Top 14 Preview & Betting Guide

Top 14 Preview

Who won the Top 14?

The reigning champions are Stade Toulousain (Toulouse), who won their 24th title in 2025, having beaten Bordeaux 39-33 in the final, a final which was the highest scoring final ever.

When is the Top 14?

The Top 14 season will follow the pattern of other seasons, with the league stage starting in September 2025 and the tournament concluding with the final in June 2026.

Who are the favourites to win the Top 14?

When the bookmakers price up the 2025-26 Top 14 tournament, it would be a massive surprise if Toulouse were not priced up as favourites to land a fourth consecutive title.

Who will win the Top 14?

Head over to the OLBG Rugby Tips to see who they are tipping to win, not only the outright winner but also matches throughout the tournament.

Additionally, if you only want to view the tips from the top tipsters, those who have shown a profit on rugby over the past year, then head over to the Best Rugby Tipsters page.

What is the Top 14 Format?

It will be no surprise to know that fourteen teams make up the Top 14 leagues, the top tier of French rugby union.

These fourteen teams play a round robin format, which means they play the other thirteen teams home and away for a total of 26 games.

After the league stage is completed, the top two go directly into the playoff semi-finals and those in 3rd to 6th play eliminators to decide the other two semi-finalists.

Those then play out the playoffs to decide upon a champion. At the other end, the bottom team are relegated to the Pro D2 whilst the team second from bottom goes into a relegation playoff.

In terms of European qualification, the top 8 teams qualify for the Champions Cup, whilst those in 9th to 12th place get into the Challenge Cup for the following season.

Top 14 Broadcast & Scheduling Info

The Top 14 matches can be watched live on Premier Sports if you are located within the UK or Ireland, whilst home fans can watch games on Groupe Canal+.

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Top 14 Past Winners

Toulouse are starting to be a dominant force in the Top 14; they have now been crowned champions for the last three seasons, as well as in both 2019 & 2021, which means they have won the title in five of the last six completed seasons.

They are the most successful team in the league; they have won a total of 24 titles, which is ten more than the next best team, Stade Français, who have won fourteen, although their last title came back in 2015.

The only other team in double figures are AS Béziers, who have won eleven championships; however, their last win was back in 1984, and they currently play in the Pro D2.

Last ten Top 14 Champions

Top 14 Favourite Statistics

If you are looking for consistency when it comes to winning favourites, then the Top 14 is the league for you because the number of winning favourites doesn't change much from season to season.

On average, over the last ten seasons, 73.91% of favourites have been successful, that is about 7 winning favourites from every 10 games, with 9 of the last 10 seasons having a strike rate of 70%+.

The only season which dipped below that mark was in 2018-19, and that was 69.57% so not exactly a massive drop. Four of the seasons had win rates of 75%+, with 2022-23 a bumper year with 76.06%.

In terms of teams, as you would expect given their history, Toulouse are the most reliable favourite, winning 80% of their games (132-29-5) over the last ten seasons.

Both Castres (100-25-2) and La Rochelle (115-26-4) are not too far behind them, with 79% win rates.

Top 14 Odds Statistics

Here we look at how teams perform between certain odds. What we know a bettors is that those shorter in price should win more games, simple as that!

The bars shown in blue are where the odds fall within or exceeded their expected percentage, whilst those in orange fall below expectations.

The shorter priced favourites tend to be reliable in this league; those priced up 1.49 or shorter tend to hit the winning percentages you would expect from teams at those odds.

However, when you get to the team priced up between 1.50 - 1.79, then they are not as reliable. That price range should win 58.8% to 66.7% of games; however, they have only won 55.4% of matches.

Tournament Betting Comparison

Here is a comparison between some of the top rugby union tournaments (Leagues) for winning favourites.

For winning favourites, the French leagues do not come out great, with both the Pro D2 and Top 14 in the bottom half of the table.

The Top 14 only bettors two of the leagues we have looked at, but that may not be a negative, as more winning underdogs, which, if found, can result in better value.

Top 14 Teams

Here are the fourteen teams for the 2025-26 season. We lost Vannes last season, who were relegated to the Pro D2, but Perpignan managed to retain their spot in the league in the relegation playoffs.

