Top 14 Standings

Top 14 Rugby Betting Insights

With 26 league-stage matches for each team followed by six-team playoffs, the French Top 14 is regarded as the world’s toughest, most physically demanding domestic rugby tournament.

It’s also the most lucrative, as clubs with rugby’s biggest budgets sign top talent from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands as well as the UK and Ireland, while France’s best players all play in the Top 14. In the 2024-25 season, there were more than 200 foreign players in the league. French clubs attract deep-pocketed investors, with current champions Stade Toulousain – better known as Toulouse – having a budget of €50.3-million for the 2024-25 season.

French club rugby fans are arguably the most passionate in the world, resulting in excellent crowds week in, week out,  while team rivalries are intense.

The winners of the Top 14 are presented with the Bouclier de Brennus (Brennus Shield), named after Charles Brennus, an artist and co-founder of the USFSA, the first governing body of French rugby. In 1892, Brennus himself sculpted the shield based on an original design from his friend and fellow USFSA co-founder Pierre de Coubertin. The Shield, which consists of a brass shield and plaque fixed on a wooden support made of ash, is one metre high, 75 centimetres wide and weighs around 20 kilograms.

BETTING TRENDS

Total points

Matches between attacking, expansive teams like Toulouse and La Rochelle tend to result in higher total points, while those between clubs like Clermont and Castres – who focus on the set-piece and tactical-kicking battles – tend to be lower scoring.

Home-ground advantage

This is a huge factor in the Top 14, with full-strength hosts giving their all in front of their fans and the visitors often understrength or resting first-choice players.  Home teams typically win around 70-75% of their matches.

Margins

With the exception of the 2024 final, in which Toulouse thrashed Bordeaux Bègles 59-3, blowouts are rare in the Top 14 playoffs so betting on margins of 1-8 points is often good value.

Try-scorers

Wings and fullbacks are often good value in matches involving two attacking teams, while loose forwards are a good bet in forward-dominated matches that produce a lot of mauls close to the tryline.

Set piece

With forward dominance often a decisive factor in Top 14 matches, betters should look out for teams that enjoy scrum, lineout and maul success.

Discipline and cards

Be aware of teams with poor disciplinary records as yellow and red cards can determine the outcome of matches. More cards tend to be given in the Top 14 than in other leagues like the URC and English Premiership, as tensions boil over in derby clashes or wet-weather matches.

Fast starters vs late comebacks

Teams like Clermont are known for coming out firing while others like Racing 92 tend to come back strongly in the second half. This helps when betting in half-time or full-time markets.

HISTORY

The Top 14 began in 1892, with the inaugural champions decided by a single match between Racing Club de France and Stade Français. A final was introduced from the 1898-99 season, with regional leagues introduced in 1904, the winners of which qualified for a round of 16 knockout stage. This period was dominated by Stade Bordelais.

Following World War I, Toulouse became the team to beat, winning five titles in the 1920s. That was followed by the rise of Biarritz and Lyon in the 1930s before the championship was again suspended during World War II.

When it resumed, FC Lourdes went on to win seven titles in 15 years, which was followed by Béziers’ golden era in the 1970s that saw them crowned champions 10 times.

Rugby’s shift to professionalism in 1995-96 revolutionised the Top 14. Toulouse dominated the early years of that new era before Biarritz and Stade Français rose to prominence. The latter won five titles between 1998 and 2007.

In the 2010s, Toulon, Clermont and Montpellier joined France’s elite group of clubs, but Toulouse have dominated the league in recent years, winning five of the last six titles, to extend their record tally to 24.

FORMAT

The marathon Top 14 season runs from August to May, with each team playing home and away matches during the league stage, resulting in 26 matches each.

