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).
Format 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
Promotion and relegation 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.
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. 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."
Teams Stadia and locations
Current Teams Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality Team Manager Captain Stadium Capacity Académica Sino Ganto António Salgueiro Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição 2500 Agronomia Kane Hancy João Lima Tapada da Ajuda 500 Belenenses João Mirra Tomás Sequeira Belém Rugby Park 500 Benfica Travis Church Francisco Bessa Campo nº2 - Lisbon University 1500 Cascais Frederico Sousa António Vidinha Estádio Municipal Dramático Cascais 1000 CDUL Julio Farías Tomás Appleton Estádio Universitário de Lisboa 8000 CDUP Francisco Vareta Tomás Marrana Estádio Universitário do Porto 1500 Direito Enrique Pichot Duarte Diniz Complexo Desportivo Miguel Nobre Ferreira 2500 Lousã Thomas Pieterse Paulo Marques Estádio Municipal de Rugby José Redondo 500 São Miguel Nico Le Roux Robert Delai Bulldog Rugby Park 800
Table
2023–24 TOP 10 TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints 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 placesRed 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
Round 2
Rest breaks: Direito and São Miguel
Round 3
Rest breaks: Académica and Belenenses
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Rest breaks: Lousã and São Miguel
Round 9
Round 10
Rest breaks: Agronomia and CDUP
Round 11
Rest breaks: Benfica and CDUL
Round 12
Rest breaks: Direito and São Miguel
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Rest breaks: Cascais and Lousã
Round 17
Round 18
Rest breaks: Académica and Belenenses
Round 19
Rest breaks: Agronomia and CDUP
Round 20
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.
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.
Quarter-Finals
FB 15 Manuel VareiroRW 14 Francisco NobreOC 13 José Maria VaretaIC 12 João RosaLW 11 Duarte PortelaFH 10 Jerónimo PortelaSH 9 Afonso CastiñeiraN8 8 Pedro RosaOF 7 João GranateBF 6 João VitalRL 5 Duarte TorgalLL 4 Pedro FerreiraTP 3 Pablo DuránHK 2 Duarte Diniz (c)LP 1 David CostaSubstitutions:PR 16 Tamatautonu FaitotonuHK 17 António PeixotoPR 18 Afonso TapadinhasLK 19 Luís SemedoN8 20 Vasco Fragoso MendesSH 21 Duarte CortesWG 22 João Vaz AntunesWG 23 Caetano Castelo BrancoCoach: Enrique Pichot FB 15 Alfredo AlmeidaRW 14 José Maria Vilar GomesOC 13 Francisco Costa CamposIC 12 António VidinhaLW 11 Vasco DurãoFH 10 Santiago JaraSH 9 Duarte CardosoN8 8 Francisco Sousa (c)OF 7 Duarte Costa CamposBF 6 João CabaçoRL 5 Martim BelloLL 4 Manuel BarrosTP 3 Nicolás GriffithsHK 2 Pedro Santiago LopesLP 1 Ignácio UrueñaSubstitutions:PR 16 Duarte CondeHK 17 Nuno MascarenhasPR 18 José MartínezLK 19 Alexandre RodriguesFL 20 Salvador VassaloN8 21 Lourenço DurãoSH 22 Noah NashFB 23 Vasco CorreiaCoach: Frederico Sousa
FB 15 Shane van RooyenRW 14 Latrell Ah KiongOC 13 Hayden HannIC 12 Matteo ColliLW 11 Diogo SalgadoFH 10 José RodriguesSH 9 Elliot RyanN8 8 Frederico Couto (c)OF 7 Tomás PicadoBF 6 Vasco BaptistaRL 5 Adrian HallLL 4 Felipe RosaTP 3 Gavin van der BergHK 2 Jason CorneliusLP 1 Luan AlmeidaSubstitutions:HK 16 Pedro GouveiaPR 17 Márcio PinheiroPR 18 André AntunesLK 19 Pedro TavaresFL 20 Lorenzo PalacioSH 21 António CamposWG 22 António ValadaresWG 23 Diego CaeiroCoach: Travis Church FB 15 Jorge AbecassisRW 14 Fábio Vaz ConceiçãoOC 13 Ignacio AlbornozIC 12 Tomás AppletonLW 11 Sebastião StilwellFH 10 Nuno Penha e CostaSH 9 Francisco Pinto Magalhães (c)N8 8 José RoqueOF 7 Manuel FatiBF 6 Francisco FigueiredoRL 5 Gonzalo AguiarLL 4 Francisco AlmeidaTP 3 Matheus RochaHK 2 Duarte ForoLP 1 Cristian ZuritaSubstitutions:PR 16 Isaías CamaráHK 17 Charlie WardPR 18 Gonçalo AlvesLK 19 Diogo D'AlmeidaFL 20 Francisco AppletonSH 21 Martim DominguesFH 22 Faustino GamaCE 23 Bernardo MatosCoach: Júlio Farias
Semi-Finals
Final
Squads 2023/24 Squads are ordered by the last classification of the league. According to Portuguese Rugby Federation
+The Direito squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps David Costa António Prim Francisco Bruno José Lupi Guillermo Durán Luis Lopes Afonso Tapadinhas Lourenço Moita
Hookers
