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The Top 14 is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the France 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 Pro D2. The fourteen best rugby teams in France participate in the competition, hence the name Top 14. The competition was previously known as the Top 16.
Nathan Hines is an Australian-born former rugby union and rugby league footballer. He played at international level for Scotland, winning 77 caps, and at club level for Edinburgh, Perpignan, and Clermont Auvergne among others. He also played rugby league.
Perry Thomas Freshwater is a retired English rugby union footballer. He is a loosehead prop and occasionally a hooker.
Puig Aubert, is often considered the best French rugby league footballer of all time. Over a 16-year professional career he would play for Carcassonne, XIII Catalan, Celtic de Paris and Castelnaudary winning five French championships and four French cups along with representing the France on 46 occasions. His position of choice was at fullback and after his retirement in 1960 he would go on to coach Carcassonne and France along with becoming head French national selector for several years.
Alain Colm Pierre Rolland is a former Ireland rugby union international and rugby union referee. He also played for Leinster. He refereed the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and was an assistant referee in the final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In September 2013 he announced his intention to retire from refereeing at the end of the 2013/14 season.
Daniel Herbert is an Australian rugby union administrator and former player who was appointed as the chair of Rugby Australia in November 2023. As a player, he played as a centre and won 67 caps for the Australia national team between 1994 and 2002, scoring 11 tries.
Thierry Lacroix is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut in Strasbourg at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989, coming on as a replacement for the injured Didier Camberabero against Australia. He was part of the winning side at the 1993 Five Nations Championship. He won his final cap for France on 22 November 1997 against South Africa. Lacroix played in the 1991 Rugby World Cup - a tournament in which the French team was beaten in the quarter-final stage by the eventual losing finalist, England - and again in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in which he was the top points scorer with 112 points. France finished the 1995 tournament in 3rd place, defeating a fellow losing semi finalist, England, in the 3rd / 4th place playoff game.
Viliami Vaki is a Tongan rugby union footballer. He represented Tonga at the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. From 2003 to 2005 he played for Gran Rugby in Italy, then moved to USA Perpignan in the Top 14. He currently plays for Reggio in the Top12.
Damien Chouly is a former French rugby union footballer. He played for Brive, Perpignan, and Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14, commonly in the Number 8 position.
Ovidiu Tonița is a Romanian former rugby union player who played 73 times for the Romania national team between 2000 and 2016. A former lock and presently a flanker and number 8. He played the majority of his career for USA Perpignan. He is noted for his size, which is considered unusual for his position on the field. His supporters are known to have compared him to the Australian footballer John Eales, and he is often seen as Romania's key player.
Julien Candelon is a professional rugby union winger currently playing for USA Perpignan in the Top 14.
Maxime Mermoz is a French former professional rugby union player.
Guilhem Guirado is a former French rugby union player. During his 17-year career, he played for Perpignan, Toulon, and Montpellier. Guirado was also the captain of France from 2016 to 2019.
Yoann Maestri is a former French rugby union international footballer who played for Toulon, Toulouse, and Stade Français all in the Top 14.
Jacques Brunel is a French rugby union coach and former player. He was most recently the French national team head coach, having previously been assistant coach for his nation and had led the Italian national team between 2011 and 2016. Brunel, who has spent most of his career in France, formally coached his former team Auch, as well as Bordeaux Bègles, Colomiers, Pau and Perpignan.
Tommaso Allan is an Italian professional rugby union player who primarily plays fly-half for Perpignan of the French Top 14. He has also represented Italy at international level, having made his test debut against Australia during the 2013 Autumn Internationals. Allan has previously played for Harlequins and Benetton, as well as an earlier stint at Perpignan.
The 2018–19 Top 14 competition was the 120th season of the French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2017–18 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 in place of the two relegated teams, Oyonnax and Brive.
Mike Tadjer Barbosa is a French-born Portuguese rugby union player who plays as a hooker for RC Massy in the Nationale, France’s third tier of rugby.
Manuel Howard Michael Edmonds is an Australian rugby union coach based in France and a former professional player who was capped twice for the Wallabies.
Henri Riu was a Rugby union and Rugby league player, representing France internationally in Rugby league. He played as a flanker, prop, lock, and hooker.
References
- ↑ "Alain Macabiau, rugbyman de l'équipe de France". www.equipe-france.fr.
- ↑ "Scotland struggling to climb learning curve". The Daily Telegraph . 21 March 1994.
- ↑ "Montpellier s'appuie sur ses Sud-Africains". L'Équipe (in French). 12 June 2016.