets clubs Top 14]. www.sport.fr (in French). 19 August 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2012.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Top 14 2012–2013.