The 2024–25 Coupe de France Lord Derby was the 84th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, the premier rugby league knockout competition in France. It began over the weekend of 19–20 October 2024 and ended with the final at the Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne, on 5 April 2025.
The defending champions were AS Carcassonne who defeated FC Lézignan XIII in the 2023–24 final to win the cup for a third consecutive time. In the 2024–25 final, Saint-Estève XIII Catalan defeated Albi RL XIII 26–18 to reclaim the trophy they had last won in the 2017–18 season.
Background The 84th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, started on 19 October 2024 and concluded with the final on 5 April 2025. Entry was limited to teams in the top two divisions: Super XIII (11 teams) and Elite 2 (9 teams). Eight of the teams from Elite 2 took part in a play-off round with the four winners advancing to the round of 16 where they were joined by the remaining teams who entered the competition at this stage: Palau Broncos, who received a bye in the first round, and the Super XIII teams.
Format and dates + Lord Derby French Cup competition format Round Date Clubs involved this round Winners from previous round New entries this round Leagues entering at this round Play-off round 19–20 October 8 8 8 teams from Elite 2 Round of 16 4–5 January 16 4 12 1 team from Elite 2 and all 11 teams from Super XIII Quarter-finals 8–9 February 8 8 colspan=2 rowspan=3 Semi-finals 22–23 March 4 4 Final 5 April 2 2
Play-off round The draws for the play-off round and the round of 16 were made on 12 September. Ties were played over the weekend of 19–20 October.
+ Play-off round fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport Pamiers XIII 24–42 Ille-sur-Têt XIII 19 October Stade Magnagounet RC Carpentras XIII 60–12 Realmont XIII 20 October Stade de la Roseraie Lescure-Arthes 32–36 Tonneins XIII 20 October Stade de Lescure d'Albigeois RC Salon XIII 0–58 Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 20 October Stade Marcel Roustan Source:
Round of 16 Ties were played over the weekend of 4–5 January.
+ Round of 16 fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport SO Avignon 18–54 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan 4 January, 16:00 Parc Des Sports Report Villeneuve XIII RLLG 16–14 Baroudeurs de Pia XIII 4 January, 16:00 Stade De Choisy Report RC Carpentras XIII 60–16 Tonneins XIII 5 January, 15:00 Stade De La Roseraie Palau XIII Broncos 16–30 Albi RL XIII 5 January, 15:00 Stade Georges Vaills Report Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 27–12 Villefranche XIII Aveyron 5 January, 15:00 Stade Jerome Rieu Saint-Gaudens Bears 6–50 AS Carcassonne 5 January, 15:00 Stade Jules Ribet FC Lézignan XIII 8–20 XIII Limouxin 5 January, 15:00 Stade Du Moulin Report Ille-sur-Têt XIII 14–32 Toulouse Olympique Broncos 5 January, 15:00 Stade Jean Galia Source:
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 10 January. Ties were played on the weekend of 8–9 February.
+ Quarter-final fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport RC Carpentras XIII 10–40 Albi RL XIII 8 February, 15:00 Stade de la Roseraie AS Carcassonne 29–16 XIII Limouxin 8 February, 16:00 Stade Albert Domec Report Villeneuve XIII RLLG 10–14 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan 8 February, 15:30 Stade De Choisy Stéphane Vincent Report Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 8–18 Toulouse Olympique Broncos 9 February, 15:30 Stade Jerome Rieu Source:
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was made on 14 February. Ties were played on the weekend of 22–23 March at neutral venues.
+ Semi-final fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport Albi RL XIII 34–30 AS Carcassonne 22 March, 15:00 Stade Ernest Wallon, Toulouse Report Saint-Estève XIII Catalan 16–0 Toulouse Olympique Broncos 23 March, 16:00 Stade du Moulin, Lézignan Report
Final The final of the 2024–25 Coupe de France Lord Derby was originally scheduled to take place on the weekend of 3–4 May. However, in March 2025 it was announced that it would be played on 5 April at the Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié preceded by the final of the Luc Nitard Cup (under-19s).
Saint-Estève XIII Catalan had last won the cup in the 2017–18 competition and then reached the final again the following season. Their opponents, Albi, had previously won the cup once, in the 1973–74 season, and last reached the final in the 2022–23 season. In the 2024–25 final, Saint-Estève XIII Catalan led 16–10 at half time, Albi then levelled the score, and took the lead with around 30 minutes to play, before two tries from Saint-Estève XIII Catalan saw them take the trophy with a 26–18 win. The attendance for the final was 4,488. Before the Lord Derby match, Toulouse Olympique won their third consecutive Luc Nitard cup with a 48–36 win over Saint-Estève XIII Catalan.
+ FinalHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport Albi RL XIII 18–26 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan 5 April, 18:00 Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne Geoffrey Poumes Report
Teams Albi RL XIII: Romain Franco, Nittim Pedrero, Hnaloan Budden, Adrien Salies, Théo Guinguet, Brad Wall, Tony Gigot, Benjamin Shea, Mathieu Liauzun, Chase Bernard, Corentin Le Cam, Jayson Goffin, Mickael Goudemand Interchanges: Clément Tailhades, Maxime Puech, Louis Tailhades, Tristan Dupuy, Maxime Rostang, Théo Lardot Coaches: Joris Canton and Fabien Denis
Saint-Estève XIII Catalan: Tanguy Zenon, Léo Darrelatour, Clément Martin, Lenny Marc, Corentin Rey, Bruno Castany, Caesar Red, Franck Maria, Yacine Ben Abdeslem, Florian Vailhen, Lucas Tignol, Loan Castano, Thibaud Margalet Interchanges: Giovanni Descalzi Ganthier, Robin Hugues, Renaud Lapierre, Valentin Fernandez, Rayan Tadjeur, Léo Llong Coaches: Justin Murphy and Rémi Casty
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