2008–09 Top 14 season

2008–09 Top 14 season
Countries	France
Champions	Perpignan (7th title)
Runners-up	Clermont
Relegated	Dax Mont-de-Marsan
Matches played	185
Attendance	2,355,932 (average 12,735 per match)
Tries scored	610 (average 3.297 per match)
Top point scorer	Brock James (324)
Top try scorer	Napolioni Nalaga (21)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Top 14 Competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It ran from late August 2008 through the final at Stade de France on June 6, 2009, in which Perpignan lifted the Bouclier de Brennus with a 22–13 win over Clermont.

This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Toulon, winners of the 2008 title in the second-level Pro D2, and Mont-de-Marsan, victors in the 2008 promotion playoffs between the second- through fifth-place teams in Pro D2. They took the place of Auch and Albi, relegated at the end of the 2007–08 Top 14. Auch, which had been promoted to the Top 14 for 2007–08, finished bottom of the table and went down. The other newly promoted team in 2007–08, Dax, finished second-from-bottom, but were reprieved when French sporting authorities forcibly relegated 12th-place Albi to Pro D2 due to financial issues.

Season synopsis

While the four playoff teams—Perpignan, Toulouse, Clermont, and Stade Français—separated themselves from the pack fairly early in the season, it was Toulouse who were the form team in the first half of the season; they had a Top 14-record streak of 11 wins from Round 5 through Round 15. However, Perpignan surged in the second half of the season, finishing level with Toulouse on the season log; the Catalans claimed the top seed on the first tiebreaker of head-to-head competition points. Biarritz used a late-season surge to claim fifth place, while the final Heineken Cup berth was ultimately decided in the final round, when Brive's draw with Bourgoin combined with Bayonne's win over Stade Français without a bonus point left Brive and Bayonne level on the log; Brive won on the second tiebreaker of head-to-head scoring.

At the other end of the ladder, Mont-de-Marsan were rarely competitive and finished bottom. The second relegation place finally fell on Dax, after Bourgoin, Castres, and the highly ambitious Toulon spent time in relegation trouble.

For much of the season, Bourgoin faced another type of relegation trouble—financial. At the end of each season, all teams in both divisions of LNR must pass a financial audit conducted by DNACG (Direction nationale d'aide et de contrôle de gestion), LNR's financial arm, to be able to keep their professional licenses. The club were able to satisfy DNACG that they had sufficient financial guarantees to participate in Top 14 and were thus allowed to stay in the top flight.^[1]

Second division: 2008–09 Rugby Pro D2 season

Competition format

Each club plays every other club twice. The second half of the season is conducted in the same order as the first, with the club at home in the first half of the season away in the second. As in previous seasons, the top four clubs at the end of the home-and-away season advanced to a single-elimination playoff. The semifinals were held at neutral sites on May 29 and 30, with the final at Stade de France on June 6.

Going into the season, the top six clubs were guaranteed of berths in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup, with the possibility of a seventh if a French club had advanced further in the 2008–09 Heineken Cup than any team from England or Italy. However, the seventh French berth did not materialize this season, as the only Top 14 club to make the knockout stage, Toulouse, were eliminated in the quarterfinals, while England's Leicester Tigers reached the final (where they lost to Irish side Leinster). The sixth-place team would have been relegated to the 2009–10 European Challenge Cup if 11th-place Bourgoin had won the 2008–09 Challenge Cup final on 22 May; however, Bourgoin were defeated by English side Northampton Saints.

The bottom two teams are provisionally relegated to Pro D2, with the possibility of one or both of the bottom teams to be reprieved if a team above them fails a postseason financial audit (mandatory for all clubs in the league).

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,^[2] a system that also makes it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for 2008-09.^[3]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:^[3]

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 7 points (or less).

Table

Key to colors
	League champions; receive a place in the 2009-10 Heineken Cup.
	Remaining participants in playoffs also receive places in the 2009-10 Heineken Cup.
	Fifth and sixth places also receive automatic Heineken Cup berths.
	Bottom two teams provisionally relegated to Rugby Pro D2.

