Advertisement
From the highs and the drama of the Stade de France last Saturday, the attention of French rugby enthusiasts turns to domestic matters and the grind of the Top 14. France’s (and the world’s?) premier club competition is often referred to as a ‘grind’, and at points like this it is easy to see why. So far, 18 rounds have been completed (the same as an entire regular league season in the PREM or the URC), and yet there are still eight rounds to go. Round 19 comes after a break of two whole weekends, one of the longer breaks in the season; rest weekends are few and far between for rugby players in the Top 14. Such is the relentlessness of the competition, any of France’s heroes from Saint-Denis last weekend will be pressed into action for their clubs immediately.
The 2025-2026 Top14 season has been as fiercely competitive as ever. Toulouse, unsurprisingly, are clear at the top of the table. Montauban are starting to be cut adrift at the foot of the table. But other than that, the league has been typically unpredictable. Much like the Six Nations we’ve just witnessed, anyone can beat anyone, and it feels like each team has been in the ascendancy at some point, and facing existential crisis at others.
With nearly a third of the season still to go, there are still many questions that still need to be answered. So here is everything you need to know about the Top 14 season so far and what to expect from the business end.
For the top spot, no. Even with their 2 point deduction for financial indiscretions, Toulouse are 12 points ahead of the rest. They are 10 from 10 at home, with nine attacking bonus points, having scored a round 500 points for a points difference of 338 points. They do only have three home games remaining, but 12 points is too much of a gap, so they should cruise through to the semi finals.
Their Champions Cup form shows that they are slightly more fallible than they have been in the past, so a fourth consecutive Brennus Shield - an achievement that has never been achieved in the previous 133 years of the French Championship - is not guaranteed.
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Stade Toulousain | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 365 | 11 | 67 | W W W W L |
| 2 |  Section Paloise | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 81 | 7 | 55 | W L W L L |
| 3 |  Montpellier Hérault Rugby | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 171 | 11 | 53 | W W W L W |
| 4 |  ASM Clermont Auvergne | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 129 | 7 | 51 | W W L W W |
| 5 |  Union Bordeaux Bègles | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 108 | 10 | 50 | L W W L W |
| 6 |  Stade Français Paris | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 65 | 11 | 49 | W L L W W |
| 7 |  RC Toulon | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | -71 | 7 | 45 | D L L W L |
| 8 |  Racing 92 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | -44 | 3 | 45 | L W W W L |
| 9 |  Castres Olympique | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | -70 | 6 | 42 | L L W W L |
| 10 |  Stade Rochelais | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 64 | 9 | 41 | W L L L W |
| 11 |  Lyon | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 39 | D W W L W |
| 12 |  Aviron Bayonnais | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | -128 | 4 | 36 | L L L L L |
| 13 |  USA Perpignan | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | -167 | 2 | 18 | L W L W W |
| 14 |  US Montauban | 18 | 1 | 16 | 1 | -522 | 1 | 07 | L L L L L |
Toulouse making the final once again is certainly probable rather than possible, but whether Bordeaux can make it a third year in a row is less certain. Union Bordeaux Bègles showed in the Champions Cup that they remain one of the best sides in Europe and they are probably still one of the best two sides in France.
UBB are currently sitting in 5th, having had an up and down time of it in the league. After a sticky start domestically, it looked like they had used their Champions Cup campaign to click into gear, but have still put in the odd indifferent performance here and there. Despite having a squad that is big and deep, they can underwhelm when they don’t have all of their star French internationals on the pitch together. In that regard, Nicolas Depoortère’s season-ending shoulder injury sustained against Scotland is a big blow.
They do have a decent fixture list at the back end of the season, although you’d think they will also have at least a couple of rounds of Champions Cup action to focus on. All roads would appear to lead to a potential home Quarter Final in the Champions Cup against Toulouse. The outcome of that would/could have a big say on the rest of the season and the narrative as the sides go into the domestic playoffs.
UBB have possibly just too much to do to secure 2nd place and will likely have to go through the Barrage to reach a 3rd successive final but you’d back them over most in a knockout game. A repeat of the last two finals still feels like the likeliest outcome.
With Toulouse all-but guaranteed top spot, everyone else is fighting it out for the coveted second place in the league table. By finishing as runners up at the end of the regular season, one side will secure themselves a valuable bye-week in the playoffs, avoiding the Barrages and skipping straight to the semi finals (hosted in Marseille this year).
One of the stories of the season has been Section Paloise (or Pau), who have sat in the top two places for all but two of the 18 rounds so far and their 12 wins are the second highest in the league. A youthful side that is still work in progress, their publicly stated aim at the start of the season was to reach the playoffs, so they appear to be ahead of schedule. This season they have allied their youthful exuberance and exhilarating pace with an excellent line out and a bit more grunt up front. They have struggled slightly more through the winter months, typical of them in seasons past, and they still struggle to match the heavier scrummaging sides.
Their biggest threats in the race for 2nd place are likely to be Clermont or Stade Français. Montpellier might be their nearest challengers currently, and they boast the second meanest defence in the league, but they have a tough looking set of fixtures. They have fewer home games than their rivals, and their away games look tough. Most notably they travel to Clermont and Toulouse in the next two weeks before restarting their bid for another Challenge Cup title. They will do well to challenge for second place.
