France Elite Teams By Season : 2016-17

RL in France has had some challenges over the years. The banning of the game (and loss of everything) by the Viche government during the second world war was a heavy blow it never fully recovered from. The lack of any compensation is baffling. Now the game is mainly played in villages in the south of France, it has to contend with a loss of youth who move away to greener pastures.

The solution is for another time, if there indeed is one. For now let's celebrate what French RL is. I have allocated points for where a team finishes in the Elite One League, then the Finals and also the Lord Derby Cup.

FC Lézignan-Corbières in action

For the 2016/17 season, another team was introduced to the Elite One league, RC St Gaudens XIII. That brought the number up to ten. Three teams were above the others. FC Lézignan, Limoux Grizzlies and AS Carcassonne. Each one won something, the Elite 1, the Finals and LD Cup in that order. FC Lézignan pipped the others by virtue of being in both finals, as well as winning the league. AS Carcassonne's relatively poor Elite 1 finish cost it.

St Estève - XIII Catalan is a support club for the European division one (Super League) club Les Catalan Dragons. The Toulouse Broncos is likewise a support club of the UK division two (Championship) side Toulouse Olympique. For 2018, the season switches to summer as is the case with the UK which brings the two nations into sync.

	Rnk	Team	E 1	Fls	LD	Tot
	1	Lézignan	20	16	16	52
	2	Limoux	18	20	12	50
	3	Carcassonne	14	12	20	46
	4	Albi	11	6	12	29
	5	St Estève Cat	16	12	-	28
	6	Avignon	12	6	-	18
	7	St Gaudens	10	-	6	16
	8	Villeneuve	9	-	6	15
	9	Palau	8	-	-	8
	10	Toulouse	7	-	-	7
	11	Villefranche	-	-	6	6
	11	Baho	-	-	6	6
		Total	125	72	84	281

For the 2015/16 season, please click here.
For the 2017/18 season, please click here.