Top14 fixtures

[DonBilly]

<span style="colorurple">Return Matches

Round 14

6-8 January 2006

Bourgoin vs Brive
Clermont Auvergne vs Pau
Stade Français vs Narbonne
Agen vs Perpignan
Toulouse vs Narbonne
Castres vs Montpellier
Biarritz vs Toulon

Round 15

27-28 January 2006

Bayonne vs Bourgoin
Montpellier vs Clermont Auvergne
Toulon vs Stade Français
Brive vs Agen
Pau vs Toulouse
Narbonne vs Castres
Perpignan vs Biarritz

Round 16

3-4 February 2006

Bourgoin vs Pau
Clermont Auvergne vs Narbonne
Stade Français vs Perpignan
Bayonne vs Brive
Toulouse vs Montpellier
Castres vs Toulon
Biarritz vs Agen

Round 17

17-18 February 2006

Montpellier vs Bourgoin
Toulon vs Clermont Auvergne
Agen vs Stade Français
Brive vs Biarritz
Narbonne vs Toulouse
Perpignan vs Castres
Pau vs Bayonne

Round 18

3-4 March 2006

Bourgoin vs Narbonne
Clermont Auvergne vs Perpignan
Stade Français vs Biarritz
Pau vs Brive
Toulouse vs Toulon
Castres vs Agen
Bayonne vs Montpellier

Round 19

17-18 March 2006

Toulon vs Bourgoin
Agen vs Clermont Auvergne
Narbonne vs Bayonne
Brive vs Stade Français
Perpignan vs Toulouse
Biarritz vs Castres
Montpellier vs Pau

Round 20

24-25 March 2006

Bourgoin vs Perpignan
Clermont Auvergne vs Biarritz
Bayonne vs Toulon
Montpellier vs Brive
Toulouse vs Agen
Castres vs Stade Français
Pau vs Narbonne

Round 21

7-8 April 2006

Agen vs Bourgoin
Stade Français vs Clermont Auvergne
Toulon vs Pau
Brive vs Castres
Biarritz vs Toulouse
Perpignan vs Bayonne
Narbonne vs Montpellier

Round 22

14-15 April 2006

Bourgoin vs Biarritz
Clermont Auvergne vs Castres
Pau vs Perpignan
Narbonne vs Brive
Toulouse vs Stade Français
Bayonne vs Agen
Montpellier vs Toulon

Round 23

28-29 April 2006

Stade Français vs Bourgoin
Biarritz vs Bayonne
Perpignan vs Montpellier
Brive vs Clermont Auvergne
Castres vs Toulouse
Agen vs Pau
Toulon vs Narbonne

Round 24

5-6 May 2006

Bourgoin vs Castres
Bayonne vs Stade Français
Montpellier vs Agen
Toulon vs Brive
Toulouse vs Clermont Auvergne
Pau vs Biarritz
Narbonne vs Perpignan

Round 25

12-13 May 2006

Clermont Auvergne vs Bourgoin
Stade Français vs Pau
Agen vs Narbonne
Toulouse vs Brive
Castres vs Bayonne
Biarritz vs Montpellier
Perpignan vs Toulon

Round 26

27 May 2006

Bourgoin vs Toulouse
Pau vs Castres
Narbonne vs Biarritz
Brive vs Perpignan
Bayonne vs Clermont Auvergne
Montpellier vs Stade Français
Toulon vs Agen

Semi-finals: 2-4 June 2006

Final: 10 June

 

[An Tarbh]

Are tickets easy to come by for club matches or do you need to be members of clubs or supporters groups?

 

[harrison2468]

How long is the French season! It's massive - i can c why there is no salary cap!

 

[DonBilly]

Originally posted by An Tarbh@Jul 23 2005, 06:31 AM
Are tickets easy to come by for club matches or do you need to be members of clubs or supporters groups?

An Tarb, it's quite easy to get tickets. Of course sometimes they are sold very quickly and you have to be fast. You can buy them on the internet (France Billet or FNAC or the clubs websites).

You can also buy them at the tickets desks which you can find in many stores like FNAC, Carrefour, etc. or at the clubs stores.

Are you going to be in Paris? For the big matches vs. Stade Toulousain, Biarritz or Perpignan they should be played at the Parc des Princes (46000 seats). The other home games will be played in jean Bouin (12000 seats). There are cheap tickets (from 6 to 40 Euros).

So basically finding tickets is quite easy for the Top14.

It's different for the test matches for which you have ti be very fast. For example if you want to attend the France - SA of November you must buy the ticket now.

