Top 14 - European Competition

European Competition

The Top 14 also serves as the qualification route for French clubs into the two European Rugby competitions: the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. A minimum of six French clubs qualify for top level of competition, the Heineken Cup. The top six ranked French clubs (one through to six on the points ladder) at the end of the regular season qualify for the following season's Heineken Cup. In accordance with rules changes that take effect with the 2009–10 season, the winners of the Heineken and Challenge Cups each receive automatic Heineken Cup berths for the following season; unlike past years, these berths are not at the expense of a country's allocation. However, England and France are capped at seven Heineken Cup berths each. If either country produces both Cup winners in the same season, one of its league berths in the Heineken Cup will instead go to the club that is ranked highest in the European Rugby Club Rankings that is (1) not of that country and (2) not already qualified for the Heineken Cup. This means that France will have seven berths if either of the following happens:

• A French club wins either of the two Cup competitions.
• English clubs win both Cup competitions, or one of Scotland's two professional teams wins either Cup competition, and the club that stands highest in the ERC Rankings among those that did not otherwise qualify for the Heineken Cup is French. (In the case of Scotland, the rule is triggered because both of Scotland's teams are automatically entered in the Heineken Cup.)

Under the regulations of the Top 14, the teams are presented to the Heineken Cup's organizer, European Rugby Cup, in the following order:

1. The French champion.
2. The runner-up in the championship final.
3. The Heineken Cup winner (automatically guaranteed a berth by ERC rules).
4. The losing semifinalist in the French playoffs that finished higher on the league table.
5. The losing semifinalist in the French playoffs that finished lower on the league table.
6. The Amlin Challenge Cup winner (automatically guaranteed a berth by ERC rules).
7. If France earns a seventh berth, it will be based on league position.

If a winner of one of the European cups is relegated, it will not be nominated to either cup competition; its place will be taken by a current Top 14 side based on league position. If no French team wins a European cup, the remaining two Heineken Cup places beyond those taken by the semifinalists will be based strictly on league position at the end of the regular season.

All Top 14 clubs that do not qualify for the Heineken Cup automatically qualify for the Challenge Cup. This means that all Top 14 clubs will participate in European competition during a given season.

The French clubs have had huge success in the European competitions. The inaugural Heineken Cup, held in the 1995–96 season, was won by Toulouse, which would eventually claim three more championships (2003, 2005 and 2010). It would also not be until the fifth championship game until there was no French team in the final. In addition, there have also been three occasions where the final was an all-French encounter, all won by Toulouse (against Perpignan in 2003, Stade Français in 2005, and Biarritz in 2010).

In addition to the French success in the Heineken Cup, the clubs in the lower European competitions have achieved similar results. The first four finals of the European Challenge Cup (1997–2000) were all-French affairs. Since then, however, only two French clubs (Clermont in 2007 and Biarritz in 2012) have won this competition, and French clubs in general have had less success; the revised Top 16/Top 14 format has required them to pay more attention to league games in order to avoid relegation. The now defunct European Shield, a repechage tournament for clubs knocked out in the first round of the Challenge Cup that was played for three seasons from 2003–05, was won by a French team each time.