The Top 14 league is home to France’s 14 best teams. However, the format of the tournament has changed multiple times over the years. For example, in the inaugural year of competition, only two teams took part. Similarly, for many years, 16 teams competed for the title and the competition was known as the Top 16.
The format of Top 14 rugby last changed in 2017-18, when the French National Rugby League tweaked the competition with the aim of improving the standard of French rugby in time for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Now, every Top 14 team plays all of the others twice (once at home and once away) in a round-robin format. Following this, a knockout format is used to decide the winner of the tournament.
There are three phases to the knockout round. Firstly, the teams finishing from third to sixth play quarter-finals hosted by the third and fourth-placed teams. Then, the winners face the top two teams in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final at the Stade de France.