Log points system

• – 4 points for a win
• – 2 points for a draw
• – 1 bonus point for scoring three or more tries than the opposition (unlike other rugby tournaments that award a four-try bonus point)
• – 1 bonus point for losing by five points or fewer (unlike other rugby tournaments’ seven points or fewer)

The  top six teams on the log qualify for the playoffs. The top two are rewarded for their regular-season performance by going straight to the semi-finals, with the other four teams participating in semi-final qualifiers (3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5). Since 1998, the final has been held at the home of French rugby, the 80 000-capacity Stade de France in Paris, except for the 2016 and 2024 deciders that were hosted by Camp Nou in Barcelona and the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille respectively.

Unlike in the United Rugby Championship and English Premiership,  French clubs also face the threat of relegation from the Top 14 to the Pro D2. The last-placed team on the log is automatically relegated, while the 13th-place team meets the Pro D2 runners-up in a promotion-relegation playoff. After the 2024-25 season, bottom-placed Top 14 club Vannes were relegated, with Pro D2 champions Montauban promoted. Perpignan, who finished 13th on the Top 14 log, beat Pro D2 finalists Grenoble 13-11 in the promotion-relegation playoff to keep their top-tier status.

EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION

The top eight teams on the Top 14 log qualify for the Champions Cup with the remaining six participating in the second-tier Challenge Cup. While French clubs often prioritise the Top 14 over European competitions, Toulouse have won a record six Champions Cup titles while La Rochelle recently went back to back.

TEAMS

• Aviron Bayonnais
• Castres Olympique
• Clermont
• Montauban
• Montpellier
• Stade Français Paris
• USA Perpignan
• RC Toulonnais
• Stade Toulousain
• Racing 92
• Stade Rochelais
• Bordeaux Bègles
• Lyon
• Section Paloise

TOP TEAMS

Toulouse

With a record 24 Top 14 titles, Toulouse are the undisputed kings of French rugby. They have won five of the last six tournaments, including the last three finals against La Rochelle (29-26) in 2023, Bordeaux Bègles (59-3) in 2024 and Bordeaux Bègles (39-33) in 2025.

Their current star players include France scrumhalf Antoine Dupont and flyhalf Romain Ntamack, while big foreign signings like former Springbok wing Bryan Habana and ex-All Blacks flank Jerome Kaino made significant contributions in the past.

Toulon

A star-studded Toulon – then owned by French businessman and media mogul Mourad Boudjellal and featuring the likes of England flyhalf Jonny Wilkson and Springbok legends Bryan Habana and Bakkies Botha – won three consecutive Champions Cup titles from 2013 to 2015.

But the strength of the Top 14 is evident by the fact that they could only win the Top 14 once during that period of dominance – in 2014 by beating Castres 18-10 in the final – while losing finals in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017.

While their dominance has waned in recent years, they reached the semi-finals in 2025 after finishing third on the log.

Clermont

Clermont have been one of the most consistent teams in the Top 14, reaching the final on 12 occasions. But they have only twice won the tournament, in 2010 and 2017, after beating Perpignan and Toulon respectively. Clermont have also lost three Champions Cup finals and are yet to be crowned European champions.

Stade Français

Under the ownership of charismatic media mogul Max Guazzini and in striking pink-and-blue kit, Stade Français became a dominant force in French rugby during the late-1990s and 2000s. They won the Top 14 in 1998 for the first time in 90 years when beating Perpignan in the final and also lifted the  Bouclier de Brennus in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2015.

La Rochelle

Under Irish coach Ronan O’Gara, Stade Rochelais – better known as La Rochelle – claimed back-to-back Champions Cup titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. But they have fallen short of Top 14 glory, losing the 2021 and 2023 finals to Toulouse.

Castres

With one of the smallest budgets in the league, Castres exceeded expectations by winning the Top 14 in 2013, 2018 and 2022. They are consistent playoff contenders and finished sixth on the log in the 2024-25 season before losing the semi-final qualifier to eventual champions Toulouse.

BIGGEST RIVALRIES

The Top 14 is full of intense rivalries, some of which have developed in recent years.

