France Elite Teams By Season : 2003-04

Saint-Gaudens is a strong RL town

For this season there was a new team included, Lyon Villeurbanne Rhône à XIII if you want the full title. This was the first year of the Elite 1 Championship. Paris Châtillon and RC Carpentras XIII were relegated, making one less team this season for the Elite 1.

League: UTC (St Estève XIII Catalan) took the title with 48 points, just pipping RC Saint-Gaudens to the winning post by two points. Toulouse Olympique XIII were third (42) with SM Pia and AS Carcassonne sharing 40 points.

Finals: Details are becoming harder to find. In one quarter final AS Carcassonne defeated Toulouse Olympique 40-20. In the other encounter, the Limoux Grizzlies were eliminated.

In the first semi final Saint-Gaudens overcame SM Pia and in the other UTC were too good for AS Carcassonne, winning 40-22. In the grand final, Saint-Gaudens upset UTC 14-10. It was held at Perpignan in front of 7,500 spectators.

Lord Derby Cup: In one match UTC comprehensively outplayed Palau 68-6. FC Lézignan and Villefranche XIII lost but the fourth team I am unable to confirm.

The first semi final featured UTC and Toulouse Olympique, the former running out the victors 34-12. In the other game AS Carcassonne defeated Pia.

The final was a high scoring affair, played at Carcassonne (strangely) with 10,500 in attendance. UTC took the silverware courtesy of a 39-24 victory against AS Carcassonne.

Summary: UTC were the best side this season, winning both the League and cup. That gave them 56 points in the system I use to rank teams. AS Carcassonne were next with 40 points due to a solid season but without taking any trophies. Saint-Gaudens got 38 points along with Pia, the former taking the finals series and Pia another consistent performance without silverware.

	Rk	Team	Rnd	Fls	LD	Tot
	1	St Estève Cat	20	16	20	56
	2	Carcassonne	12	12	16	40
	3	St Gaudens	18	20		38
	4	Pia	14	12	12	38
	5	Toulouse	16	6	12	34
	6	Limoux	11	6		17
	7	Lézignan	9		6	15
	8	Villefranche	7		6	13
	9	Villeneuve	10			10
	10	Lyon Villeurb	8			8
	11	Palau			6	6
		Total	125	72	66	263

For the 2004-05 season, simply click here.