France Elite Teams By Season : 2002-03

Villeneuve-sur-lot

I am looking for information about the 2001-02 league table so cannot relate that season with this one. For 2002-03 there were eleven clubs contesting the top division.

League: Villeneuve XIII narrowly won the league with 53 points, the same as second placed SM Pia. UTC (St Estève XIII Catalan) was a point further behind on third and the Limoux Grizzlies fourth on 46 points. Toulouse Olympique XIII were next on 42.

Finals: This year the games were home and away apart from the final. The quarter finals were as follows:

Villeneuve 36-4 (a) and 52-6 (h) Villefranche.
Limoux 37-32 (a) and 40-30 (h) Toulouse Olympique
FC Lézignan 38-5 (h) 11-40 (a) SM Pia
RC Saint-Gaudens 24-18 (h) 19-18 (a) UTC

Semi finals:
Saint-Gaudens 44-22 (a) 40-16 (h) Lézignan
Villeneuve 33-17 (h) 12-18 (a) Limoux

The final was played at Narbonne before 8,000 attendees. Villeneuve  proved too strong for Saint-Gaudens, winning the title with a 31-18 victory.

Lord Derby Cup: In the quarter finals, the results were: Toulouse 32-20 Carpentras, Pia 34-8 St Livrade, UTC 30-10 Villefranche, Villeneuve 32-20 Lézignan.

On to the last four: Pia 28-26 Toulouse, Villeneuve 30-24 UTC. The final was held at Carcassonne in front of 7,000 spectators. Villeneuve narrowly took the match 16-14 from Pia.

Summary: Villeneuve took all three titles on offer for a maximum of 60 points according to my way of rewarding teams. Pia was awarded 40 points and second place, UTC 34 and Toulouse 30. What a year for the Villeneuve club. St Livrade did well to make the quarter finals of the cup. It's right next door to Villeneuve.

	Rk	Team	Rnd	Fls	LD	Tot
	1	Villeneuve	20	20	20	60
	2	Pia	18	6	16	40
	3	UTC	16	6	12	34
	4	Toulouse	12	6	12	30
	5	Lézignan	10	12	6	28
	6	St Gaudens	11	16		27
	7	Limoux	14	12		26
	8	Villefranche	9	6	6	21
	9	Carpentras	8		6	14
	10	Carcassonne	7			7
	11	Paris Châtillon	6			6
	11	St Livrade			6	6
		Total	131	84	84	299

To see the 2003-04 season, just click here.