• Toulouse vs Toulon: The Top 14’s most successful club against the club that enjoyed a golden era in the 2010s and wants to get back to the top.
• Clermont vs Toulouse: A fierce rivalry that developed after the advent of professionalism in the mid-1990s. Their clashes are often high-scoring, entertaining affairs.
• La Rochelle vs Bordeaux: A developing rivalry between a club that won back-to-back Champions Cup titles and one that were crowned European champions for the first time last season. Both clubs are still chasing a first Top 14 title.
• Castres vs Toulouse: The Derby de l’Occitanie pits the power of Castres up against the flair of Toulouse.
• Bayonne vs Biarritz: While not regularly contested in recent seasons, the Basque Derby provides an electric atmosphere with regional bragging rights up for grabs.

STATS & FACTS

Titles

• 24 – Stade Toulousain (Toulouse) (1912, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1947, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• 14 – Stade Français (1893, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2015)
• 11 – AS Béziers (1961, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984)
• 9 – Union Bordeaux Bègles (1899, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1969, 1991)
• 8 – SU Agen (1930, 1945, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1976, 1982, 1988)
• 8 – FC Lourdes (1948, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1968)
• 7 – USA Perpignan (1914, 1921, 1925, 1938, 1944, 1955, 2009)
• 6 – Racing 92 (1892, 1900, 1902, 1959, 1990, 2016)
• 5 – Castres Olympique (1949, 1950, 1993, 2013, 2018)
• 5 – Biarritz Olympique (1935, 1939, 2002, 2005, 2006)
• 4 – RC Toulon (1931, 1987, 1992, 2014)
• 3 – Aviron Bayonnais (1913, 1934, 1943)
• 3 – Section Paloise (1928, 1946, 1964)
• 2 – Stade Montois (1963, 1990)
• 2 – Stado Tarbes Pyrénées (1920, 1973)
• 2 – RC Narbonne (1936, 1979)
• 2 – Lyon OU (1932, 1933)
• 2 – CA Bordeaux-Bègles (1969, 1991)
• 1 – Montpellier Hérault Rugby (2022)
• 1 – FC Grenoble (1954)
• 1 – FC Lyon (1910)
• 1 – US Quillan (1929)
• 1 – Olympique (1896)
• 1 – US Carmaux (1951)
• 1 – US Montauban (1967)
• 1 – ROC La Voulte-Valence (1970, as La Voulte Sportif)
• 1 – CS Vienne (1937)

Recent winners

• 2024-25: Toulouse
• 2023-24: Toulouse
• 2022-23: Toulouse
• 2021-22: Montpellier
• 2020-21: Toulouse

Club budgets (2024-25 season)

1. Toulouse – €50.372 million
2. Stade Français – €45.355 million
3. Bordeaux-Bègles – €34.154 million
4. Toulon – €38.929 million
5. La Rochelle – €37.347 million
6. Lyon– €40.564 million
7. Clermont – €35.491 million
8. Montpellier – €32.208 million
9. Racing 92 – €30.906 million
10. Pau – €28.420 million
11. Castres– €26.530 million
12. Bayonne – €29.618 million
13. Perpignan – €22.500 million
14. Vannes – €19.000 million

Finals (team)

• Most final appearances: 31 – Toulouse
• Most points in a final: 72  – Toulouse 39 Bordeaux Bègles 33, 2025
• Largest winning margin: 56 – Toulouse 59 Bordeaux Bègles 3, 2024
• Most tries in a final: 9 – Toulouse, 2024

Finals (player)

• Most final wins: 10 – Armand Vaquerin, AS Béziers, 1971-1984
• Most final appearances: 11 – Armand Vaquerin, AS Béziers, 1971-1984
• Most points in a final: 20 – Thomas Ramos, Toulouse, 2024 final

Match

Most points: 33 – Benjamín Urdapilleta, Castres Olympique, 2020-21

Most tries: 11 – Michel Fabre, Béziers, 1979

Fastest try: 10 seconds – Jon Echegaray, Union Bordeaux Bègles

Fastest four-try scoring: 11 minutes – Gabriel Lacroix, La Rochelle, 2016

Career

• Most points: 3,040 – Richard Dourthe
• Most tries: 101 – Vincent Clerc
• Most appearances: 387 – Thibaut Privat