Elite One Championship 2018–2019

The 2018–19 Elite One Championship was the 84th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and 17th known as the Elite One Championship. Ten teams competed in the regular season playing 19 matches each from November 2018 to June 2019, with the top six teams playing a three-week finals series throughout June 2019.

Elite One Championship 2018–19
LeagueElite One Championship
Duration19 rounds
Teams10
Broadcast partnersFrance beIN Sports
France Radio Marseillette
2018–19 season
Champions Saint-Estève Catalan
2nd Elite One title
League leaders AS Carcassonne
Biggest home win AS Carcassonne 50 – 4 Toulouse Olympique Broncos (22 April 2019)
Biggest away win Albi Tigers 54 – 10 Toulouse Olympique Broncos (26 May 2019)
Top point-scorer(s)France Aurelien Decarnin 154
Top try-scorer(s)Spain Romain Franco 24

Saint-Estève XIII Catalan won their second Elite One Championship beating minor premiers AS Carcassonne in the final 32–24 after finishing 2nd in the regular season.

Teams

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Elite One Championship
Team Stadium Location
  Albi Tigers Stadium Mazicou Albi, Tarn
  SO Avignon Parc des Sports (Avignon) Avignon, Vaucluse
  AS Carcassonne Stade Albert Domec Carcassonne, Aude
  FC Lézignan Stade du Moulin Lézignan-Corbières, Aude
  Limoux Grizzlies Stade de l'Aiguille Limoux, Aude
  Palau XIII Broncos Stade Georges Vaills Palau-del-Vidre, Pyrénées-Orientales
  Saint-Estève Catalan Stade Municipal Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales
  Saint-Gaudens Bears Stade Jules Ribet Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne
  Toulouse Olympique Broncos Stade des Minimes Toulouse, Haute-Garonne
  Villeneuve Leopards Stade Max Rousie Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne

Format

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Regular season

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Each team was scheduled to every other team twice, once at home and the other away. Each team then played another team again during Magic Weekend that was held on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Carcassonne, to make a total of 19 regular season matches for each team.

Finals series

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At the end of the regular season, the top six of the regular season advance to the knockout stage. 1st and second receive a bye for the first week of finals as third plays sixth (Qualifying Final 1) and fourth plays fifth (Qualifying Final 2), with the losers of both matches eliminated. First then plays the winner of Qualifying final 1 and second then plays the winner of Qualifying Final 2. The winners of these two matches play in Grand Final on 29 June at Stadium Municipal d'Albi in Albi.

Regular season

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Home and Away

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Home \ Away ALB AVI CAR LÉZ LIM PAL STE STG TOU VIL
  Albi 47–4 36–24 28–24 36–24 26–27 18–42 26–10 8–34 30–16
  Avignon 22–34 26–22 10–36 28–32 12–24 16–54 40–18 22–16 12–20
  Carcassonne 22–8 16–19 34–26 19–18 20–0 18–20 44–24 50–4 30–16
  Lézignan 10–20 28–20 29–22 34–4 58–43 36–10 34–6 48–28 20–44
  Limoux 26–16 48–10 14–31 22–16 30–14 22–20 42–12 42–22 20–12
  Palau 38–42 32–16 40–46 4–42 16–20 24–32 14–24 30–36 16–20
  Saint-Estève Catalan 42–24 56–22 12–36 24–30 46–18 36–24 24–20 38–30 34–22
  Saint-Gaudens 18–48 38–14 10–40 26–24 26–36 24–44 26–28 20–16 20–22
  Toulouse 10–54 6–30 22–60 20–50 12–56 35–26 10–50 46–10 26–48
  Villeneuve 40–8 20–10 18–24 30–14 12–24 40–34 14–18 24–32 30–18
Source: [1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Magic Weekend

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Magic Weekend was held on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14, 2019, with all matches being played in Carcassonne. All match winners would be awarded 4 points instead of the regular 3. [2] [3]

Date Team 1 Score Team 2
13 April 18:00   Palau 42–24   Saint-Gaudens
13 April 18:00   Lézignan 18–14   Limoux
13 April 18:00   Toulouse 30–31   Avignon
14 April 15:00   Villeneuve 24–52   Albi
13 April 18:00   Saint-Estève Catalan 22–30   Carcassonne

Table

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2018-19 Elite One Championship
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD BP Pts Qualification
1   Carcassonne 19 14 0 5 588 364 +224 6 48 Semi-Finals
2   Saint-Estève XIII Catalan (C) 19 14 0 5 608 440 +168 3 45
3   Lézignan 19 12 0 7 577 409 +168 6 42 Qualifying-Finals
4   Limoux Grizzlies 19 13 0 6 512 400 +112 3 42
5   Albi Tigers 19 12 0 7 561 457 +104 3 39
6   Villeneuve Leopards 19 10 0 9 472 442 +30 6 36
7   Palau XIII Broncos 19 5 0 14 492 583 −91 11 26
8   SO Avignon 19 6 0 13 365 577 −212 7 25
9   Saint-Gaudens Bears 19 5 0 14 388 608 −220 4 19
10   Toulouse Olympique Broncos 19 4 0 15 421 704 −283 5 17
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 3 points for a victory; 4 points for a victory in Magic Weekend; 1 point bonus for losing team if the margin is less than 12. If two teams have equal points then the separation factor is point difference. If a team has a greater point difference they rank higher on the table.
(C) Champions