Promoted to replace Vannes are Montauban, who only managed 6th place during the league phase (last playoff spot) but made their way through the playoffs to win promotion.

Bayonne

• Stadium: Stade Jean Dauger
• Capacity: 16,934
• Last Season: 4th

Founded in 1906, Bayonne have won three Top 14 championships; however, they were all in the first half of the 1900s with wins in 1913, 1934 & 1943. They last made a final in 1982 when beaten by Agen.

Bordeaux Bègles

• Stadium: Stade Chaban-Delmas
• Capacity: 33,500
• Last Season: 2nd

Despite not yet winning a title, the Bordeaux Bègles have made the last two finals; however, they have lost both to Toulouse. They were only founded in 2006 and have tasted success, having won the Champions Cup in 2025.

Castres

• Stadium: Stade Pierre-Fabre
• Capacity: 12,500
• Last Season: 6th

Founded in 1906, Castres have had plenty of success, they are five-time Top 14 champions (1949, 1950, 1993, 2013 & 2018) and they have also won the European Shield (2003) and French Cup (1948).

Clermont

• Stadium: Stade Marcel-Michelin
• Capacity: 19,022
• Last Season: 5th

Clermont has a stinking record when it comes to winning the championship. Yes, they are two-time champions (2010 & 2017), but they have been runners-up a total of twelve times! They do have three Challenge Cup wins to go with the French titles (1999, 2007, & 2019).

La Rochelle

• Stadium: Stade Marcel-Deflandre
• Capacity: 16,700
• Last Season: 7th

Founded in 1898, La Rochelle has yet to taste success in the Top 14, they have been beaten finalists in both finals (2021 & 2023), they have made. They have tasted European success with back-to-back Champions Cup wins in 2022 & 2023.

Lyon

• Stadium: Matmut Stadium de Gerland
• Capacity: 25,000
• Last Season: 11th

You have to go back to 1933 to find the last time that Lyon won a Top 14 title, which was their second title, having won it a year earlier also. They have been in and out of the league and have won the Pro D2 three times (2011, 2014 & 2016) to get back. They were the Champions Cup winners in 2022.

Montauban

• Stadium: Stade Sapiac
• Capacity: 9,210
• Last Season: 6th (D2)

Montauban are back in the Pro 14 following promotion last season but when it comes to Top 14 championships it has been a long wait since their one and only title which came in 1967.

Montpellier

• Stadium: Altrad Stadium
• Capacity: 15,697
• Last Season: 9th

Montpellier are a fairly new club having been founded in 1986, however, they do have a French title to their name having won this tournament in 2022 and are two-time Challenge Cup winners having won in both 2016 & 2021.

Pau

• Stadium: Stade du Hameau
• Capacity: 14,588
• Last Season: 8th

Founded in 1902 Pau had plenty of success earlier in their career, their three French titles came in 1928, 1946 & 1964 and there one and only European success came in 2000 when winning the Challenge Cup. 

Perpignan

• Stadium: Stade Aimé Giral
• Capacity: 14,593
• Last Season: 13th

Perpignan are four-time French champions winning title in 1938, 1944, 1955 and then more recently in 2009. They have also been runners-up seven times and have actually lost four of the last five finals they have appeared in.

Racing

• Stadium: Paris La Défense Arena
• Capacity: 30,681
• Last Season: 10th

Racing 92 have finished top two in the Top 14 no fewer than thirteen times, they have been crowned champions six times (1892, 1900, 1902, 1959, 1990 & 2016) and been runners-up seven times. They are yet to win the Champions Cup but were runners-up in 2016, 2018 & 2020.

Stade Français

• Stadium: Stade Jean-Bouin
• Capacity: 20,000
• Last Season: 12th

Founded in 1883, Stade Français are the second most successful team in the Top 14 behind Toulouse. They have won a total of fourteen French titles and been runners-up nine times. They have only tasted European success once having won the Challenge Cup in 2017.