Duarte Diniz Afonso Bento
Locks
Duarte Torgal Rui D'Orey João Vital António Peixoto Guilherme Valente Pedro Ferreira Luis Semedo Henrique Cortes Duarte Pedro NunesBackrow Manuel Picão João Granate Vasco Fragoso Mendes Pedro Afra Rosa Nuno Peixoto Tama Faitotonu Mateus Ferreira Sebastião Silva Diogo Matos Miguel Romero Rodrigues Luis Pina
Scrum-halves
João Dias Manuel Queirós António Amaral Duarte Cortes Afonso Castiñeira
Fly-halves
Jerónimo Portela Frederico Filipe Manuel VareiroCentres José Maria Vareta Francisco Nobre João Afra Rosa Tomás Cary
Wingers
João Vaz Antunes Duarte Portela Duarte Matos Diogo Custódio João Burnay Francisco Pinto
Fullbacks
Manuel Vilela Pereira João Maria Silva Francisco Perloiro Frederico Roquette(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Cascais squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps Nuno Mascarenhas Pedro Bengaló Ignácio Urueña Nicolas Griffiths José Lavos Duarte Conde Pedro Lopes
Hookers
Santiago Lopes José Martinez Joseph Duffy Bernardo Gomes Alexander Vieira
Locks
Martim Belo Alexandre Fonseca Rodrigues Manuel Barros Gustavo Freire António Carvalho Martins Luis Graça João CabaçoBackrow Gonzalo Paulin Salvador Vassalo Duarte Costa Campos Boaventura Almeida Francisco Sousa Sebastião Petronilho Gonçalo Carvalho Diogo Pina Lourenço Durão
Scrum-halves
Noah Nash Duarte Cardoso Domingos Albuquerque Francisco Carmona e Costa
Fly-halves
Gabriel Ascárate Santiago JaraCentres Gabriel Pop* António Vidinha Francisco C. Campos
Wingers
Vasco Durão José Villar Gomes António Sousa Francisco Pissarra Duarte Tavares
Fullbacks
Vasco Correia Alfredo Almeida(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Agronomia squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps Giorgi Turabelidze* Luis Carranza Francisco Domingues Gil Buchinho Nicolau Turabelidze
Hookers
Pedro Vicente José Nicolás Gea Mariano Muntaner Frederico Tenório Bernardo Cardoso
Locks
José Rebelo de Andrade Pedro Herédia António Maria Andrade Bernardo B. Cardoso António Rebelo de AndradeBackrow Wolf Van Djick Xavier Mccorkindale Francisco Cabral Manuel Navalhinhas Francisco Uva Diogo Sarmento Vicente Pinto
Scrum-halves
Nicolas Herreros João Bandeiras
Fly-halves
Hugo de Franq Domingos Cabral João Lima Kane HancyCentres José Lima Vasco Ribeiro Vasco Leite Sebastião Cardoso José Câmara
Wingers
António Cortes José Cortes Pena Monteiro António Pena Monteiro Pedro Ribeiro Rodrigo Castanheira
Fullbacks
Manuel Cardoso Pinto Afonso Vinagre Gonçalo Vasco Costa(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Benfica squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps Gavin Van den Berg Hugo Valente Barend Bezuidenhout Meli Sifa Márcio Pinheiro André Antunes
Hookers
Luan Almeida Jason Cornelius Pedro Gouveia
Locks
Felipe Rosa Adrian Hall Jaden Delport Fidel Vidal*Backrow Vasco Baptista Frederico Couto Lorenzo Palacio* Frederico Silva Tomás Picado Pedro Ismael Tavares
Scrum-halves
Elliott Ryan Francisco Russo António Campos Tomás Boavida
Fly-halves
José RodriguesCentres Hayden Hann Matteo Colli Francisco Bessa Diogo Salgado
Wingers
Latrell Ah Kiong José Miguel Carvalho Harrison Stock António Valadares Diego Caeiro Rodrigo Sampaio Felisbelo Vieira* Noah Ménard
Fullbacks
Shane Van Rooyen(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Belenenses squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps Anthony Kent Joaquin Dominguez António Machado dos Santos Frederico Simões Manuel Worm Israel Otunuku
Hookers
Guillermo Lawrie Miguel Nunes
Locks
Salvador da Cunha Manuel Lima José Moreira Francisco Simões António Andrade Tomás da CunhaBackrow Rafael Simões David Wallis Manuel Pinto André Cunha Pedro Cunha Tomás Sequeira Sebastião da Cunha Diogo Raposo
Scrum-halves
Duarte Azevedo
Fly-halves
Francisco Menéres Manuel Menéres João FreudenthalCentres José Paiva dos Santos Rodrigo Fruedenthal Alex Thrupp Lourenço Pedras António Cunha António Claro
Wingers
Diogo Rodrigues Duarte Moreira Owen Jenkins Francisco Galveias Lourenço Pedras
Fullbacks
Manuel Marta Francisco Murta Salvador da Cunha Jr.(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The CDUL squad for the 2023–24 TOP 10 seasonProps Matheus Rocha Cristian Zurita Gonçalo Madaleno José Almeida Gonçalo Alves Manuel Magriço
Hookers
Duarte Foro Francisco Pedro Isaías Camará Samuel Marques
Locks