Finals series

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Qualifying Finals

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Limoux vs Albi

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Sunday, 16 June, 2019
16:30
Limoux Grizzlies   26 – 24   Albi Tigers
Tries:
Thomas Lasvenes (5') 1
Maxime Péault (23') 1
Henry Noki (45') 1
Mathieu Mayans (54') 1
Mickaël Murcia (68') 1
Goals:
Mickaël Murcia 2
(68' pen, 72')
Allan Torreilles 1
(45')
[4]
1st: 8 – 12
2nd: 18 – 12
Tries:
2 (9', 68') Jye Ballinger
1 (12') Nittim Pedrero
1 (77') Cédric Mazars
Goals:
4 Baptiste Fabre
(9', 12', 68', 77')
Stade de l'Aiguille, Limoux
Referee: B. Casty and Vergnes


Lezignan vs Villeneuve

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Sunday, 16 June, 2019
16:30
FC Lézignan   35 – 20   Villeneuve Leopards
Tries:
Cyril Stacul (33', 69') 2
Benjamin Tort (3') 1
Valentin Ferret (45') 1
Lilian Albert (39') 1
Maxime Benausse (73') 1
Goals:
Damien Cardace 5
(19', 33', 39', 69', 73')
Field Goals:
Amine Miloudi (79') 1
[5]
1st: 22 – 10
2nd: 13 – 10
Tries:
2 (22', 54') Maxence Carrasco
1 (13') Loïc Marira
1 (64') Dorian Brioux
Goals:
2 Aurelien Decarnin
(13', 64')
Stade du Moulin, Lézignan-Corbières
Referee: M. Drizza and K. Delarose

Semi-finals

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Carcassonne vs Limoux

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Saturday, 22 June, 2019
19:30
Carcassonne   20 – 16 (a.e.t)   Limoux Grizzlies
Tries:
Bastien Canet (5') 1
Luc Franco (50') 1
Tony Tumusa (77') 1
Nabil Djalout (82') 1
Goals:
Alexis Albérola 2
(5', 17' pen)
[6]
1st: 8 – 6
2nd: 8 – 10
ET: 4 – 0
Tries:
1 (66') Thomas Lasvenes
Goals:
6 Mickaël Murcia
(20' pen, 35' pen, 38' pen, 54' pen, 59' pen, 66')
Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne
Attendance: 800
Referee: B. Casty and M.Drizza


Catalan vs Lezignan

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Sunday, 23 June, 2019
16:00
Saint-Estève Catalan   38 – 18   FC Lézignan
Tries:
Arthur Romano (9', 21') 2
Robin Brochon (17', 68') 2
Ben Pomeroy (29') 1
Romain Franco (56', 78') 2
Goals:
Joan Guasch 5
(13' pen, 17', 43' pen, 68', 78' )
[7]
1st: 20 – 12
2nd: 18 – 6
Tries:
1 (3') Michaël Tribillac
1 (36') Florian Bousquet
1 (67') Amine Miloudi
Goals:
3 Damien Cardace
(3', 36', 67')
Stade Municipal, Perpignan
Attendance: 1400
Referee: K. Delarose and S. Vincent


Final

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Teams

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Carcassonne Position Saint Esteve
Catalan
Tony Tumusa Fullback Robin Brochon
Alexis Escamilla Wing Romain Franco
Vincent Albert Centre Thomas Ambert
Jamie Anderson Centre Ben Pomeroy
Clement Soubeyras Wing Ugo Martin
Luc Franco Five-eighth Joan Guasch
Alexis Albérola Halfback Arthur Mourgue
Amar Sabri Prop Mathieu Cozza
Julien Agullo Hooker Alexis Meresta-Doucet
Bastien Canet Prop Arnaud Bartès
Jean-Philippe Baile (c) 2nd Row Paul Séguier
Nabil Djalout 2nd Row Ugo Perez
Matthieu Khedimi Lock Thibaud Margalet
Johnathon Soum Reserve Sébastien Bled
Damien Tétart Reserve Valentin Zafra
Geoffrey Zava Reserve Lambert Belmas
Florent Rouanet Reserve Hugo Salabio
Patrick Albérola Coach Benoît Albert


Match Summary

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Saturday, 29 June, 2019
20:00
Carcassonne   24 – 32   Saint-Estève Catalan
Tries:
Jamie Anderson (7') 1
Vincent Albert (15') 1
Luc Franco (27') 1
Alexis Escamilla (30') 1
Goals:
Alexis Albérola 2
(15', 27', 30', 61' pen)
Sin Bins:
Julien Agullo (65')
Nabil Djalout (79')
[8]
1st: 22 – 4
2nd: 2 – 28

Tries:
1 (25') Ben Pomeroy
1 (41') Paul Seguier
1 (42') Arthur Mourgue
1 (50') Ugo Perez
1 (68') Alexis Meresta-Doucet
Goals:
1 (41') Joan Guasch
5 Robin Brochon
(42', 50', 55' pen, 68', 73' pen)
Sin Bins:(50') Arnaud Bartes
(79') Hugo Salabio
Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi
Attendance: 3000
Referee: K. Delarose and S. Vincent


References

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  1. ^ "Elite 1 2018/2019 (France): Results". scorespro. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Carcassonne : un "Magic Week-end" très festif". L'Independant. 13 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Le FC Lézignan-Corbières se replace, mais se cherche encore". L'Independant. 15 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Rugby à XIII (Elite 1) : Lézignan et Limoux en demi-finales !". L'Independant. 16 June 2019.
  5. ^ "FC Lézignan-Corbières XIII : une victoire et des adieux pour Tisseyre et Amilas". L'Independant. 17 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Un petit point en or prive Limoux de la finale". L'Independant. 24 June 2019.
  7. ^ "XIII Lézignan : l'exceptionnelle saison du FCL n'est pas finie". L'Independant. 24 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Elite 1 : exploit de Saint-Estève/XIII Catalan qui devient champion de France face à Carcassonne XIII (32-24)". L'Independant. 29 June 2019.