	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Bonus points	Points
2008-09 Top 14 Table
1	Perpignan	26	20	1	5	615	374	10	92
2	Toulouse	26	21	0	5	594	324	8	92
3	Clermont	26	16	1	9	752	367	17	83
4	Stade Français	26	16	1	9	622	450	12	78
5	Biarritz	26	15	0	11	516	398	11	71
6	Brive	26	13	4	9	481	481	6	66
7	Bayonne	26	14	2	10	475	481	6	66
8	Montauban	26	10	2	14	485	572	9	53
9	Toulon	26	9	2	15	409	488	11	51
10	Montpellier	26	11	0	15	408	568	6	50
11	Bourgoin	26	8	2	16	451	599	10	46
12	Castres	26	7	3	16	473	537	10	44
13	Dax	26	7	1	18	375	632	7	37
14	Mont-de-Marsan	26	5	1	20	325	730	7	29

If clubs are level on competition points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Head-to-head competition points earned.
Points differential in head-to-head matches.
Difference between tries scored and tries conceded in head-to-head matches.
Points differential in all matches.
Difference between tries scored and tries conceded in all matches.
Number of points scored in all matches.
Number of tries scored in all matches.
Number of forfeited matches
Final classification in the last Top 14 regular season.
Fewer red cards issued during the season.

Tiebreakers were needed to determine two placements:

Perpignan finished first on the ladder, ahead of Toulouse, based on a 5–4 edge in head-to-head competition points; Toulouse scored a regular win against Perpignan in Round 6, while Perpignan picked up a bonus-point win in the return match in Round 19.
Brive edged out Bayonne for sixth place, and ultimately the final Heineken Cup berth. In Round 8, Bayonne defeated Brive 14–9 at home. In the return match in Round 21, Brive won 13–6 at home. Since both losing teams picked up bonus points, the tiebreaker went to head-to-head point differential, in which Brive had a two-point edge.

Schedule and results

From the official Top 14 site.^[4] Within each weekend, matches are listed in the following order:

By date.
If matches are held on the same day, by kickoff time.
Otherwise, in alphabetic order of home club.

All times CET.

Rounds 1 to 5

Round 1

26 August, 19:00 — Biarritz 29 - 22 (1 BP) Bourgoin
26 August, 19:00 — Castres (1 BP) 26 - 27 Bayonne
26 August, 19:00 — Dax 9 - 31 (1 BP) Stade Français
26 August, 19:00 — Montauban (1 BP) 37 - 19 Mont-de-Marsan
26 August, 19:00 — Montpellier 16 - 11 (1 BP) Toulouse
26 August, 19:00 — Perpignan 34 - 18 Brive
26 August, 21:00 — Toulon 22 - 16 (1 BP) Clermont

Round 2

30 August, 14:30 — Bayonne 22 - 20 (1 BP) Montauban
30 August, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 43 - 20 Montpellier
30 August, 14:30 — Stade Français 27 - 22 Mont-de-Marsan
30 August, 14:30 — Toulon 3 - 3 Brive
30 August, 14:30 — Toulouse 25 - 20 (1 BP) Dax
30 August, 16:45 — Biarritz 32 - 17 Castres
30 August, 20:30 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 16 - 22 Perpignan

Round 3

5 September, 20:30 — Bayonne 17 - 6 Clermont
6 September, 14:30 — Brive 16 - 16 Castres
6 September, 14:30 — Dax (1 BP) 6 - 9 Montpellier
6 September, 14:30 — Montauban 18 - 14 (1 BP) Bourgoin
6 September, 16:30 — Perpignan 11 - 26 Stade Français
6 September, 20:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 25 - 18 (1 BP) Toulon
7 September, 20:00 — Toulouse (1 BP) 20 - 6 Biarritz (at Stadium Municipal)

Round 4

12 September, 20:30 — Toulon (1 BP) 13 - 19 Stade Français
13 September, 14:30 — Bourgoin 18 - 6 Mont-de-Marsan
13 September, 14:30 — Castres 11 - 19 Dax
13 September, 14:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 32 - 10 Montauban
13 September, 14:30 — Perpignan (1 BP) 38 - 10 Bayonne
13 September, 16:30 — Clermont 16 - 6 Toulouse
13 September, 20:30 — Biarritz 24 - 5 Brive

