Coupe de France (rugby)

The Coupe de France was a French rugby union competition which was founded early in the 20th century but was abandoned during World War II, and then restarted in 1943. All clubs were invited to participate, about 100 of them took part, with the first division teams joining in during the last rounds.

The 1951 final was so violent that the Rugby Football Union asked for it to be discontinued, otherwise France could have been expelled from the Five Nations Tournament which they had just rejoined in 1939. And this was exactly what the chairman of the French Federation did. It was replaced the next year by the Challenge Yves du Manoir which had been ended by the war.

The competition was reborn in the mid-1980s under the impulse of the then president of the French Federation, Albert Ferrasse, in parallel with both the championship and the Challenge Yves du Manoir. But low gates, an already crammed schedule doomed it after three seasons.

A final effort to resurrect it was made in 1996, when it was merged with the Challenge Yves du Manoir, which was called Trophée Du-Manoir Coupe de France. It lasted until 2003 under three different names. As a result, the final seven competitions are counted both in the Coupe de France and Challenge Du Manoir records.

Finals

Year Winner Score Runner-up
1943 SU Agen 11-4 Stade Bordelais
1944 Toulouse Olympique Etudiants Club 19-2 Stade Bordelais
1945 SU Agen 14-13 AS Montferrand
1946 Stade Toulousain 6-3 Section Paloise
1947 Stade Toulousain 14-11 AS Montferrand
1948 Castres Olympique 6-0 FC Lourdes
1949 CA Bègles 11-6 Stade Toulousain
1950 FC Lourdes 16-3 AS Béziers
1951 FC Lourdes 6-3 Stadoceste Tarbais
1984 Stade Toulousain 6-0 FC Lourdes
1985 RC Narbonne 28-27 (a.e.t.) AS Béziers
1986 AS Béziers 40-9 Stade Aurillacois
1996 CA Brive 12-6 Section Paloise
1997 Section Paloise 13-11 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
1998 Stade Toulousain 22-15 Stade Français Paris
1999 Stade Français Paris 27-19 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
2000 Biarritz Olympique 24-13 CA Brive
2001 ASM Clermont Auvergne 34-24 FC Auch
2002 Stade Rochelais 23-19 Biarritz Olympique
2003 (March) Stade Rochelais 22-20 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
2003 (November) Castres Olympique 27-26 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

References

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