Countries France Runners-up Toulon Top try scorer Timoci Nagusa (11) Country France Matches played 183 | Champions Toulouse Top point scorer Jonny Wilkinson (273) Champion Stade Toulousain Attendance 2,566,416 Relegated CA Brive, Lyon OU | |
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Similar 2013–14 Top 14 season, 2008–09 Top 14 season, 2007–08 Top 14 season, 2014–15 Top 14 season, 2012–13 Heineken Cup | ||
The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Lyon and Bordeaux Bègles in place of the two relegated teams, La Rochelle and Bourgoin.
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Toulouse claimed the Bouclier de Brennus as champions for the 19th time, defeating Toulon 18–12 in the final on June 9, 2012 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. At the other end of the table, Brive and Lyon were relegated.
Competition format
Each club played every other club twice. The second half of the season was conducted in the same order as the first, with the club at home in the first half of the season away in the second. This season maintained the format introduced the previous season for the knockout stage: the top two teams qualified directly to the semifinals, while teams ranked from third to sixth qualified for a quarterfinal held at the home ground of the higher-ranked team.
The teams
During the regular season, three teams changed coaches a total of four times:
Due to the interplay between LNR's schedule for Heineken Cup qualification and the rules of European Rugby Cup (ERC), which operates both European cup competitions, it is theoretically possible that a team finishing as high as fourth in the league table may not qualify for the Heineken Cup. Under ERC rules, the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup each earn a place in the following season's Heineken Cup. If a team from France wins one of these competitions, the Top 14 will receive a seventh Heineken Cup place. However, if French teams win both cups, the Top 14 is capped at seven Heineken Cup places. Biarritz' victory in the Challenge Cup gave France an extra place for the 2012–13 Heineken Cup.
The LNR presents teams for the Heineken Cup in the following order, skipping any steps occupied by clubs outside the Top 14 or filled in a prior step. The clubs involved in each step for this season are indicated in the numbered list.
- Champion – Toulouse
- Runner-up – Toulon
- Heineken Cup holder – Skipped (won by Leinster of Pro12)
- Semifinalist that finished higher in the league table – Clermont
- Semifinalist that finished lower in the league table – Castres
- Challenge Cup holder – Biarritz
- Additional berths based on league position – Montpellier, Racing Métro
Under LNR rules, only Top 14 clubs are eligible for European competition. This means that in the (unlikely) event that the winner of one of the two European Cups is relegated from the Top 14 in the same season, its European place will go to a current Top 14 team, based on league position in that season.
Under another ERC rule, if teams from England, which is also capped at seven Heineken Cup places, win both European cups, the extra place will go to the highest-ranked non-English team in the European Rugby Club Rankings that is not already qualified for the Heineken Cup. If that club is in the Top 14, it will receive a Heineken Cup place regardless of its league position, as long as it avoids relegation.
For a team in the top six to be left out of the Heineken Cup, French teams must win both European Cups, and those teams must have finished outside the top six in the league while also avoiding relegation.
Playoffs
All times are in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).
Top points scorers
Updated 19 May 2012
Top try scorers
Updated 6 May 2012