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In the midst of Rugby World Cup preparations the 2015-2015 Top 14 season kicks-off today. The highly profitable French domestic league takes on a unique look this season due to this being a Rugby World Cup year and the date of the Top 14 final conflicting with UEFA Euro 2016.
Having confidence in their product, and trusting the market to respond, the LNR made the bold decision to relocate the Top 14 Final to Barcelona. Camp Nou stadium will host the match on June 24 2016 in what is to be the biggest rugby event in the history of Spain and the first such fixture of its kind in the history of professional rugby.
Exactly which two teams will be contesting the final is extremely debatable. Such is the unpredictability of the Top 14 which has produced four different champions in as many years. Current champions Paris won after getting past Racing Métro and Toulon in the play-offs before defeating Clermont in the final. Castres’ run to the 2013 title was under similar circumstances.
Castres, though is fortunate to be in the Top 14 this season after avoiding relegation by the skin of its teeth this past season. The club finished 12th on equal points with the 13th placed Bayonne who joined Lyon in being relegated. Their places have been taken by Pau and Agen who are back in the Top 14 after having been Pro d2 dwellers.
Both face a stiff test to avoid relegation and they cannot compete financially with their rivals. As shown below Agen has the lowest budget of the fourteen teams while Pau is 10th overall. Big spending, though, is no guarantee as, indeed, Lyon had a large budget but were relegated last season while Oyonnax impressed in reaching the play-offs.
The budgets are, nonetheless, a useful source of insight into the politics behind the Top 14, a club competition that has successfully embraced professionalism. It is no coincidence that the eight top spending clubs are from cities rather than towns and they happen to be the largest in the competition.
Bordeaux, Grenoble, Montpellier and Toulon are far larger than Castres or Brive and are clubs that have replaced small town south-west clubs who are now in the Pro d2. The changing face of French professional rugby has been following this precise pattern as teams are increasingly from larger cities with the second division very much being predominantly south-western.
The change has brought with it greater financial spending as it has gain. England’s Aviva Premiership has been overtaken both in competitiveness in the European Rugby Champions Cup and in mere financial terms. The Salary cap in England is £5.5 million per club compared to £8.6 million in the Top 14.
Toulouse, Clermont, Stade Français, Toulon and Racing Metro have notable larger budgets, approaching twice the size of Aviva Premiership rivals in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The last time an English side won the European title was in 2007 while since then French and Irish sides have won four titles each with Toulon winning the past three.
Central to the success has been the depth of the player rosters with players from the world over getting regular game time. The Americas has been no exception with two Pumas featuring for Toulon in the 2015 Final victory over Clermont who had Canadian Jamie Cudmore.
The new season will take some time to getting used to due to the interruptions of the World Cup but is certain to bring competitive matches regardless of the positions of teams on the ladder. The trend of previous years in which clubs have done significantly better at home would be a screwed point to bare in mind when considering the fortunes of teams now and throughout the season.
