Portugal rugby union season
The 2023–24 Campeonato Nacional Divisão de Honra competition, also known as TOP 10, is the 65th Portuguese domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby (FPR).
The top six teams at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away) enter a knockout stage to decide who will be crowned Portuguese champions. This consists of three rounds: the teams finishing third to sixth in the table play quarter-finals (hosted by the third and fourth placed teams). The winners then face the top two teams in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final at the Campo de Rugby do Jamor in Oeiras.
Points are awarded according to the following:
- 4 points for a win
- 2 points for a draw
- 1 bonus point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match, while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent.
- 1 bonus point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
The bottom team in the relegation play-out is relegated to the Campeonato Nacional de Rugby I Divisão, while the team that finishes 1st in the second tier of rugby union competitions in Portugal will replace the latter.[1]
Following the refusal of the lower division champion RC Montemor of competing in this division, the same 10 teams that played last season will remain and compete again in the TOP 10.[2] João Reis, the president of RC Montemor, stated, "We declined the promotion. We do not have the human or financial resources to maintain a level of competitiveness in that higher division."[3]
Teams
Stadia and locations
Location of teams in 2023–24 TOP 10
Current Teams
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality
Table
|
|
Club
|
Played
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Lost
|
Points For
|
Points Against
|
Points Diff.
|
Try Bonus
|
Losing Bonus
|
Points
|
1 |
Belenenses |
18 |
16 |
0 |
2 |
733 |
257 |
476 |
9 |
0 |
73
|
2 |
Agronomia |
18 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
621 |
318 |
303 |
10 |
1 |
63
|
3 |
Benfica |
18 |
11 |
2 |
5 |
585 |
277 |
308 |
8 |
4 |
60
|
4 |
Direito |
18 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
585 |
274 |
311 |
7 |
1 |
58
|
5 |
Cascais |
18 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
589 |
361 |
228 |
4 |
1 |
55
|
6 |
CDUL |
18 |
10 |
0 |
8 |
571 |
439 |
132 |
5 |
2 |
47
|
7 |
Académica |
18 |
7 |
0 |
11 |
344 |
514 |
-170 |
2 |
1 |
31
|
8 |
São Miguel |
18 |
4 |
0 |
14 |
318 |
623 |
-305 |
0 |
4 |
20
|
9 |
Lousã |
18 |
2 |
0 |
16 |
297 |
772 |
-475 |
1 |
1 |
10
|
10 |
CDUP |
18 |
1 |
0 |
17 |
210 |
1018 |
-808 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
|
Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places. Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places Red background (row 10) will be relegated to Campeonato Nacional de Rugby I Divisão. Updated: 03 May 2024
|
Regular season
Round 1
Rest breaks: Benfica and CDUL
[5]
Round 2
Rest breaks: Direito and São Miguel
[6]
Round 3
São Miguel | 26-12 | CDUP |
Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 4x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Benfica | 18-5 | Cascais |
Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
CDUL | 70-21 | Lousã |
Try: 12x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x |
Rest breaks: Académica and Belenenses
[7][8]
Round 4
Direito | 52-22 | Lousã |
Try: 8x Con: 6x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 3x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x |
CDUP | 5-50 | Agronomia |
Try: 1x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 8x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[9][10]
Round 5
Agronomia | 6-17 | CDUL |
Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x |
Lousã | 6-52 | Benfica |
Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 8x Con: 6x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[11][12]
Round 6
CDUL | 32-43 | Cascais |
Try: 4x Con: 3x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 4x Con: 4x Pen: 5x Drop: 0x |
[13][14]
Round 7
[13]
Round 8
Rest breaks: Lousã and São Miguel
[13]
Round 9
Lousã | 14-40 | Cascais |
Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 6x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Benfica | 37-7 | CDUL |
Try: 5x Con: 3x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Belenenses | 60-5 | CDUP |
Try: 10x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[15][14]
Round 10
Direito | 16-17 | Benfica |
Try: 1x Con: 1x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x |
Lousã | 18-30 | Académica |
Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 3x Con: 3x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x |
CDUL | 67-12 | São Miguel |
