Elite One Championship 2023–2024

Elite One Championship 2023-24
League	Elite One Championship
Duration	18 rounds + playoffs
Teams	10
2023–24 season
Champions	AS Carcassonne
League leaders	AS Carcassonne

The 2023–24 Elite One Championship was the 89th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 23rd season known as the Elite 1 championship.

The league had the same ten teams as the 2022–23 season with Villeneuve, who finished in last place, retaining their Elite 1 status and Ille declining promotion from Elite 2. The ten teams in the competition each team played 18 matches in the regular season. The top six teams progressed to final series played May 2024. The defending champions were Limoux who had defeated Carcassonne in the 2022–23 Grand Final. Carcassonne reached the Grand Final again in 2023–24 and defeated Albi 8–6 to become champions of France for a thirteenth time. They also achieved a league-cup double having won the Coupe de France Lord Derby earlier in the season. In March 2024, the French Rugby League Federation confirmed its plans to expand the top division to eleven teams in 2024–25, therefore there was no relegation from Elite 1 at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Teams

Albi

Avignon

Carcassonne

Limoux

Lézignan

Pia

Saint-Esteve XIII

Saint-Gaudens

Toulouse

Villeneuve XIII

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Location of teams in 2023-24 season

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
Pia Donkeys	Stade Daniel-Ambert	Pia, 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

Regular season

The regular season started on 30 September 2023 and ended on 14 April 2024. Each team was scheduled to play every other team twice, once at home and the other away making 18 games for each team and a total of 90 games.

Table and results

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts	Qualification		CAR	ALB	LIM	PIA	LEZ	STE	AVI	STG	VIL	TOU
1	Carcassonne	18	16	0	2	636	296	+340	2	50	Semi-finals		—	30–32	28–8	38–16	38–20	30–12	36–12	52–16	58–6	50–28
2	Albi	18	15	0	3	515	238	+277	2	47			20–14	—	4–0	16–0	18–10	36–10	44–12	50–6	40–4	42–18
3	Limoux	18	11	0	7	418	268	+150	4	37	Qualifiers		22–40	6–14	—	10–18	10–30	30–14	28–16	32–4	42–4	34–12
4	Pia	18	12	0	6	412	369	+43	1	37			12–31	20–12	12–20	—	26–0	28–18	42–16	30–24	48–22	28–0
5	Lézignan	18	10	0	8	448	360	+88	5	35			10–16	26–24	4–30	26–10	—	14–19	70–6	48–16	32–24	44–8
6	Saint-Estève Catalan	18	10	0	8	472	382	+90	3	33			20–26	10–49	6–26	54–10	25–24	—	50–22	30–22	52–2	22–12
7	Avignon	18	7	0	11	378	539	−161	5	26			28–46	12–24	18–12	24–26	28–34	25–24	—	24–14	28–13	16–24
8	Saint-Gaudens	18	4	0	14	384	574	−190	7	19			16–36	46–24	18–34	14–26	20–10	10–28	28–39	—	22–18	28–40
9	Villeneuve	18	2	0	16	289	541	−252	8	14			12–13	4–14	12–20	20–34	22–24	12–24	14–28	37–36	—	25–10
10	Toulouse Olympique	18	3	0	15	258	643	−385	3	12			6–54	10–52	14–54	24–26	20–22	4–54	10–24	16–44	24–16	—

Source:

• 3 points for a victory
• 1 point bonus for the losing team if the margin is less than 12
• If two teams have equal points then the separation factor is the point difference. If a team has a greater point difference they rank higher on the table. If still tied then head-to-head matches will be the tie-breaker.

Finals

At the end of the regular season, the top six teams from the regular season advanced to the knockout stage. First and second received a bye to the semi-finals where they faced the winners of the qualifying finals. The semi-finals were originally scheduled to be held at the neutral venue of Stade Michel Bendichou, Colomiers, but when the venue became unavailable due to the 2024 Summer Olympics torch relay the matches were moved to the home grounds of the highest seeded teams. The winners of the semi-finals played in the Grand Final on 26 May at Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié in Narbonne. In the Grand Final, Carcassonne, who had won the Lord Derby Cup in April, faced Albi, the only side to have beaten them in the regular season. In a low scoring match Carcassonne led 4–0 at half time. A converted try midway through the second half put Albi ahead 4–6 before Carcassonne regained the lead with a try three minutes from the end to win 8–6.

Bracket

	Qualifying Finals					Semi-Finals					Final
						1	Carcassonne	44
	4	Pia	22			4	Pia	4
	5	Lézignan	16								1	Carcassonne	8
											2	Albi	6
						2	Albi	34
	3	Limoux	44			3	Limoux	18
	6	Saint-Estève Catalan	10

Source:

Grand Final

26 May 2024 16:00

Carcassonne	8 – 6	Albi
Tries: Serelevu Goals: Herrero (2)		Tries: Dupuy Goals: Hellec

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne Attendance: 5,578 Referee: Geoffrey Poumes