Élite 2
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| First season | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | France |
| Most recent champion(s) | Stade Rochelais (2024) |
| Most titles | Lille MRC Villeneuvois and AS Bayonnais (2 each) |
| Promotion to | Élite 1 Féminine |
| Related competitions | Fédérale 1 |
| Official website | https://competitions.ffr.fr/competitions/elite-2-feminine/ |
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.
History
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
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.
2024–25 teams
| Club | Coach | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stade Français | James Zié | Centre sportif Christophe-Dominici Complexe sportif René-Leduc | N/A |
| Section Paloise | Michaël Dallery | Stade municipal de Lons | |
| Stade Rochelais | Alexandre Barès & Florian Ninard | Plaine des Jeux Colette Besson | |
| RC Toulon Provence Méditerranée | Stéphane Gamonet & Baptiste Roffinella | Stade Léo-Lagrange / Stade Guy-Moquet | 2,800 / 200 |
| Valkyries Normandie RC | Jean-François Mouton & Cyrille Lloza | Stade Jean-Mermoz | 2,800 |
| USAP XV | Charlotte Torres & Nicolas Grelon | Stade Roger Ramis / Stade Aimé Giral | N/A / 14,593 |
| CA Brive | Romain Cabanero & Fabrice Pécher | Stade Jean-Marie Soubira | |
| Rugby Clermont La Plaine | Jéremy Catalan & Florent Très | Stade Camille-et-Edmond-Leclanché | |
| US Dax | Christophe Lebert & Chris Ndombi | Stade Maurice Boyau / Stade Colette-Besson | 7,262 / N/A |
| AS Bayonne | Jean-Michel Gonzalez | Stade Pierre-Carcareigt |
Champions
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] | |||
| 2025 | RC Toulon Provence Méditerranée | 14-12 | Stade Rochelais | [7] | |||
| 2026 | |||||||
| 2027 | |||||||
| 2028 | |||||||
| 2029 | |||||||
Winners & runners-up
- 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 |
| RC Toulon Provence | 1 | 1 | 2025 | 2025 |
| 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 |
References
- ^ "Articles du 15/07/2002".
- ^ "Rugby. Élite 2 féminine : La fusion et le bouclier pour les Valkyries !". Ouest-France.fr. 4 June 2022.
- ^ https://www.ffr.fr/actualites/au-coeur-du-jeu/rugby-amateur-le-stade-francais-remporte-le-titre-delite-2-feminine
- ^ "La Rochelle-Stade Français : Revivez la victoire bonifiée des Maritimes". 9 March 2024.
- ^ https://www.ffr.fr/actualites/federation/elite-2-feminine-les-rochelaises-championnes-de-france
- ^ "08/06/2024 - Finale Élite 2 - Stade Rochelais 30 / 19 Rugby Club Toulon Méditerrannée". 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Toulon VS la Rochelle Finale / Elite 2 Féminine (Saison 2024/2025) 31 mai 2025". YouTube.