Try: 10x Con: 7x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Rest breaks: Agronomia and CDUP
[16][17]
Round 11
Direito | 12-23 | Cascais |
Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 4x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 0x Pen: 6x Drop: 0x |
Académica | 32-6 | CDUP |
Try: 5x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x | | Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x |
Lousã | 6-17 | São Miguel |
Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x |
Rest breaks: Benfica and CDUL
[18][19]
Round 12
CDUL | 37-14 | Académica |
Try: 4x Con: 4x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
CDUP | 28-27 | Lousã |
Try: 3x Con: 2x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 4x Con: 2x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x |
Rest breaks: Direito and São Miguel
[20][21]
Round 13
Agronomia | 75-5 | CDUP |
Try: 11 Con: 10 Pen: 0 Drop: 0 | | Try: 1 Con: 0 Pen: 0 Drop: 0 |
Lousã | 3-47 | Direito |
Try: 0 Con: 0 Pen: 1 Drop: 0 | | Try: 7 Con: 6 Pen: 0 Drop: 0 |
[22][23]
Round 14
Cascais | 76-5 | CDUP |
Try: 12x Con: 8x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
CDUL | 7-38 | Agronomia |
Try: 1x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 6x Con: 4x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Benfica | 49-0 | Lousã |
Try: 9x Con: 2x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[24]
Round 15
Cascais | 45-26 | CDUL |
Try: 6x Con: 3x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 4x Con: 3x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
CDUP | 12-76 | Direito |
Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 12x Con: 8x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Belenenses | 84-0 | Lousã |
Try: 12x Con: 12x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[25]
Round 16
Rest breaks: Cascais and Lousã
[26]
Round 17
Direito | 39-6 | CDUL |
Try: 5x Con: 4x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x | | Try: 0x Con: 0x Pen: 2x Drop: 0x |
Benfica | 85-7 | CDUP |
Try: 13x Con: 10x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x | | Try: 1x Con: 1x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Lousã | 10-40 | Agronomia |
Try: 1x Con: 1x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x | | Try: 6x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
[27]
Round 18
Cascais | 28-26 | Benfica |
Try: 3x Con: 2x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 2x Con: 2x Pen: 4x Drop: 0x |
Lousã | 21-40 | CDUL |
Try: 2x Con: 1x Pen: 3x Drop: 0x | | Try: 6x Con: 5x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
CDUP | 29-33 | São Miguel |
Try: 4x Con: 3x Pen: 1x Drop: 0x | | Try: 5x Con: 4x Pen: 0x Drop: 0x |
Rest breaks: Académica and Belenenses
[28]
Round 19
Benfica | 7-13 | Direito |
Try: 1x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 1x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
Académica | 24-13 | Lousã |
Try: 3x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 1x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
São Miguel | 17-19 | CDUL |
Try: 2x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 3x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
Rest breaks: Agronomia and CDUP
[29]
Round 20
CDUL | 40-31 | Benfica |
Try: 6x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 4x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
Cascais | 68-12 | Lousã |
Try: 10x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 2x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
CDUP | 12-88 | Belenenses |
Try: 2x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x | | Try: 14x Con: x Pen: x Drop: x |
Playoffs
Following the regular season, the top 6 teams will contest the championship through playoffs. The top 2 teams will start playing in the semi-finals while the others will start in the quarter-finals.
For the first time in Portuguese rugby history, the final will be broadcast on free to air television channel Televisão Independente, as a result of a greater interest in rugby following Portugal's participation in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[30]
An inquiry was opened as a consequence of the incident with fans on 27 April Direito's match, resulting on the provisional ban of Direito's home ground by at least 8 matches.[31]
Quarter-Finals
Complexo Municipal de Atletismo do Vale da Rosa |
Semi-Finals
Final
Belenenses | 19-18 | Agronomia |
Try: André da Cunha (40+8’) Con: João Freudenthal (40+9’) Pen: João Freudenthal (35’, 46’, 61’ e 80+7’) | | Pen: Domingos Cabral (17', 30'), João Lima (25’, 40+3’, 65’ e 78’) |
Squads 2023/24
Squads are ordered by the last classification of the league.
According to Portuguese Rugby Federation[32]
See also
References