RUGBY TOP 14 LIVE

The Top 14 is a rugby union club competition which is played in France. The Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism of LNR. There is promotion and relegation between the Top 14 and the next level down, the Rugby Pro D2. The fourteen best rugby teams in France participate in the competition, hence the name Top 14, though the competition was previously known as the Top 16.The first ever final took place in 1892, between two Paris-based sides, Stade Français and Racing Club, with the latter becoming the inaugural champions. The competition has been held on an annual basis since, with the exception being between 1915 and 1919 because of World War I. The current champions are Clermont.

The 2009–10 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It began on August 14, 2009 with a match between Toulon and Stade Français at Stade Mayol in Toulon, and continued through to the final at the Stade de France on May 29, 2010. This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Racing Métro, winners of the 2009 title in the second-level Pro D2, and Albi, victors in the 2009 promotion playoffs between the second- through fifth-placed teams in Pro D2, thus becoming the first team to achieve promotion to the Top 14 only one year after being relegated. They took the place of the two clubs from Landes, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, relegated at the end of the 2008–09 Top 14. Mont-de-Marsan, which had been promoted to the Top 14 for 2008–09, finished bottom of the table and went down. The other newly promoted team in 2008–09, Toulon, finished ninth, sending Dax, who had already finished second-to-bottom the previous season before being allowed to stay in the Top 14 due to Albi's financial troubles, to Pro D2. The two teams promoted for 2009–10 had very different results. Albi finished bottom of the table by a wide margin and went directly back to Pro D2. Racing Métro, on the other hand, finished sixth, giving them a berth in the newly expanded playoffs and a place in the 2010–11 Heineken Cup. Bayonne finished in the other relegation spot of 13th place, but were reprieved due to the financial problems of 12th-place Montauban. The season ended with Clermont winning their first French national title in their nearly century-long history, defeating defending champions Perpignan 19–6 in a rematch of last season's final. This result ended decades of frustration for Les Jaunards and their supporters, who had previously tasted defeat in all 10 of their previous final-game appearances.

Week 1 - French Top 14 Rugby

Date : 13-08-2010
Time : from 17:00 until 19:00 (GMT/UK/UTC)
Toulon vs Aviron Bayonnais
French Rugby Top 14 (National League)

The 2009–10 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It began on August 14, 2009 with a match between Toulon and Stade Français at Stade Mayol in Toulon, and continued through to the final at the Stade de France on May 29, 2010. This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Racing Métro, winners of the 2009 title in the second-level Pro D2, and Albi, victors in the 2009 promotion playoffs between the second- through fifth-placed teams in Pro D2, thus becoming the first team to achieve promotion to the Top 14 only one year after being relegated. They took the place of the two clubs from Landes, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, relegated at the end of the 2008–09 Top 14. Mont-de-Marsan, which had been promoted to the Top 14 for 2008–09, finished bottom of the table and went down. The other newly promoted team in 2008–09, Toulon, finished ninth, sending Dax, who had already finished second-to-bottom the previous season before being allowed to stay in the Top 14 due to Albi's financial troubles, to Pro D2. The two teams promoted for 2009–10 had very different results. Albi finished bottom of the table by a wide margin and went directly back to Pro D2. Racing Métro, on the other hand, finished sixth, giving them a berth in the newly expanded playoffs and a place in the 2010–11 Heineken Cup. Bayonne finished in the other relegation spot of 13th place, but were reprieved due to the financial problems of 12th-place Montauban. The season ended with Clermont winning their first French national title in their nearly century-long history, defeating defending champions Perpignan 19–6 in a rematch of last season's final. This result ended decades of frustration for Les Jaunards and their supporters, who had previously tasted defeat in all 10 of their previous final-game appearances.

The 2009–10 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It began on August 14, 2009 with a match between Toulon and Stade Français at Stade Mayol in Toulon, and continued through to the final at the Stade de France on May 29, 2010. This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Racing Métro, winners of the 2009 title in the second-level Pro D2, and Albi, victors in the 2009 promotion playoffs between the second- through fifth-placed teams in Pro D2, thus becoming the first team to achieve promotion to the Top 14 only one year after being relegated. They took the place of the two clubs from Landes, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, relegated at the end of the 2008–09 Top 14. Mont-de-Marsan, which had been promoted to the Top 14 for 2008–09, finished bottom of the table and went down. The other newly promoted team in 2008–09, Toulon, finished ninth, sending Dax, who had already finished second-to-bottom the previous season before being allowed to stay in the Top 14 due to Albi's financial troubles, to Pro D2. The two teams promoted for 2009–10 had very different results. Albi finished bottom of the table by a wide margin and went directly back to Pro D2. Racing Métro, on the other hand, finished sixth, giving them a berth in the newly expanded playoffs and a place in the 2010–11 Heineken Cup. Bayonne finished in the other relegation spot of 13th place, but were reprieved due to the financial problems of 12th-place Montauban. The season ended with Clermont winning their first French national title in their nearly century-long history, defeating defending champions Perpignan 19–6 in a rematch of last season's final. This result ended decades of frustration for Les Jaunards and their supporters, who had previously tasted defeat in all 10 of their previous final-game appearances.