| Elite 1 | |
| Teams: | 10 |
| Relegation: | Elite 2 |
| Levels: | 1 |
| Domest Cup: | Lord Derby Cup |
| Champions: | AS Carcassonne (2023-2024) |
| Most Champs: | AS Carcassonne (13) |
| Tv: | viàOccitanie, Sport en France |
| Website: | Official site |
| Current Season: | Elite One Championship 2023–2024 |
Elite 1 is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions worldwide. The clubs play each other home and away then they enter into a play-off series culminating with a Grand Final. The competition is the continuation of the French Rugby League Championship, which began in 1934.[1]
The league is generally regarded as the third most important domestic championship in the world, behind Australia's National Rugby League and the United Kingdom's Super League, and ahead of the NZRL National Competition, PNGNRL, Balkan Super League and Rhino Cup.
Prior to the creation of Elite 1, the French Rugby League Championship was the top tier of the French rugby league system.
The competition was founded in 2002, as the Elite One Championship, following the split if the French Rugby League Championship into two divisions. The format stayed the same with teams playing each other home and away, before a play-off series would determine the Champions. The club finishing bottom would not be automatically relegated, it would be dependent on whether the club finishing top of Elite Two Championship either wanted to be promoted or their facilities were up to standard.
| Elite 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=25% | Team | width=20% | Stadium | width=28% | Location |
| Albi Tigers | Stade Mazicou | Albi, Tarn | |||
| SO Avignon | Parc des Sports (Avignon) | Avignon, Vaucluse | |||
| AS Carcassonne | Stade Albert Domec | ||||
| FC Lézignan | Stade du Moulin | Lézignan-Corbières, Aude | |||
| Limoux Grizzlies | Stade de l'Aiguille | Limoux, Aude | |||
| Baroudeurs de Pia XIII | Stade Daniel-Ambert | Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales | |||
| Saint-Estève Catalan | Stade Municipal | ||||
| Saint-Gaudens Bears | Stade Jules Ribet | ||||
| Toulouse Olympique Broncos | Stade des Minimes | ||||
| Villeneuve Leopards | Stade Max Rousie | Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne | |||
| Year | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | 2002–03 | 31 – 18 | Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne | 8,000 | |||
| scope=row | Saint-Gaudens Bears | 14 – 10 | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | 7,500 | |||
| scope=row | Union Treiziste Catalane | 66 – 16 | Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne | 5,000 | |||
| scope=row | Baroudeurs de Pia XIII | 21 – 18 | Stade des Minimes, Toulouse | 5,462 | |||
| scope=row | Baroudeurs de Pia XIII | 20 – 16 | Stade Michel-Bendichou, Colomiers | 7,882 | |||
| scope=row | FC Lézignan | 26 – 16 | Stade de la Mediterranee, Béziers | 9,550 | |||
| scope=row | FC Lézignan | 40 – 32 | Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne | 11,263 | |||
| scope=row | FC Lézignan | 32 – 22 | Altrad Stadium, Montpellier | 6,612 | |||
| scope=row | FC Lézignan | 17 – 12 | Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne | 11,874 | |||
| scope=row | AS Carcassonne | 26 – 20 | Parc des sports et de l'amitié, Narbonne | 8,980 | |||
| scope=row | Baroudeurs de Pia XIII | 33 – 26 | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | 6,732 | |||
| scope=row | Toulouse Olympique XIII | 38 – 12 | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | 7,245 | |||
| scope=row | Toulouse Olympique XIII | 20 – 12 | Stade Michel-Bendichou, Colomiers | 5,800 | |||
| scope=row | Limoux Grizzlies | 26 – 24 | Stadium municipal d'Albi, Albi | 5,420 | |||
| scope=row | Limoux Grizzlies | 24 – 22 | FC Lézignan | 8,270 | |||
| scope=row | Sporting Olympique Avignon | 30 – 28 | Limoux Grizzlies | Stadium municipal d’Albi, Albi | 5,000 | ||
| scope=row | Saint-Estève Catalan | 32 – 24 | Stadium municipal d’Albi, Albi | 1,500 | |||
| scope=row | 2019–20 | Competition abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France[2] | |||||
| scope=row | 2020–21 | FC Lézignan | 16 – 12 | Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse | 3,200 | ||
| scope=row | 2021–22 | AS Carcassonne | 20 – 16 | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | 8,231 | ||
| scope=row | 2022–23 | Limoux Grizzlies | 34 – 24 | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | 8,221 | ||
| scope=row | 2023–24 | AS Carcassonne | 8 – 6 | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | |||
| Club | No. | Year(s) | |
| 1 | Lézignan Sangliers | 5 | 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2020–21 |
| 2 | Pia XIII | 3 | 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13 |
| AS Carcassonne | 2011–12, 2021–22, 2023–24 | ||
| Limoux Grizzlies | 2015–16, 2016–17, 2022–23 | ||
| 5 | Toulouse Olympique | 2 | 2013–14, 2014–15 |
| 6 | 1 | 2002–03 | |
| Saint-Gaudens Bears | 2003–04 | ||
| Union Treiziste Catalane | 2004–05 | ||
| SO Avignon | 2017–18 | ||
| Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan | 2018–19 |
Unlike, for instance, the BBC, France Television didn't offer any program to the French public about Rugby League.
Sport en France cover the Championship across their television platforms nationwide.[4] Coverage includes the match of the week and one match from each week of the playoffs including the Grand Final.
From 2020, some Elite 1 games are televised by a local channel ViàOccitanie; this is a free-to-air channel in the South of France but they are also available on the internet and via the triple play internet devices. Therefore, they offer, indirectly, free nationwide coverage of the domestic championship.[5]
Presently, French clubs have to fund the broadcast of their own games or to televise their own matches themselves via the social networks or YouTube.
Radio Marseillette, a local Southern radio, has rugby league debate and news every Saturday from 10:00 to 12:00. They also have commentary on some Elite League games.
The French national mainstream media barely follow the game. Very occasionally, some articles about the sport are published in newspapers such as Le Monde, Le Figaro or the national Sport newspaper L'Équipe.
Nevertheless, there is undoubtedly a French specificity: the Weekly Rugby Union magazine Midi Olympique has a one-page section devoted to Rugby League. However, only two local newspapers genuinely cover the game; L'Indépendant (based in the South of France) and la Dépêche du Midi (based in the South west of the country).
The British Rugby League press cover this championship; for example magazines like Rugby Leaguer & League Express offer a weekly report of the games. In Australia, the monthly publication Rugby League Review offer a few columns about the games as well.