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.
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
Elite One ChampionshipTeamStadiumLocation Albi RL 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'AiguilleLimoux, 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
Regular season 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 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
Home and Away
Magic Weekend 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.
DateTeam 1ScoreTeam 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
Finals series
Qualifying Finals
Limoux vs Albi
Lezignan vs Villeneuve
Semi-finals
Carcassonne vs Limoux
Catalan vs Lezignan
Final
Teams CarcassonnePositionSaint EsteveCatalanTony Tumusa FullbackRobin BrochonAlexis Escamilla WingRomain FrancoVincent Albert CentreThomas AmbertJamie Anderson CentreBen PomeroyClement Soubeyras WingUgo MartinLuc Franco Five-eighthJoan GuaschAlexis Albérola HalfbackArthur MourgueAmar Sabri PropMathieu CozzaJulien Agullo HookerAlexis Meresta-DoucetBastien Canet PropArnaud Bartès Jean-Philippe Baile (c) 2nd RowPaul SéguierNabil Djalout 2nd RowUgo PerezMatthieu Khedimi LockThibaud Margalet Johnathon Soum Reserve Sébastien Bled Damien Tétart Reserve Valentin Zafra Geoffrey Zava Reserve Lambert Belmas Florent Rouanet Reserve Hugo SalabioPatrick AlbérolaCoachBenoît Albert
Match Summary
References