Elite One Championship 2022–2023

The 2022–23 Elite One Championship was the 88th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 22nd season known as the Elite 1 championship. The competition expanded back to ten teams following the promotion of Baroudeurs de Pia XIII (also known as the Pia Donkeys) from Elite 2 after winning the title in 2021–22.

Elite One Championship 2022-23
League	Elite One Championship
Duration	18 rounds + playoffs
Teams	10
Broadcast partners	ViàOccitanie (Available Worldwide Online) Sport en France Club YouTube Channels
2022–23 season
Champions	Limoux Grizzlies
League leaders	AS Carcassonne
Biggest home win	Albi Tigers 42 – 2 Toulouse Olympique Broncos (16 October 2022)
Biggest away win	Limoux Grizzlies 38 – 16 Saint-Estève Catalan (9 October 2022)

Each team played 18 matches in the regular season. The top six teams progressed to a three-week final series played during April and May 2023.

Teams

Albi

Avignon

Carcassonne

Limoux

Lézignan

Pia

Saint-Esteve XIII

Saint-Gaudens

Toulouse

Villeneuve XIII

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Location of teams in 2022-23 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 2 October 2022 and ended on 14 April 2023. 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	LIM	LEZ	ALB	PIA	STG	AVI	STE	TOU	VIL
1	Carcassonne	18	15	0	3	557	279	+278	2	47	Semi-finals		—	42–18	18–10	20–12	46–23	38–14	32–8	46–16	30–24	56–8
2	Limoux	18	14	0	4	629	282	+347	2	44			0–19	—	56–10	20–24	42–26	50–0	46–14	20–6	62–14	54–0
3	Lézignan	18	13	0	5	556	354	+202	3	42	Qualifiers		22–6	12–26	—	26–10	52–16	52–12	37–18	44–16	44–16	40–18
4	Albi	18	13	0	5	502	286	+216	3	42			20–8	23–22	24–14	—	20–34	38–20	22–12	40–8	42–2	32–8
5	Pia	18	10	0	8	433	465	−32	1	31			32–22	6–20	20–27	16–12	—	22–14	20–10	22–37	26–14	34–28
6	Saint-Gaudens	18	7	0	11	357	542	−185	4	25			6–24	10–48	30–20	12–52	35–22	—	18–30	36–20	16–14	34–10
7	Avignon	18	6	0	12	404	468	−64	6	24			18–24	16–23	6–20	16–54	28–14	24–28	—	58–12	32–10	42–6
8	Saint-Estève Catalan	18	6	0	12	423	579	−156	3	21			26–30	16–38	16–48	22–17	16–36	30–24	54–18	—	40–22	42–20
9	Toulouse Olympique	18	3	0	15	388	595	−207	8	17			22–54	18–42	28–30	20–26	26–30	30–18	16–28	38–28	—	50–22
10	Villeneuve	18	3	0	15	281	680	−399	1	10			0–42	26–40	18–48	6–34	16–34	16–30	32–26	22–18	25–24	—

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 from the regular season advanced to the knockout stage. First and second received a bye for the first week of finals as third played sixth (Qualifying Final 1) and fourth played fifth (Qualifying Final 2), with the losers of both matches eliminated. Third-placed Lézignan and fourth-placed Albi advanced to the semi-finals with comfortable wins over Saint-Gaudens (46–12 to Lézignan) and Pia (40–6 to Albi). First-placed Carcassonne then played the winner of Qualifying final 1 and second-placed Limoux then played the winner of Qualifying Final 2. Results went in favour of the higher ranked teams as Carcassonne won 26–16 and Limoux won 36–10. The winners of these two matches met in the Grand Final on 28 May at Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié in Narbonne. Carcassonne were the defending champions having defeated Limoux in the 2021–22 final. However, Limoux won 34–24 to reclaim the title they had last won in the 2016–17 season.

Bracket

	Qualifying Finals					Semi-Finals					Final
						Stade de l'Aiguille, Limoux
	Stade Mazicou, Albi					1	Carcassonne	26
	4	Albi	40			4	Albi	16			Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne
	5	Pia	6								1	Carcassonne	24
						Stade Albert-Domec, Carcassonne					2	Limoux	34
	Stade du Moulin, Lézignan					2	Limoux	36
	3	Lézignan	46			3	Lézignan	10
	6	Saint Gaudens	12

Grand Final

Sunday, 28 May 2023 15:30

Carcassonne	24 – 34	Limoux
Tries: Bouregba 2 Canet Serulevu Goals: Herrero 4	Report	Tries: Garrouste Crunel Torreilles Saddler L. Vergniol B. Vergniol Goals: Templeman 5

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne Attendance: 8,221 Referee: Benjamin Casty