Clermont enter the run-in as one of the form teams. They have developed their attacking game massively and, in Harry Plummer, they have arguably the player of the season so far. Similar to Montpellier though, they have a tough set of fixtures: five of their remaining eight games are against the current top 6, four of them away from home.
Stade Français, who finished 2nd a couple of seasons ago, have a comparatively favourable set of fixtures and have shown much more on the road than last year. They are, in fact, the only team to deny Toulouse an attacking bonus point at Stade Ernest Wallon this season.
How the changing of the seasons impacts these teams will also be fascinating. Montpellier, Clermont and Stade Français have all built their game plan on a big scrum, strong defence, and a direct, abrasive forward pack. Clermont have played some wonderful attacking rugby, particularly at home, this season, but you wonder whether the more limited game plans of Montpellier and Stade Français will be able to keep up with the pace of the others as the season reaches its conclusion.
The gap between 6th and 7th place is actually the largest it's been at this stage of the season for five years. A four-point gap is clearly far from insurmountable with eight rounds to go, and plenty of sides will still harbour real aspirations of making a late surge for the Barrage play-off spots. However, the way the fixtures fall in the run-in means that the final make-up of the Barragistes feels more locked in at this point in the season than usual (although you can never be too certain of anything in domestic French rugby).
The side with perhaps the best shot at a play off place is Racing 92. Last year was the first time they had missed out on the Barrage since their return to the Top 14 in 2009. However, it is not just history that they have on their side. More importantly, they are the only side in contention for the playoffs with five home games in their final eight fixtures. On top of this, their final home game is against Toulouse (who may well have their feet up by then in anticipation of knockout rugby), and one of their three away games is at bottom side Montauban. They have found a formula under Head Coach Patrice Collazo - the ‘Big Sam’ of the Top 14 - with a giant forward pack, brutal Fijian power in the backline, and the wizadry of precocious fly-half Ugo Seunes; they have as many wins as Montpellier in 3rd.
Toulon, though, are the team currently just outside the top 6. They have had a curious season so far. Possessing one of the strongest squads in the Top 14 - they’re arguably still a dark horse to win the Champions Cup - Toulon were top of the table as recently as the previous international break in November. At that point, they’d won six of their nine games; they have won only three Top 14 games since. Even their unbeaten streak at the Stade Mayol in the Top 14 (stretching back 21 games) has been broken. With a squad dripping with quality, power and class, scrutiny on Head Coach Pierre Mignoni has understandably been high. The former France international scrum-half has felt the heat and had to take some time away from coaching in recent weeks. He is back in charge for this weekend’s fixture at home to Stade Français.
Castres have played some magnificent rugby at times this season. Their Fijian centre pairing of Vilimoni Botitu and Vuate Karawalevu has looked unplayable at times, and their lineout has terrorised many a Top 14 hooker. Their daring style of play may well be suited to the drier conditions of spring and summer, so a late charge for the playoffs can’t be ruled out; it would be typical of Castres. However, no Top 14 side is as capable of shooting themselves in the foot as much as Castres. If they take two steps forward, expect them to take one or two steps back.
What about La Rochelle? They were the last side other than Toulouse and UBB to contest a Top 14 final, back in 2023 when they were downed by a dramatic late try from Romain Ntamack. Not all has been happy over on the Atlantic. 10th in the table, dumped out of the Champions Cup in which they made their name, and with a list of injuries that would make most even the most seasoned medical staff wince. Factor in the untimely forced retirement of Uini Atonio and another touchline ban for Ronan O’Gara, and it’s not been all oysters and champagne over at the Marcel Deflandre. Their fixture list for the run-in is better than most, and if they can overcome their absentee list and their maddening inconsistency, then they could mount a charge. Nevertheless, it would be a surprise to see them even make 8th place and qualify for the Champions Cup.
Probably. Montauban, despite the fairytale of their rise to the Top 14 last season, were always favourites to finish bottom of the pile from the start of the season and it’s hard to see them bridging the 11-point gap to Perpignan in the remaining games. They have not won a game of any kind since the end of October, when they beat Perpignan at home.
That the Sapiacains would finish bottom has not always seemed as certain as it currently is. It took Perpignan until Round 12 in late December to register their first win. Having parted company with Head Coach Franck Azema in November, the new coaching team headed up by Laurent Labit has started to generate momentum, with a further three wins since the turn of the year - at home to the current top two Toulouse and Pau and, crucially, Montauban.
Despite this upturn in form, it is hard to see Perpignan finishing anywhere other than 13th place, meaning they will contest the ‘Top 14 Access Match’ - a survival/relegation play off against the Pro D2 runner up - for the fourth year in a row.
Bayonne are the side currently sitting one place above them with the guaranteed safety of 12th. The Basque side occupied top spot after Round 5 but have been in reverse pretty much ever since, and head coach Grégory Patat finally departed in February after a protracted saga. Despite this upheaval, the 18-point buffer they currently hold over Perpignan means that they should be comfortably safe by the time they host the Catalans at the Stade Jean Dauger in the final round.
Here is how we think the league table will look come the end of the season:
Rosbifs Rugby is Rob Graham and Rich Croney, two Englishmen (‘Rosbifs’) delivering your one-stop shop for all things French rugby in the English language.