 

[DonBilly]

Originally posted by harrison2468@Jul 23 2005, 07:09 AM
How long is the French season! It's massive - i can c why there is no salary cap!

Well there's no salary cap you are right but there are rules on the number of contracted players (33), a maximum ratio of the Club budget and every year the finance accounts of the clubs are audited by the DNACG the watchdog of the FFR (the French Rugby Union), and if the balance is negative the club is relegated, this happened this season to Grenoble which are relegated in the amateur division (Fédérale 1).

The championship dates are interlaced with the European cups and the test matches of the November tours and 6N.

 

[Bullitt]

Originally posted by harrison2468@Jul 23 2005, 07:09 AM
How long is the French season! It's massive - i can c why there is no salary cap!

4 weeks longer than the GP

 

[An Tarbh]

Originally posted by DonBilly+Jul 23 2005, 04:31 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DonBilly @ Jul 23 2005, 04:31 AM)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-An Tarbh

@Jul 23 2005, 06:31 AM
Are tickets easy to come by for club matches or do you need to be members of clubs or supporters groups?

An Tarb, it's quite easy to get tickets. Of course sometimes they are sold very quickly and you have to be fast. You can buy them on the internet (France Billet or FNAC or the clubs websites).

You can also buy them at the tickets desks which you can find in many stores like FNAC, Carrefour, etc. or at the clubs stores.

Are you going to be in Paris? For the big matches vs. Stade Toulousain, Biarritz or Perpignan they should be played at the Parc des Princes (46000 seats). The other home games will be played in jean Bouin (12000 seats). There are cheap tickets (from 6 to 40 Euros).

So basically finding tickets is quite easy for the Top14.

It's different for the test matches for which you have ti be very fast. For example if you want to attend the France - SA of November you must buy the ticket now. [/b]

I should be in Paris in early October, so looks like the first match could be Stade Français v Stade Toulousain, not a bad first match to go to.

 

[harrison2468]

Originally posted by DonBilly+Jul 23 2005, 03:37 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DonBilly @ Jul 23 2005, 03:37 PM)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-harrison2468

@Jul 23 2005, 07:09 AM
How long is the French season!  It's massive - i can c why there is no salary cap!

Well there's no salary cap you are right but there are rules on the number of contracted players (33), a maximum ratio of the Club budget and every year the finance accounts of the clubs are audited by the DNACG the watchdog of the FFR (the French Rugby Union), and if the balance is negative the club is relegated, this happened this season to Grenoble which are relegated in the amateur division (Fédérale 1).

The championship dates are interlaced with the European cups and the test matches of the November tours and 6N. [/b]

Thanks DonBilly - how were Grenoble doing before they became bankrupt? The French clubs finance are definitely monitored well.



4 Weeks is quite a long time if u consider the extra training, having to start pre-season early and finishing later.

 

[DonBilly]

Originally posted by harrison2468+Jul 23 2005, 10:11 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (harrison2468 @ Jul 23 2005, 10:11 PM)</div>

Originally posted by DonBilly@Jul 23 2005, 03:37 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-harrison2468

@Jul 23 2005, 07:09 AM
How long is the French season!  It's massive - i can c why there is no salary cap!

Well there's no salary cap you are right but there are rules on the number of contracted players (33), a maximum ratio of the Club budget and every year the finance accounts of the clubs are audited by the DNACG the watchdog of the FFR (the French Rugby Union), and if the balance is negative the club is relegated, this happened this season to Grenoble which are relegated in the amateur division (Fédérale 1).

The championship dates are interlaced with the European cups and the test matches of the November tours and 6N.

Thanks DonBilly - how were Grenoble doing before they became bankrupt? The French clubs finance are definitely monitored well.



4 Weeks is quite a long time if u consider the extra training, having to start pre-season early and finishing later. [/b]

They were doing bad and were supposed to be relegated in ProD2 but they had contracted a new coach Jacques Fouroux (the captain of the '77 Grand Slam France team which played all the tests with the same 15 players with no replacement) and were rebuilding a team and was being reorganized.

This is not the first time that this happens, it happened to Colomier which after a season in Fédérale 1 have been promoted to ProD2 for the next season and to Bègle-Bordeaux (still in Fédérale1).

The 4 additional weeks compared to GP is simply because there are 14 teams while in GP there are 12. Last season was even worse with 16 teams.

 

[An Tarbh]

Don Billy, what's the story with the Stade Français Stade Toulousain match. I thought it was being played in the Parc des Princes but I read on PR that it's in the Stade de France and that the only tickets left are for â'¬50 or â'¬60, thought it'd be easy to get tickets but they look a bit pricey.

