Top 14 Final at Stade de France
THE PREVIOUS TOP 14 FINAL AT STADE DE FRANCE
Top 14 Final at Stade de France
The fourteen best French rugby clubs compete each year in one of the most high-profile championships in the world, better known as the Top 14! At the end of the season, the winner receives the Brennus Shield, a prestigious award, which it retains until the end of the following season.
A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENT AT THE TOP OF FRENCH RUGBY
At the pinnacle of French rugby, the final of the Top 14 is a highly anticipated event as it opposes the two best-ranked teams in the championship. If some clubs have dominated these clashes for years (Stade Français or Stade Toulousain for example), the competition is now increasingly competitive, with a very homogeneous championship in terms of level! Whoever the finalists are, it promises to be lively!
Stade de France has hosted the final since 1998. This turf, which is usually more accustomed to seeing the studs of footballers, has thus seen the highlights of the French rugby unfold: the multiple titles of "its" club, Stade Français, the last-gasp victory of Biarritz Olympique against the same Stade Français after fifteen minutes of extra time in 2005, or the first title since 1992 of Rugby Club Toulonnais, after two lost finals, are just a few examples of this!
RUGBY IS MORE AND MORE POPULAR IN FRANCE
Rugby is becoming more and more popular in France and is no longer limited to its historic bastion of the South-west, as evidenced by victories of clubs from the Paris region, or the recent accession to the elite of Rugby du Lyonnais. In the age of professional sport, the Top 14 matches are therefore increasingly spectacles in their own right. They are now played often in front of 30,000 fired-up fans, with parades of mascots and cheerleaders!
Rugby is known for its friendly and good-natured atmosphere and for the remarkable attitude of its supporters. In a place as full of history and emotions as Stade de France (the theatre of the exploits of 1998 and of the elimination of the New Zealand All Blacks by our national rugby team in 2007), able to accommodate more than 80,000 spectators, the next Top 14 final promises to be a fantastic sporting and festive event!
