France Elite Teams By Season : 2007-08

Lézignan-Corbières 

For the season, there were eleven teams in the Elite 1 competition. Racing Club Albi XIII replaced Villefranche XIII Aveyron. Villeurbanne had only been there for one season too. SM Pia had won everything for the past two seasons, so could they make it a treble?

League: FC Lézignan ended Pia's dominance by winning the league with 56 points and just two losses. SM Pia did come second not too far behind with 52 points. AS Carcassonne was third (45 points) and Limoux Grizzlies fourth (44 points).

Finals: In the elimination round, RC Saint-Gaudens were too good for Toulouse Olympique XIII, winning 40-10. Meanwhile UTC ran away with the other game 31-8 over RC Albi. In the quarterfinals, AS Carcassonne prevailed 30-22 over Saint-Gaudens and in the other match Limoux Grizzlies were victors 34-18 against UTC.

The semi final games arrived and SM Pia were too strong for AS Carcassonne with a 38-26 scoreline the outcome. In the other fixture FC Lézignan defeated Limoux Grizzlies 25-18. In the final, Pia had a shot at redemption with FC Lézignan after coming second to them in the league. However, it wasn't to be as again they were second best (26-16) at Béziers where over 9500 came to watch the game.

Lord Derby Cup: In the quarts de finale, second division side Montpellier XIII Diables Rouges were eliminated, along with Toulouse, Lyon Villeurbanne Rhône à XIII and Saint-Gaudens.

The demi-finales RC Albi defeated FC Lézignan 24-20 and Limoux ended Pia's hopes of a trophy with a 36-14 triumph. The Finale was finally between Limoux and Albi, the former winning a tight contest 17-14. 9,000 were there to watch at Carcassonne.

Summary: Pia may have won everything for two years running but couldn't quite win anything in 2007-08. FC Lézignan was the best side with with league and finals trophies. They ended up with 52 points. Limoux's winning the cup and Pia's consistency had them both on 46 points each.

	Rk	Team	Rnd	Fls	LD	Tot
	1	Lézignan	20	20	12	52
	2	Limoux	14	12	20	46
	2	Pia	18	16	12	46
	4	Carcassonne	16	12		28
	5	Albi	9	2	16	27
	6	St Gaudens	11	6	6	23
	7	St Estève Catalan	12	6		18
	7	Toulouse	10	2	6	18
	9	Lyon Villeurbanne	8		6	14
	10	Carpentras	7			7
	11	Villeneuve	6			6
	11	Montpellier			6	6
		Total	131	76	84	291

For the 2006-07 season just click here.
For the 2008-09 season, please click here.