Toulon

• Stadium: Stade Mayol
• Capacity: 18,200
• Last Season: 3rd

Toulon are four-time winners of the Top 14 with their last success coming back in 2014. They have tasted plenty of European success, they are three time Champions Cup winners (2013, 2014 & 2015) and als won the Challenge Cup (2023),

Toulouse

• Stadium: Stade Ernest-Wallon
• Capacity: 18,754
• Last Season: 1st

Founded in 1907, Toulouse are the most success club in France having won a total of twenty-four titles including all of the last three. They have also had plenty of success in Europe having been crowned Champions Cup winners six times with the latest of those coming in 2024.

Top 14 Records

Most Career Matches in the Top 14

In terms of appearances, there are a whole host of players who have made over 300 appearances in this tournament; however, only two of those have exceeded 350.

Thibaut Privat (1998-17) tops the charts with 387 appearances across five different teams, Nîmes, Béziers, Clermont, Montpellier & Lyon.

The closest to him and top in terms of foreign players is the Uruguayan Rodrigo Capó Ortega (2002-20), who made 352 appearances for Castres.

From the top ten list, seven of those are French players as you would expect, the exceptions are the already mentioned Ortega, Somoan Joe Tekori (326) and New Zealander Brock James (307).

Most Top 14 Career Points

Richard Dourthe (1996-08) is the standout player when it comes to point scoring in the Top 14, his career in this league spanned across six teams during which he combined for a total points scored of 3,040.

He is the only man to breach the 3,000 mark and is over 400 points clear of the next player. That player is Romain Teulet (2001-14), who spent his Top 14 career at Castres, scoring 2,612 points.

Third on the list and still playing is Benjamín Urdapilleta, the Argentine is the top player outside of the French, having scored 2,512 points and still playing to so a chance to close in on the top two.

Most Top 14 Career Tries

The top four players in terms of the number of tries scored in the Top 14 are all homebred players, with the top two scoring 100+ tries.

Vincent Clerc (2002-18) tops the list, just about, with 101 tries amassed during his time in the Top 14, which he spent with Grenoble, Toulouse & Toulon.

We say 'just about' as the player who is second on the list is Laurent Arbo (1991-07), the man who previously held the record with exactly 100 tries during his time at Pau, Castres, Montpellier & Perpignan.

The first non-French player on the list is Napolioni Nalaga (2006-17), the Fijian scored 87 tries, just seven more than his fellow countryman Timoci Nagusa (2010-20), with those two 5th & 6th on the list.

Pro D2

Pro D2 Intro & Format

The Pro D2 league is the second tier of the French rugby union club competition pyramid behind the Top 14 league.

Founded in 2000, the current format sees 16 teams compete in the league in a round robin format; the 16 teams play the other 15 both home and away.

That means in the regular season, each team plays 30 games to decide the league table, with the bottom team being relegated to the Nationale and the second from bottom going into a relegation playoff.

At the business end of the table, the top two go directly into the promotion play-off semi-finals, those in 3rd to 6th go into the semi-final qualifiers to determine the other two semi-finalists.

The winner of the playoffs gets promoted to the Top 14 whilst the team who are beaten in the final gets a second chance with a one of match against the team that finished second from bottom in the Top 14.

Pro D2 Favourite Statistics

Except for a couple of seasons, the win rate for favourites in the Pro D2 has been consistently in the 70s, with six of those seasons between 74% and 76%.

The exceptions were in 2018-19, which was the only season where the win rate moved into the 80% range, and the 2020-21 season, where it dipped below 70%.

The average over the past ten seasons has been a 74.38% win rate for favourites, which basically means, around 3 in every 4 favourites are successful.

In terms of teams with 50+ games as favourites, USA Perpignan tops the list with a win rate of 86% (78-11-2) ahead of Aurillac on 82% (114-25-0).

Pro D2 Past Champions

Montauban's win in 2025 was the third time they had won the Pro D2 league; the previous two times (2001 & 2006) were under different formats, but they were still crowned champions.

Both LOU (2011, 2014 & 2016) and Oyonnax (2013, 2017 & 2023) have also been crowned champions on three occasions.

As you can see below, Grenoble have not had the best of times. Yes, they were champions in 2012; however, they have been runners-up four times since 2018, including all of the last three seasons.

The runners-up go on to play in the 'Top 14 Access Match' against a Top 14 side for a spot in next season's top league. The first three completed seasons with that format saw the Pro D2 win promotion; however, the last four have seen the Top 14 team retain their place.