 

[DonBilly]

Originally posted by An Tarbh@Sep 16 2005, 01:43 AM
Don Billy, what's the story with the Stade Français Stade Toulousain match. I thought it was being played in the Parc des Princes but I read on PR that it's in the Stade de France and that the only tickets left are for â'¬50 or â'¬60, thought it'd be easy to get tickets but they look a bit pricey.

Anh Tarb, wait until Saturday. The Stade de France full capacity is 80 000 seats. The two first rings have been put on sell and are already sold out (50 000 seats!). Only the expensive seats at 50 & 60 â'¬ are still available, the 5, 10 and 20 â'¬ have all been sold. So on saturday the third ring with an addtional capacity of 30 000 seats will be available and cheap tickets at 5 and 10 â'¬ will be available.

I am waiting until saturday, I expect to go there with my son and with an American and an Italian.

If they manage to fill the stadium I think it will be a record in Rugby World, this is a T14 match of the regular season. In England the double header which open the Premiership season is attended by 50 000 people who come to watch two matches.

In the beginning the Parc des Princes was envisioned but the poofball team, the PSG, which has the licence for this stadium refused to let the stadium because they feared
the pitch would be damaged by the Rugby match. The Stade Français received then a offer from the consortium which manages the Stade de France for hosting this match. They accepted the offer. The consortium announced that their long term objective is that the Stade Français use their stadium for all their matches. If they achieve this objective I guess Paris club will be one of the richest if not the richest Rugby club in the world.

Unfortunately the stadium is not available for the H-cup match versus Leicester. I think they will play it in Charlety (20 000 seats) in Paris unless they decide to play it at their usual venue Jean Bouin (12 000 seats).

I think this will fasten the renovation of this Stadium by the Paris municipality. It should become then a 20 000 seats stadium.

 

[DonBilly]

Yesterday at noon, more than 61000 tickets had been sold for the clash of the Stades played on the 15th of October. That's more than the attendance of any club poofball match played so far in France.

 

[DonBilly]

More than 70000 tickets sold so far. Still three weeks before the match against the Toulousains. They're going to fill up this stadium, pretty sure now.

 

[loratadine]

stephen jones is amazing.
clerment are brilliant.

 

[DonBilly]

And you can add Jauzion and Heymans to this list. Toulouse are outstanding at the moment. There's no team but maybe the Stade Français on the 15th of October that can stop them.

We'll see how they will be impacted by the injuries. They have lost Michalak and Baby on one hand, on the other hand Garbajosa is back (again) after two years lost due to injuries and Jauzion is world class.

 

[scot]

Looks like the Toulouse vs. Stade game will be the most attended regular season rugby match in the history of French rugby union. It will also be bigger by some way than the French football division 1 crowd record.

 

[DonBilly]

They have already sold 71000 tickets and there are still three weeks before this game is played so I guess the stade de France will be full, 78 000 in the configuration retained for this match.

This is a record for France, I wonder if this is not a world record? I mean this is neither a play-off match nor a final.

Are you aware of any regular Rugby championship match which has gathered so many people?

 

[scot]

It's defiantely bigger then anything that's happened down here in the southern hemisphere (rugby union). It must be a great rivalry? Perhaps Queensland and New South Wales will get to be that big in the near future.

 

[An Tarbh]

It's a big rivalry alright but seems more monetary imo. I thought that Stade Français were something like a third division outfit in the early 90s so surely they wouldn't have been playing Stade Toulousain every year. There's bound to be more tradtional rivalries going way back?

 

[DonBilly]

Well the Stade Français is one of the oldest Rugby club in France, I think only the HFC (Havre Football Club) and the RCF (Racing Club de France) are older by one or two years.

So the Stade Français has won 12 times the Brennus shield, it has known two golden ages, the first one was at the turn of the twentieth century the second is now at the turn of the 21th Century. In 1931 the Stade Français played a final of the French Championship and lost it against the Stade Toulosain.

After WWII they faded and remain the seconf and third division. The renaissance started with the merging with the CABG club (another oldy) and when Max Guazzini the current president started to invest money in it. Players like Pieter de Villiers, Christophe Dominici or Auradou are in this club since the start of this second golden age wich started ten years ago.

The rivalry with the Stade Toulousain is recent and has started in 1998. In the context of the professionalism this is quite old.

Otherwise there are other rivalries which are much older such as between the Biarritz Olympique and l'Aviron Bayonnais the two clubs of the Basque Country. Another rivalry is between Agen and Toulouse, for the informal Garonne trophy (these two cities are crossed by this river).