Élite 1 Explained

Élite 1 Féminine
Sport:	Rugby union
Inaugural:	1972
Teams:	12
Country:	France
Champion:	Stade Bordelais
Champ Season:	2024
Most Champs:	Toulouse Femina Sports (9)
Related Comps:	Élite 2 Féminine
Website:	https://competitions.ffr.fr/competitions/elite-1-feminine/

Élite 1 Féminine (since 2018, and previously Top 8 from 2015 to 2018) is the top national league for women's rugby union clubs in France. It was founded from the 1971–1972 season under the aegis of the French Women's Rugby Association before being taken over by the French Women's Rugby Federation, it has been organized by the French Rugby Federation since 1989. The first season was won by the ASVEL Rugby women's side.

The championship takes place in two phases: a so-called qualification phase, which is contested by all the teams, and a final phase which is played by direct elimination. From 2015 to 2018, the championship is referred to as the Top 8. In 2018, the championship went from a single pool of 8 clubs to two pools of 16. The 8 best clubs qualified for the final phase. Since the 2018-2019 season, two clubs have been relegated to Élite 2 at the end of the championship.

As with men, the most successful club in France is Toulouse: it is Toulouse Fémina Sports, with 9 French championship titles, in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985. Montpellier RC is the second most successful team with eight titles (2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019). In a recent reform in 2021, the league has seen the number of teams decrease from 16 to 14 and there will only be 12 teams next season.^{[1] [2]}

ASM Romagnat won the Élite 1 2020-2021 season.^[3]

2023-24 Teams

Pool 1

Club	Coach	Stadium	Capacity
AC Bobigny 93 Rugby	Vincent Gabrelle	Stade Henri-Wallon	1,000
ASM Romagnat	Fabrice Ribeyrolles	Stade Michel-Brun	500
Montpellier	Armand Mardon	Stade Sabathé / Stade Éric-Béchu	8,000 / 500
Stade Bordelais	Francois Ratier		34,694
Stade Français	Yohanne Penot	Stade Jean-Bouin	20,000
Lille MRC Villeneuvois	Alexandra Pertus and Cyril Fouda	Stade Emmanuel-Thery / Stadium Lille Métropole	NA / 18,500

Pool 2

Club	Coach	Stadium	Capacity
Blagnac Rugby Féminin	Nicolas Tranier		4,000
FC Grenoble	Leo Brissaud	Stade Lesdiguières	12,650
Lons Section Paloise	Paul Dolié	Stade du Bourg (complexe Georges Martin)
LOU Rugby	Jean-Matthieu Alcalde	Plaine des Jeux de Gerland
Stade Rennais Rugby	Arnaud Le Berre	Stade du Commandant Bougouin	4,000
Stade Toulousain	Olivier Marin	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500

Champions

1970-79

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
1972	ASVEL	10–8	RC Adour	Lombez
1973	FC Auch	10–8	Tarbes Rugby	Morlaàs
1974	Violettes bressanes	25–10	FC Auch	La Voulte
1975	Toulouse Fémina Sports	18–3	OF Valence Les Dragons Blancs	Romagnat
1976	Toulouse Fémina Sports	8–3	Violettes bressanes	Castres
1977	Toulouse Fémina Sports	12–7	Violettes bressanes	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1978	Toulouse Fémina Sports	7–0	FC Auch	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1979	Toulouse Fémina Sports	19–0	Coquelicots de Tournus	Montaigut-le-Blanc

1980-89

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
1980	Toulouse Fémina Sports	7–0	Violettes bressanes	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1981	Violettes bressanes	10–3	Coquelicots de Tournus	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1982	Toulouse Fémina Sports	7–0	Violettes bressanes	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1983	La Teste Rugby	10–0	Violettes bressanes	Tulle
1984	Toulouse Fémina Sports	10–0	Coquelicots de Tournus	Privas
1985	Toulouse Fémina Sports	6–0	Violettes bressanes	Montaigut-le-Blanc
1986	La Teste Rugby	8–0	Toulouse Fémina Sports
1987	La Teste Rugby	16–4	Coquelicots de Tournus	Bègles
1988	La Teste Rugby	8–0	Violettes bressanes	Anglet
1989	Violettes bressanes	19–12	AS Romagnat	Montaigut-le-Blanc

1990-99

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
1990	Saint-Orens	7–6	Violettes bressanes	Tours
1991	Rugby Club de Chilly-Mazarin	3–0	Saint-Orens	Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche
1992	Pachys d'Herm	10–3	Saint-Orens	Marciac
1993	Saint-Orens	13–3	Violettes bressanes	L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
1994	AS Romagnat	21–12	Saint-Orens	Maurs
1995	AS Romagnat	10–6	Pachys d'Herm
1996	Rugby Club de Chilly-Mazarin	3–0	AS Romagnat	Romorantin
1997	Pachys d'Herm	30–17	Saint-Orens	Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris
1998	Pachys d'Herm	20–11	AS Romagnat	Mussidan
1999	Caen Rugby Club	25–12	Pachys d'Herm	Leucate