Round 5

19 September, 20:30 — Dax 30 - 18 Biarritz
20 September, 14:30 — Bayonne 19 - 15 (1 BP) Mont-de-Marsan
20 September, 14:30 — Castres 12 - 6 (1 BP) Clermont
20 September, 14:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 37 - 16 Brive
20 September, 14:30 — Toulon 15 - 9 (1 BP) Bourgoin
20 September, 16:30 — Montauban 10 - 41 (1 BP) Toulouse
20 September, 20:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 3 - 5 Perpignan

Rounds 6 to 10

Round 6

26 September, 20:30 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 25 - 32 Stade Français (at Stade des Alpes, Grenoble)
27 September, 14:30 — Brive (1 BP) 41 - 9 Dax
27 September, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 32 - 6 Biarritz
27 September, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan (1 BP) 16 - 22 Montpellier
27 September, 14:30 — Montauban 24 - 23 (1 BP) Castres
27 September, 16:30 — Toulouse 30 - 20 Perpignan
27 September, 20:30 — Bayonne 19 - 15 (1 BP) Toulon

Round 7

3 October, 20:30 — Castres 10 - 28 Toulouse
4 October, 14:30 — Biarritz (1 BP) 46 - 3 Montpellier
4 October, 14:30 — Brive (1 BP) 53 - 11 Mont-de-Marsan
4 October, 14:30 — Perpignan 37 - 12 Toulon
4 October, 14:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 34 - 16 Montauban
4 October, 16:30 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 23 - 30 Clermont
4 October, 20:30 — Dax 27 - 17 Bayonne

Round 8

24 October, 20:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 6 - 33 (1 BP) Biarritz
25 October, 14:30 — Bayonne 14 - 9 (1 BP) Brive
25 October, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 25 - 30 (1 BP) Montauban
- This was the first Top 14 match to see both teams earn bonus points since LNR adopted its revised bonus points system in the 2007-08 season.
25 October, 14:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 12 - 19 Bourgoin
25 October, 14:30 — Perpignan 17 - 6 Dax
25 October, 16:30 — Stade Français 13 - 26 Toulouse (at Stade de France)
25 October, 20:30 — Toulon (1 BP) 17 - 21 Castres

Round 9

31 October, 18:30 — Montauban (1 BP) 42 - 20 Toulon
1 November, 14:30 — Castres (1 BP) 28 - 31 Montpellier
1 November, 14:30 — Dax 32 - 10 Bourgoin
1 November, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 7 - 31 (1 BP) Perpignan
1 November, 14:30 — Toulouse 21 - 15 (1 BP) Brive
1 November, 16:30 — Clermont 22 - 6 Stade Français
1 November, 20:30 — Biarritz (1 BP) 12 -14 Bayonne

Round 10

14 November, 20:30 — Montpellier 26 - 13 Stade Français
15 November, 14:30 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 9 - 13 Bayonne
15 November, 14:30 — Castres 26 - 3 Mont-de-Marsan
15 November, 14:30 — Dax 20 - 20 Montauban
15 November, 14:30 — Toulouse 19 - 18 (1 BP) Toulon
15 November, 16:30 — Brive 18 - 16 (1 BP) Clermont
15 November, 20:45 — Perpignan (1 BP) 27 - 12 Biarritz

Rounds 11 to 15

Round 11

21 November, 19:00 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 12 - 18 Toulouse
21 November, 21:00 — Stade Français 19 - 12 (1 BP) Castres
22 November, 14:30 — Bayonne (1 BP) 42 - 9 Montpellier
22 November, 14:30 — Brive 33 - 28 (1 BP) Montauban
22 November, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 12 - 6 Dax
22 November, 14:30 — Toulon 10 - 5 (1 BP) Biarritz
22 November, 16:30 — Clermont 29 - 9 Perpignan

Round 12

28 November, 20:35 — Toulouse 32 - 11 Bayonne
29 November, 14:30 — Castres 9 - 23 Bourgoin
29 November, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 12 - 11 (1 BP) Clermont
29 November, 14:30 — Montauban (1 BP) 6 - 9 Perpignan
29 November, 14:30 — Toulon (1 BP) 6 - 13 Dax
29 November, 16:30 — Biarritz 13 - 32 (1 BP) Stade Français
29 November, 20:45 — Montpellier 9 - 22 Brive

