# Elite One Championship 2017–2018

The 2017-18 Elite One Championship was the 83rd season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 17th season known as the Elite One championship. The defending champions were Limoux who defeated Lézignan 24–22 in the Grand Final of the 2016–2017 season. The championship was won by SO Avignon who finished fourth in the regular season and defeated Limoux in the Grand Final.

## Regular season

The regular season started on 2 December 2017 and ended on 3 June 2018. Each team played every other team twice, once at home and the other away and an additional match the "Magic Weekend" which took place in round 14 making 19 games for each team and a total of 95 games.

### Table and results

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Qualification | STE | LIM | LEZ | AVI | CAR | ALB | STG | PAL | VIL | TOU |
| 1 | Saint-Estève Catalan | 19 | 15 | 4 | 674 | 270 | +404 | 4 | 49 | Semi-finals | — | 22–8 | 54–6 | 26–16 | 40–6 | 30–16 | 54–12 | 66–10 | 70–4 | 28–14 |
| 2 | Limoux | 19 | 14 | 5 | 565 | 369 | +196 | 3 | 45 | Semi-finals | 16–28 | — | 16–26 | 32–16 | 30–0 | 22–18 | 58–6 | 40–18 | 37–12 | 42–28 |
| 3 | Lézignan | 19 | 11 | 8 | 509 | 424 | +85 | 7 | 40 | Qualifiers | 28–24 | 15–20 | — | 22–25 | 31–6 | 18–30 | 14–13 | 30–24 | 52–6 | 68–16 |
| 4 | Avignon | 19 | 11 | 8 | 540 | 417 | +123 | 5 | 38 | Qualifiers | 30–34 | 58–14 | 40–18 | — | 28–20 | 38–36 | 32–22 | 36–32 | 24–4 | 64–6 |
| 5 | Carcassonne | 19 | 10 | 9 | 416 | 408 | +8 | 5 | 35 | Qualifiers | 17–4 | 6–10 | 16–14 | 12–27 | — | 10–34 | 28–6 | 30–22 | 29–6 | 48–22 |
| 6 | Albi | 19 | 8 | 11 | 485 | 402 | +83 | 9 | 33 | Qualifiers | 24–14 | 16–24 | 24–25 | 29–10 | 24–37 | — | 22–16 | 22–28 | 36–10 | 28–4 |
| 7 | Saint-Gaudens | 19 | 7 | 12 | 354 | 509 | −155 | 8 | 29 | | 10–34 | 14–32 | 30–32 | 16–10 | 25–24 | 12–8 | — | 14–15 | 18–24 | 26–18 |
| 8 | Palau Broncos | 19 | 7 | 12 | 422 | 603 | −181 | 6 | 27 | | 8–28 | 34–42 | 22–48 | 12–42 | 30–26 | 10–42 | 16–15 | — | 32–18 | 35–34 |
| 9 | Villeneuve | 19 | 7 | 12 | 354 | 574 | −220 | 3 | 24 | | 23–22 | 10–42 | 18–16 | 31–20 | 24–29 | 26–22 | 26–27 | 18–33 | — | 28–23 |
| 10 | Toulouse Olympique | 19 | 5 | 14 | 370 | 713 | −343 | 5 | 20 | | 8–62 | 12–60 | 20–16 | 17–10 | 12–42 | 38–35 | 36–40 | 20–15 | 10–40 | — |
* 3 points for a victory
* 1 point bonus for losing team if the margin is less than 12
* If two teams have equal points then the separation factor is 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.
Magic Weekend: Round 14 (21–22 April) :
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Albi | 19–30 | Carcassonne |
| Limoux | 20–30 | Lézignan |
| Palau Broncos | 26–32 | Toulouse |
| Saint-Estève Catalan | 34–14 | Avignon |
| Saint-Gaudens | 32–26 | Villeneuve |
Source:

## Finals

At the end of the regular season, the top six in the table 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.

### Bracket

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan | 23 | | | |
| 4 | SO Avignon | 18 | 4 | SO Avignon | 16 | | | |
| 5 | AS Carcassonne | 16 | | | | 1 | Limoux Grizzlies | 28 |
| | | | | | | 4 | SO Avignon | 34 |
| | | | 1 | Limoux Grizzlies | 30 | | | |
| 3 | Lézignan Sangliers | 28 | 3 | Lézignan Sangliers | 10 | | | |
| 6 | Albi | 24 | | | | | | |
* ↑ Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan were barred from playing in the finals after fielding ineligible players

### Grand Final

* 1 July 2018
| SO Avignon | 34–28 | Limoux Grizzlies |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal d'Albi, Albi Attendance: 5,000