2000-09

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
2000	Caen Rugby Club	12–5	Pachys d'Herm	Poitiers
2001	Pachys d'Herm	20–19	Caen Rugby Club	Limoges
2002	Caen Rugby Club	10–3	Saint-Orens	Tyrosse
2003	Pachys d'Herm	23–15	Caen Rugby Club	Parthenay
2004	USAT XV Toulouges	8–6	Ovalie caennaise	Isle
2005	USAT XV Toulouges	7–3	Ovalie caennaise	Stade de France, Saint-Denis
2006	USAT XV Toulouges	8–3	Stade Rennais rugby	La Roche-sur-Yon
2007	Montpellier RC	10–3	Ovalie caennaise	Grenoble
2008	USAT XV Toulouges	18–15	Montpellier RC	Narbonne
2009	Montpellier RC	19–16	USAP XV Féminin	Gruissan

2010-19

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
2010	USAP XV Féminin	26–5	Montpellier RC	Stade Jean Bouin, Paris
2011	USAP XV Féminin	15–11	Stade rennais rugby	Saint-Médard-en-Jalles
2012	Rugby club lonsois	14–10	Montpellier RC	Stade de Loudes, L'Union
2013	Montpellier RC	15–12	Lille MRC villeneuvois	Stade Robert-Barran, Vierzon		^[4]
2014	Montpellier RC	29–19	AC Bobigny 93 rugby	Stade de l'Escale, Arnas
Top 8
2015	Montpellier RC	17–3	Lille MRC villeneuvois	Stade Marcel-Verchère, Bourg-en-Bresse
2016	Lille MRC villeneuvois	18–7	Montpellier RC	Stade Jules-Ladoumègue, Massy
2017	Montpellier RC	17–11	Lille MRC villeneuvois	Stade André-Moga, Bègles
2018	Montpellier RC	15–12	Stade toulousain	Stade Albert-Domec, Carcassonne
Élite 1
2019	Montpellier RC	22–13	Stade toulousain	Stade Maurice-Trélut, Tarbes

2020-29

Season	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref	Highlights
2020	align=center colspan="7"	Season interrupted by COVID-19
2021	ASM Romagnat	13–8	Blagnac Rugby Féminin	Stade Ernest-Argelès, Blagnac			https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKMxvfxoiME&ab_channel=FranceRugby
2022	Stade Toulousain	16–10	Blagnac Rugby Féminin	Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble			https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=994955391193610
2023	Stade Bordelais	27–23	Blagnac Rugby Féminin	Stade Sainte-Germaine			https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArDSLXht1_A&t=24s&ab_channel=FranceRugby
2024	Stade Bordelais	32–17	ASM Romagnat	Stade Pierre Rajon Bourgoin-Jallieu		^[5] ^[6]	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB0TewXzoPI&ab_channel=FranceRugby

Winners & Runners Up

• Current Élite 1 Féminine participating clubs indicated in bold

Club	Wins	Runners-up	class=unsortable	Winning Seasons	Last Win
	9	1	1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1984 1985	1985
	8	4	2007 2009 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019	2019
	5	3	1992 1997 1998 2001 2003	2003
	4	0	2004 2005 2006 2008	2008
	4	0	1983 1986 1987 1988	1988
	3	9	1974 1981 1989	1989
	2	3	1994 1995	1995
	1	1	2021	2021
	3	2	1999 2000 2002	2002
	2	5	1990 1993	1993
	2	0	1991 1996	1996
	2	0	2023 2024	2024
	2	1	2010 2011	2011
	1	2	1973	1973
	1	3	2016	2016
	1	0	2012	2012
	1	2	2022	2022
	1	0	1972	1972
	0	4
	0	3
	0	3
	0	1
	0	2
	0	1
	0	1
	0	1

External links

• Official site

Notes and References

1. Web site: 17 September 2021 . Elite 1 - En quête d'homogénéité, l'Elite féminine entame sa mue . 2 November 2021 . Rugbyrama . fr.
2. Web site: 9 May 2020 . France reorganises its elite league – again . 2 November 2021 . Scrum Queens . en.
3. Web site: 21 June 2021 . Romagnat win French championship . 2 November 2021 . Scrum Queens . en.
4. Web site: Birch . John . 1 July 2013 . French Top 10: The south triumphs! . 14 April 2024 . ScrumQueens . en-GB.
5. Web site: Charpenet . David . 8 June 2024 . Elite 1 féminine - Stade bordelais - ASM Romagnat : le résumé du sacre des Bordelaises. 8 June 2024 . rugbyrama.fr . en-FR.
6. https://en.lebonbon.fr/bordeaux/current-events/h1the-lionesses-of-stade/