Round 13

19 December, 20:35 — Dax (1 BP) 16 - 20 Clermont
20 December, 14:30 — Brive 20 - 12 Bourgoin
20 December, 14:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 33 - 8 Toulon
20 December, 14:30 — Perpignan 16 - 9 (1 BP) Castres
20 December, 14:30 — Toulouse (1 BP) 27 - 6 Mont-de-Marsan
20 December, 16:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 35 - 8 Bayonne
20 December, 20:35 — Montauban 19 - 12 (1 BP) Biarritz

Round 14

2 January, 20:35 — Bayonne 13 - 13 Castres
3 January, 14:30 — Bourgoin 15 - 14 (1 BP) Biarritz
3 January, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 16 - 13 (1 BP) Montauban
3 January, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 32 - 5 Toulon
3 January, 14:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 56 - 15 Dax
3 January, 16:30 — Toulouse (1 BP) 34 - 0 Montpellier
4 January, 20:45 — Brive (1 BP) 15 - 18 Perpignan

Round 15

9 January, 20:35 — Dax 9 - 25 Toulouse
- Toulouse win their 11th consecutive Top 14 match, breaking the previous record of 10 set last season by Clermont.
10 January, 14:30 — Castres (1 BP) 9 - 10 Biarritz
10 January, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan (1 BP) 6 - 13 Stade Français
10 January, 14:30 — Montauban 15 - 13 (1 BP) Bayonne
10 January, 14:30 — Perpignan (1 BP) 40 - 14 Bourgoin
10 January, 16:30 — Montpellier 3 - 30 (1 BP) Clermont
10 January, 20:35 — Brive 19 - 9 Toulon

Rounds 16 to 20

Round 16

30 January, 20:35 — Toulon (1 BP) 38 - 22 Mont-de-Marsan
31 January, 14:30 — Biarritz 17 - 13 (1 BP) Toulouse
- Toulouse's Top 14-record win streak of 11 ends.
31 January, 14:30 — Bourgoin 25 - 15 Montauban
31 January, 14:30 — Castres 11 - 11 Brive
31 January, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 44 - 10 Bayonne
31 January, 14:30 — Montpellier 23 - 14 Dax
31 January, 16:30 — Stade Français 13 - 13 Perpignan (at Stade de France)

Round 17

20 February, 20:35 — Stade Français 22 - 12 Toulon
21 February, 14:30 — Brive 19 - 15 (1 BP) Biarritz
21 February, 14:30 — Dax 16 - 32 (1 BP) Castres
21 February, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 16 - 16 Bourgoin
21 February, 14:30 — Montauban 27 - 19 Montpellier
21 February, 16:30 — Bayonne 19 - 12 (1 BP) Perpignan
22 February, 16:30 — Toulouse 20 - 13 (1 BP) Clermont

Round 18

27 February, 19:00 — Bourgoin 12 - 23 (1 BP) Toulon
28 February, 14:15 — Brive 26 - 11 Stade Français
28 February, 14:30 — Biarritz (1 BP) 44 - 13 Dax
28 February, 14:30 — Clermont 43 - 20 Castres
28 February, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan (1 BP) 30 - 37 Bayonne
28 February, 14:30 — Perpignan (1 BP) 50 - 13 Montpellier
28 February, 20:35 — Toulouse 9 - 6 (1 BP) Montauban

Round 19

6 March, 21:00 — Perpignan (1 BP) 32 - 8 Toulouse
7 March, 14:30 — Castres 31 - 19 Montauban
7 March, 14:30 — Dax (1 BP) 15 - 17 Brive
7 March, 14:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 33 - 6 Mont-de-Marsan
7 March, 14:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 53 - 3 Bourgoin
7 March, 16:30 — Biarritz 18 - 14 (1 BP) Clermont
7 March, 20:35 — Toulon 3 - 3 Bayonne

Round 20

13 March, 20:35 — Montauban 22 - 16 (1 BP) Stade Français
14 March, 14:15 — Toulouse 26 - 11 Castres
14 March, 14:30 — Bayonne 14 - 9 (1 BP) Dax
14 March, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 57 - 23 Bourgoin
14 March, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan (1 BP) 16 - 18 Brive
14 March, 14:30 — Toulon (1 BP) 29 - 32 Perpignan
14 March, 20:35 — Montpellier 12 - 9 (1 BP) Biarritz

