2022–23 Top 14 season

2022–23 Top 14
Countries	France
Number of teams	14
Date	3 September 2022 – 17 June 2023
Champions	Toulouse (22nd title)
Runners-up	La Rochelle
Relegated	Brive
Matches played	182
Attendance	2,701,031 (average 14,841 per match)
Highest attendance	43,803 (Toulon v Toulouse, 6 May)
Top point scorer	Joris Segonds (Stade Français) (240)
Top try scorer	Émilien Gailleton (Pau) (14)
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

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

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,^[1] 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.^[2]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:^[2]

• 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.^[3]

Bayonne

Bordeaux Bègles

Brive

Castres

Clermont

La Rochelle

Lyon

Montpellier

Pau

Perpignan

Racing

Stade Français

Toulon

Toulouse

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the 2021–22 Top 14 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.

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

• List of 2022–23 Top 14 transfers
• 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season