The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir.
History The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on September 21, 1931, by Racing Club de France with the support of two other clubs, CA Bègles and AS Montferrand. In 1931, twelve breakaway clubs had decided to create their own league (UFRA, Union Française du Rugby Amateur) to protest against violence and covert professionalism which French rugby had sunk into, and which had resulted in the exclusion of France from the Five Nations Tournament that year.
Though Racing Club was not one of them and chose to remain loyal to the French Federation, its board considered it had a duty to put the fun back into rugby. Games were often restricted to the forwards, with wings sometimes not touching the ball once in the entire game. Therefore, organizers were very keen to ensure that teams had an attacking style of play, freed from the terse, stressful obligations of championship matches where winning was all that mattered. Special rules were introduced to encourage spectacular play, such as the banning of placed kicks (either penalty or conversion kicks) in order to accelerate the pace. The name of the competition has gone down in the history of French rugby as the epitome of le beau jeu (the beautiful game) and fair play.
Officially, participating clubs were invited by Racing Club de France. Seven of them took part in the inaugural competition. The first two cups were played in a round-robin format. Afterward, round-robin preliminary stages were played before play-offs took the top two teams to the final. The Challenge became the second club competition in France, very much like a cup competition in soccer is second to the championship. As a consequence, le Du-Manoir, as it was nicknamed, became a very sought-after title for all French clubs.
The competition bears the name of a young promising French international player from Racing Club de France, Yves du Manoir, who died in a plane crash in January 1928 at the age of 23. There was no competition between 1939 and 1952, a period during which the French Federation launched the Coupe de France.
In 1996–1997, the French Federation took over the competition as Trophée Du-Manoir Coupe de France. In 2001 it became the Coupe de la Ligue, then Challenge Sud-Radio for one year in 2003. The competition died out because of the lack of time available in the year and the development of European cups and international duties for top players.
Since 2004, the Challenge Yves du Manoir has been taken over by Racing Club de France as a youth competition for under 15. RC Narbonne won it in 9 times (12 finals, 20 semi finals, all records). Racing Club de France never won the competition, and was runner-up only once.
Finals Year Winner Score Runner-up 1932SU Agenround robinLyon OU 1933 Lyon OUround robinSU Agen1934Stade Toulousain RC Toulon0-0 (tied, joint winners)1935USA Perpignan3-3, 6-0AS Montferrand1936Aviron Bayonnais9-3USA Perpignan1937Biarritz Olympique9-3USA Perpignan1938AS Montferrand23-10USA Perpignan1939Section Paloise5-0RC Toulon1952Section Paloise round robinRacing Club de France1953FC Lourdes 8-0Section Paloise1954FC Lourdes28-12 RC Toulon1955 USA Perpignan22-11SC Mazamet1956FC Lourdes3-0USA Perpignan1957US Dax6-6 (by virtue of younger players!)AS Montferrand1958SC Mazamet3-0Stade Montois1959US Dax12-8Section Paloise1960Stade Montois 9-9 (scored more tries)AS Béziers1961Stade Montois 17-8AS Béziers1962Stade Montois 14-9Section Paloise1963SU Agen11-0CA Brive1964AS Béziers6-3Section Paloise1965US Cognac5-3USA Perpignan1966FC Lourdes16-6Stade Montois1967FC Lourdes9-3RC Narbonne1968RC Narbonne14-6US Dax1969US Dax24-12FC Grenoble1970RC Toulon25-22SU Agen1971US Dax18-8Stade Toulousain1972AS Béziers27-6AS Montferrand1973RC Narbonne13-6AS Béziers1974RC Narbonne19-10CA Brive1975AS Béziers 16-12SU Agen1976AS Montferrand40-12SC Graulhet1977AS Béziers19-18FC Lourdes1978RC Narbonne19-19 (more tries scored)AS Béziers1979RC Narbonne9-7AS Montferrand1980Aviron Bayonnais16-10AS Béziers1981FC Lourdes25-13AS Béziers1982US Dax22-19RC Narbonne1983SU Agen29-7RC Toulon1984RC Narbonne17-13Stade Toulousain1985RC Nice21-16AS Montferrand1986AS Montferrand22-15FC Grenoble1987FC Grenoble26-7SU Agen1988Stade Toulousain15-13US Dax1989RC Narbonne18-12Biarritz Olympique1990RC Narbonne24-19FC Grenoble1991RC Narbonne24-19CA Bègles1992SU Agen23-18RC Narbonne1993Stade Toulousain13-8Castres Olympique1994USA Perpignan18-3AS Montferrand1995Stade Toulousain41-20CA Bègles1996CA Brive12-6Section Paloise1997Section Paloise13-11CS Bourgoin-Jallieu1998Stade Toulousain22-15Stade Français Paris1999Stade Français Paris27-19CS Bourgoin-Jallieu2000Biarritz Olympique24-13CA Brive2001AS Montferrand34-24FC Auch2002Stade Rochelais23-19Biarritz Olympique2003 (March)Stade Rochelais22-20CS Bourgoin-Jallieu2003 (November)Castres Olympique27-26CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
Winners Finals lost are in brackets
RC Narbonne: 9 (3) FC Lourdes: 6 (1) Stade Toulousain: 5 (2) US Dax: 5 (2) AS Béziers: 4 (6) SU Agen: 4 (4) AS Montferrand (now ASM Clermont Auvergne): 3 (6) Section Paloise: 3 (5) USA Perpignan: 3 (5) Stade Montois: 3 (1) RC Toulon: 2 (3) Biarritz Olympique: 2 (2) Aviron Bayonnais: 2 Stade Rochelais: 2 FC Grenoble: 1 (3) CA Brive: 1 (2) Castres Olympique: 1 (1) Lyon Olympique Universitaire: 1 (1) SC Mazamet: 1 (1) Stade Français: 1 (1) US Cognac: 1 RC Nice: 1 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu 0 (4) CA Bègles 0 (2) FC Auch: 0 (1) SC Graulhet: 0 (1) Racing Club de France (now Racing Métro 92): 0 (1)
See also Yves du Manoir Racing Club de France
References Le challenge Yves Du Manoir, de Jean Mérillon, éd. Chiron, 1990 (in French).