Rounds 21 to 26

Round 21

27 March, 20:35 — Castres 25 - 9 Toulon
28 March, 14:30 — Biarritz (1 BP) 37 - 7 Mont-de-Marsan
28 March, 14:30 — Bourgoin 22 - 3 Montpellier
28 March, 14:30 — Dax (1 BP) 13 - 16 Perpignan
28 March, 14:30 — Montauban 19 - 19 Clermont
28 March, 16:30 — Brive 13 - 6 (1 BP) Bayonne
29 March, 20:35 — Toulouse 15 - 11 (1 BP) Stade Français

Round 22

3 April, 20:35 — Bourgoin (1 BP) 43 - 6 Dax
4 April, 14:30 — Brive 10 - 42 (1 BP) Toulouse
4 April, 14:30 — Montpellier (1 BP) 21 - 23 Castres
4 April, 14:30 — Perpignan (1 BP) 44 - 3 Mont-de-Marsan
4 April, 14:30 — Toulon 33 - 20 Montauban
4 April, 16:30 — Stade Français (1 BP) 19 - 21 Clermont (at Stade de France)
4 April, 20:35 — Bayonne (1 BP) 15 - 19 Biarritz

Round 23

17 April, 20:35 — Biarritz 12 - 10 Perpignan (1 BP)
18 April, 14:30 — Bayonne (1 BP) 61 - 10 Bourgoin
18 April, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 52 - 7 Brive
18 April, 14:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 21 - 15 Castres (1 BP)
18 April, 14:30 — Stade Français 24 - 15 Montpellier
18 April, 16:30 — Toulon 14 - 6 Toulouse (at Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
18 April, 20:35 — Montauban (1 BP) 15 - 20 Dax

Round 24

24 April, 20:35 — Castres (1 BP) 16 - 21 Stade Français
25 April, 14:30 — Biarritz 19 - 12 (1 BP) Toulon
25 April, 14:30 — Montauban 15 - 10 (1 BP) Brive
25 April, 14:30 — Montpellier 20 - 11 Bayonne
25 April, 14:30 — Toulouse 13 - 6 (1 BP) Bourgoin
25 April, 16:30 — Perpignan 20 - 16 (1 BP) Clermont
25 April, 20:35 — Dax 12 - 8 (1 BP) Mont-de-Marsan

Round 25

8 May, 20:35 — Dax 12 - 22 Toulon
9 May, 14:30 — Bourgoin 31 - 23 Castres
9 May, 14:30 — Brive 28 - 18 Montpellier
9 May, 14:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 66 - 3 Mont-de-Marsan
9 May, 14:30 — Perpignan (1 BP) 19 - 9 Montauban
9 May, 16:30 — Bayonne (1 BP) 9 - 12 Toulouse
10 May, 20:45 — Stade Français (1 BP) 12 - 16 Biarritz

Round 26

16 May, 16:30 — Bayonne 31 - 27 (1 BP) Stade Français
16 May, 16:30 — Biarritz (1 BP) 38 - 10 Montauban
16 May, 16:30 — Bourgoin 19 - 19 Brive
16 May, 16:30 — Castres (1 BP) 26 - 32 Perpignan
16 May, 16:30 — Clermont (1 BP) 73 - 3 Dax
16 May, 16:30 — Mont-de-Marsan 8 - 60 (1 BP) Toulouse
16 May, 16:30 — Toulon (1 BP) 23 - 3 Montpellier

Semi-finals

29 May 2009
20:45 CEST

Toulouse	9 – 19	Clermont
Pen: Elissalde (3/3) 21', 26', 31'	Report	Try: James 12' c Con: James (1/1) Pen: James (2/3) 4', 63' Baby (2/2) 28', 45'

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Attendance: 32,824
Referee: Christophe Berdos

30 May 2009
16:30 CEST

Perpignan	25 – 21	Stade Français
Tries: Porical 24' c Mermoz 48' c Candelon 62' m Con: Porical (2/3) Pen: Porical (2/6) 5', 36'	Report	Tries: Beauxis 50' m Parisse 69' c Con: Beauxis (1/2) Pen: Beauxis (2/4) 33', 55' Drop: Beauxis 12'

Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Attendance: 40,377
Referee: Jérôme Garces

