Élite 2 Féminine is the second tier of national women's rugby union competition in France. Called Élite 2 since 2018 or Élite 2 Armelle-Auclair from 2004 to 2018. From this competition you can be promoted to Élite 1 Féminine.

Élite 2 Féminine
SportRugby union
Founded2004; 20 years ago (2004)
First season2004
No. of teams10
CountryFrance
Most recent
champion(s)
Stade Rochelais
(2024)
Most titlesLille MRC Villeneuvois and AS Bayonnais (2 each)
Related
competitions
Élite 1 Féminine, Fédérale 1
Official websitehttps://competitions.ffr.fr/competitions/elite-2-feminine/

History

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From 2004 to 2018, the Elite 2 championship bears the name of Armelle Auclair, a French rugby union player who tragically died on July 13, 2002, in Mauléon-Licharre, at the age of 28.[1]

League

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Since 2021, the championship is composed of two phases:

  • The main season where the 10 clubs play each other home and away throughout the season.
  • The post-season playoffs contested between the top four teams ranked clubs 1st to 4th.

2023–24 teams

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Club Coach Stadium Capacity
RC Toulon Provence Méditerranée Stéphane Gamonet & Baptiste Roffinella Stade Léo-Lagrange / Stade Guy-Moquet 2,800 / 200
Stade Rochelais Alexandre Barès & Florian Ninard Plaine des Jeux Colette Besson
USAP XV Stade Roger Ramis
Valkyries Normandie RC Jean-François Mouton and Cyrille Lloza Stade Jean-Mermoz 2,800
Union des Bords de Marne Earvin Journot Stade Octave Lapize / Parc du Tremblay
USA Limoges
US Joué Antoine Ruel, Sebastian Ungureanu & Kenny Daamouche Stade Pierre-Albaladejo
US Dax Christophe Lebert & Chris Ndombi Stade Colette-Besson / Stade Maurice-Boyau 500 / 7,262
Rugby Clermont La Plaine Jéremy Catalan & Florent Très Stade Camille-et-Edmond-Leclanché
CA Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde

Champions

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2000-09

Season   Champion Score   Runner-up Venue Attendance Ref
2004 ESP Bruges Blanquefort 12-6 Stade Rennais
2005 Montpellier RC 14-11 Stade Rennais
2006 Lille Métropole RC Villeneuvois 14-9 ES Nanterre
2007 RC Lons 10–3 Pachys d'Herm
2008 RF Dijon Bourgogne 13-13 (2 tries to 1) Rugby Sassenage Isère
2009 Saint-Orens RF 13-13 (5 tries to 3) AC Bobigny 93

2010-19

Season   Champion Score   Runner-up Venue Attendance Ref
2010 CSM Gennevilliers 8-0 RC Chilly-Mazarin
2011 Lille Métropole RC villeneuvois 31-15 Stade Bordelais
2012 Stade Bordelais 29-20 AS Bayonne
2013 RC La Valette-Le Revest-La Garde-Le Pradet 18-12 Ovalie Romagnatoise CA
2014 AS Bayonne 16-15 Avenir Fonsorbais Rugby Féminin
2015 Stade Toulousain 16-13 AS Bayonne
2016 Ovalie Romagnatoise Clermont Auvergne 29-7 Lyon OU
2017 AS Bayonne 34-10 FC Grenoble
2018 FC Grenoble 6-5 Lons RF
2019 Lyon OU 22–13 RC Chilly-Mazarin

2020-29

Season   Champion Score   Runner-up Venue Attendance Ref Highlights
2020 Season interrupted by COVID-19
2021 Season interrupted by COVID-19
2022 Valkyries Normandie RC 8-7 Stade Rochelais [2]
2023 Stade Français Paris 22-3 Stade Rochelais [3][4]
2024 Stade Rochelais 30-19 RC Toulon Provence Méditerranée [5][6]

Winners & runners-up

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  • Current Élite 2 Féminine participating clubs indicated in bold
Club Wins Runners-up Winning Seasons Last Win
AS Bayonne 2 2 2014 2017 2017
Lille Métropole RC Villeneuvois 2 0 2006 2011 2011
FC Grenoble Amazones 1 2 2018 2018
Stade Rochelais 1 2 2024 2024
Lons Rugby Féminin Béarn Pyrénées 1 1 2007 2007
Stade Bordelais 1 1 2012 2012
Stade Toulousain 1 1 2015 2015
Ovalie Romagnatoise Clermont Auvergne 1 1 2016 2016
Lyon Olympique Universitaire 1 1 2019 2019
ES Bruges Blanquefort 1 0 2004 2004
RF Dijon Bourgogne 1 0 2008 2008
Saint-Orens Rugby Féminin 1 0 2009 2009
CSM Gennevilliers 1 0 2010 2010
RC Valettois Revestois 1 0 2013 2013
Valkyries Normandie RC 1 0 2022 2022
Stade Français Paris 1 0 2023 2023
Montpellier RC 1 1 2005 2005
Stade Rennais Rugby 0 2
RC Chilly-Mazarin 0 2
Racing Nanterre Rugby 0 1
Pachys d'Herm 0 1
AC Bobigny 93 Rugby 0 1
RC Toulon Provence 0 1

References

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