Barcelona to host 2015-2016 Top14 final

French Top 14 Rugby Officials have confirmed that the Top 14 final for the 2015-2016 season will be hosted in Barcelona’s Nou Camp for the first time.

The Top14 final has never been hosted outside of France and this situation came about as the usual venue, Stade de France in Paris, will be in use hosting the 2016 European Championship football finals.

The Top14 final is usually held at the start of June each year but as the Rugby World Cup will be held in September/October 2015 the Top 14 final has been pushed back to the weekend of June 25-26.

The new dates clash with the last 16 rounds in Euro 2016 which start on June the 10th.

LNR president Paul Goze explained that they had looked at several European alternative venues including London’s Wembley Stadium, Rome and Milan.

In the end they decided to host the final at Nou Camp which has a seating capacity of 98,000.

“Barcelona is only 180 kilometres from Perpignan and is well served either by road or my flights,” he added.

Several French rugby clubs are based close to Spain including last year’s Top 14 champions Toulon as well as Montpellier, Perpignan and Toulouse.

The Top14 final administrators have also revealed that the Top 14 final will be played on a Friday from now on instead of a Saturday so that it does not clash with football matches.