Final

6 June 2009
20:45 CEST

Perpignan	22 – 13	Clermont
Try: Marty 45' c Con: Porical (1/1) Pen: Porical (4/4) 40', 49, 61', 64' Drop: Hume 15'	Report	Try: Nalaga 10' c Con: James (1/1) Pen: James (2/3) 19', 55'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 79,205
Referee: Jean-Pierre Matheu


FB	15	Jérôme Porical
RW	14	Farid Sid
OC	13	David Marty	75'
IC	12	Maxime Mermoz
LW	11	Julien Candelon	78'
FH	10	Gavin Hume
SH	9	Nicolas Durand	75'
N8	8	Damien Chouly
OF	7	Jean-Pierre Pérez
BF	6	Grégory Le Corvec	57'
RL	5	Olivier Olibeau	65'
LL	4	Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis
TP	3	Nicolas Mas (c)	78'
HK	2	Marius Tincu	59'
LP	1	Perry Freshwater	59'
Replacements:
HK	16	Guilhem Guirado	59'
PR	17	Kisi Pulu	59'
LK	18	Guillaume Vilaceca	65'
FL	19	Gerrie Britz	57'
SH	20	David Mélé	75'
CE	21	Jean-Philippe Grandclaude	75'
WG	22	Philip Burger	78'
PR	23	Sebastian Bozzi	78'
	Coach: Jacques Brunel


FB	15	Anthony Floch
RW	14	Benoît Baby
OC	13	Aurélien Rougerie (c)
IC	12	Gonzalo Canale
LW	11	Napolioni Vonowale Nalaga	77'
FH	10	Brock James
SH	9	Pierre Mignoni
N8	8	Julien Bonnaire
OF	7	Alexandre Audebert
BF	6	Jamie Cudmore	50'
RL	5	Thibaut Privat	55'
LL	4	Julien Pierre
TP	3	Martín Scelzo	30'
HK	2	Mario Ledesma	65'
LP	1	Thomas Domingo	74'
Replacements:
HK	16	Benoît Cabello	65'
PR	17	Laurent Emmanuelli	74'
LK	18	Loïc Jacquet	55'
N8	19	Elvis Vermeulen	50'
SH	20	John Senio
FH	21	Seremaia Bai	77'
CE	22	Pierre-Emmanuel Garcia
PR	23	Davit Zirakashvili	30'
	Coach: Vern Cotter

Notes and references

↑ "Bourgoin reste parmi l'élite" (in French). L'Équipe. 2009-06-12. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
↑ "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 2007-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
1 2 "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain"" (PDF). Reglements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel (in French). Ligue Nationale de Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
↑ "TOP 14 Calendrier – Saison 2008-2009" (PDF) (in French). Ligue nationale de rugby. Retrieved 2008-07-27.

(French) "Ligue Nationale de Rugby". lnr.fr. Accessed July 27, 2008.

External links

(French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby - Official website
Top 14 on Planetrugby.com
Top 14 - 2008/2009 on itsrugby.co.uk

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Competitions

International	World Cup Six Nations Rugby World Cup Sevens World Rugby Sevens Series Sevens Grand Prix Series

Professional clubs	European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup National Rugby League (France) Top 14 Pro D2 Fédérale 1 Fédérale 2 Fédérale 3 Challenge Yves du Manoir

Rugby union schedule for 2008
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
H. Cup	Six Nations Championship		Heineken Cup		Mid-Year Tests				H. Cup	End of year Int'ls	H. Cup
Guinness Premiership								Guinness Premiership
Celtic League								Celtic League
Top 14							Top 14
			Shute Shield
					Currie Cup
Sevens											Sevens
			Pacific Rugby Cup		Churchill Cup	Air New Zealand Cup
	Super 14				Pacific Nations Cup	Tri Nations

Rugby union schedule for 2009
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
H. Cup	Six Nations Championship		Heineken Cup		Mid-Year Tests				H. Cup	End of year Int'ls	H. Cup
				British & Irish Lions Tour
English Premiership								English Premiership
Celtic League								Celtic League
Top 14							Top 14
Top League							Top League
			Shute Shield
						Currie Cup
Sevens											Sevens
		World Cup Sevens	Pacific Rugby Cup		Churchill Cup	Air New Zealand Cup
	Super 14				Pacific Nations Cup	Tri Nations

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