French Club RL History Scored

Putting points against a club's success can be done in many ways. I've got two examples below, one covering all elite success for the past three years and the other just top placings from 1960-61 until this 2022-23 season. 

2020-21 to 2022-23: Over the last three years, there have been three league (L) and finals (F) series and just one cup competition (C). I'm not sure why the cup was not played for those two seasons unless it was a hangover from Covid. I put points for each competition. Only the top sides can score points for the first tow but any club can succeed in the cup.

Lézignan was the most successful side in 2021 but is only third over the three years with 79 points. Carcassonne was the best of 2022 and 2023 and naturally the top ranked club for the period. Between them is Limoux in second place. Carcassonne scored the most points in all three categories as seen in the Summary section.

1960-61 to 2022-23: Looking over 63 years with stricter eligibility paints a different picture again. The top four league teams are allocated points as follows 6,4,2,1. Finals 6,4,2,2. Cup 6,3. With a few finals canceled and other disruptions, the scores are as below.

I'm only showing from the 2010-11 season due to space limitations. Catalan and St Estève combined from the 2000-01 season. They also have a side playing in European Super League so the new entity is a reserves side. Toulouse did likewise in 2016.

Technically either Catalan or St Estève would be the most successful side but their combining stopped that occurring. That leaves AS Carcassonne the top placed club, ahead of the Villeneuve Leopards. The latter hasn't done well of late. Lézignan has just passed the now defunct stand alone Catalan club. The successful Le Pontet XII club left abruptly in 1990. 

France Domestic Finals Series : 2023

Picture : Limoux Facebook

The ten team Elite One competition became six with the best sides for the season progressing. It started with what is called barrages or elimination games. The two top sides take a break while the third to sixth play. The two winners of the 3rd-6th matches then play the two rested sides to decide which two will contest the final.

Barrages: Third placed FC Lézignan overcame RC St Gaudens 46-12 and RC Albi the same against Pia XIII 40-6. No surprise there.

Demi Finals: AS Carcassonne returned as the top ranked side and got past RC Albi 26-16 in a fairly close encounter. The second highest ranked Limoux Grizzlies had an easier passage through to the finals, defeating FC Lézignan 36-10.

Finale: Carcassonne defeated Limoux in last year's final and here they were again. Limoux hadn't won a final since 2017 so didn't want a repeat of last year. The Limouxins got the better of the early scoring and leading 14-0. By half time it was 14-6. The second half followed a similar pattern with Limoux pulling away 32-6 before some sort of comeback had the final score at 34-24. 8,221 fans came along to enjoy the action. 

The summary:

2025 RL World Cup Update

For those not following the game closely you may not realise that France has pulled out of hosting the 2025 event. It could not be held due to doubts about its financial viability. It's a sad affair considering that France has previously hosted the competition in 1954 (the inaugural event), 1972 and 2000 (partial hosting). It was an idea from the French RL federation that started off the concept of World Cups in the first place and the trophy is named after the president of French RL at the time Paul Barrière.

So what are the options now? Cancel it altogether, postpone it a year or allocate it to another location. The first two will depend on the third option so I'll cut straight to that. Already a few expressions of interest have been made. New Zealand is a major one and a reasonably good case for that. 

A left field offer is from Qatar, a nation that pushes to host international tournaments. FIFA held its last WC there and it was a success without much of a controversy. They don't play the game of RL there but that could be sorted no doubt. The financial success of a WC in Qatar would presumably be a given, with a guarantee from the host. 

If that doesn't come off and NZ decides it isn't quite ready and neither is anyone else, one of the other two options would come into play. They are postponement or cancellation. The latter need not happen but who knows in RL? 

England v France Double Header Test Matches : 2023

Both the men and women met at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium. About 4,500 were reported as being present for the opening women's game and the men's 8,422. England was expected to win both barring a major upset. I guess the other point was how close they would be. With France hosting the 2025 World Cup they need these games to improve and see where they stand.

Women's: Any hope of a tightish contest was soon dashed as England took control. by half time it was 30-0 and for the French side, it was now a case of damage limitation. The second half another 34 points were added by England. Hopefully, there were lessons learned by the French team. One sided games can be counterproductive. 

Men's: This was basically a carbon copy of the women's game. England men went to a 36-0 lead at the break and finished up winning 64-0, an identical score. The only difference was the men scored eleven tries and the women twelve. 

It was no surprise that England took out both matches. The French men's team was well short of some established players and with depth an issue, a real learning curve. Unless the next two years show a stark improvement, the French teams will struggle, wheelchair the exception. 

France Cup (Lord Derby) : 2022-23

Rugby league started in France in 1934 and Lord Derby donated the cup for the knock out competition. It is still named as such today, although I assume officially named the Coupe de France de Rugby à XIII. It wasn't played for the past three years due to Covid.

The 2022-23 edition was held, with AS Carcassonne being the most successful club with fifteen titles. Who lifted the trophy this year. We take up the competition in the quarter finals.

AS Carcassonne got past a tough opponent in FC Lézignan 28-14, S O Avignon prevailed over XIII Pia 18-8, RC Albi were too good for Villegailhenc 42-20 and Limoux Gizzlies cruised to victory over the St Gaudens XIII 42-6.

The semi finals had AS Carcassonne vs S O Avignon and the holders progressed with a 46-14 triumph. RC Albi secured the other final spot with a high scoring 34-28 defeat of the Limoux Gizzlies. 

The final had AS Carcassonne chasing its sixteenth title and RC Albi it's second. The only previous final it contested was back in 1974 so history was against them. In the match, it was close at half time with the holders ahead just 10-8. Carcassonne ran away with the game in the second half. 36-12 was the final score. The fans above look happy.

If you want to watch the match on YouTube click here. It's put out by the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII