# Elite One Championship 2021–2022

The 2021–22 Elite One Championship was the 87th season of France's domestic rugby league competition and the 21st season known as the Elite One Championship. There were nine teams in the league. Each team played 16 matches in the regular season. The top six teams progressed to a three-week final series played throughout May 2022.
AS Carcassonne, who finishing 2nd in the regular season, won their second Elite One Championship and twelfth national title (including French Rugby League Championships) after beating league leaders Limoux Grizzlies 20–16 in the final.

## Teams

| Team | Stadium | Location |
| Albi RL | 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 |
| 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 17 October 2021 and ended on 24 April 2022. Each team played every other team twice, once at home and the other away making 16 games for each team and a total of 72 games.

### Table and results

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Qualification | LIM | CAR | LEZ | ALB | STE | AVI | VIL | TOU | STG |
| 1 | Limoux | 16 | 12 | 4 | 541 | 206 | +335 | 4 | 40 | Semi-finals | — | 24–18 | 18–19 | 34–14 | 37–24 | 38–6 | 44–0 | 56–0 | 54–0 |
| 2 | Carcassonne | 16 | 13 | 3 | 577 | 262 | +315 | 1 | 40 | Semi-finals | 38–34 | — | 31–18 | 18–12 | 41–6 | 44–10 | 50–18 | 54–10 | 30–0 |
| 3 | Lézignan | 16 | 12 | 4 | 436 | 324 | +112 | 2 | 38 | Qualifiers | 14–24 | 30–16 | — | 34–24 | 24–22 | 28–27 | 28–18 | 50–20 | 72–16 |
| 4 | Albi | 16 | 9 | 7 | 456 | 372 | +84 | 4 | 31 | Qualifiers | 12–44 | 34–16 | 34–22 | — | 32–26 | 24–32 | 20–28 | 31–22 | 58–6 |
| 5 | Saint-Estève Catalan | 16 | 9 | 7 | 444 | 373 | +71 | 3 | 30 | Qualifiers | 20–18 | 16–54 | 32–16 | 32–19 | — | 32–24 | 22–16 | 32–4 | 64–4 |
| 6 | Avignon | 16 | 8 | 8 | 412 | 331 | +81 | 5 | 29 | Qualifiers | 6–24 | 18–25 | 14–18 | 24–30 | 42–6 | — | 46–6 | 46–0 | 52–12 |
| 7 | Villeneuve | 16 | 6 | 10 | 296 | 442 | −146 | 4 | 22 | | 22–12 | 18–38 | 6–16 | 16–41 | 8–30 | 12–19 | — | 35–22 | 32–16 |
| 8 | Toulouse Olympique | 16 | 2 | 14 | 240 | 538 | −298 | 5 | 11 | | 10–26 | 4–62 | 18–34 | 8–31 | 34–28 | 10–22 | 26–29 | — | 36–8 |
| 9 | Saint-Gaudens | 16 | 1 | 15 | 164 | 718 | −554 | −2 | 1 | | 10–60 | 10–42 | 16–48 | 10–40 | 0–52 | 22–24 | 12–32 | 22–20 | — |
* ↑ forfeited by Saint-Gaudens
* ↑ Saint-Gaudens earned 1 bonus point through match results, but were deducted 2 points or failing to fulfil a fixture against Carcassonne (19 December) and 1 point following the incidents against Villeneuve (3 April)
* ↑ played at Carcassonne
* 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.

## Finals Series

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. First then played the winner of Qualifying final 1 and second played the winner of Qualifying Final 2. The winners of these two matches played in Grand Final on 22 May at Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié in Narbonne.

### Bracket

| Qualifying Finals | Qualifying Finals | Qualifying Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | Stade de l'Aiguille, Limoux | Stade de l'Aiguille, Limoux | Stade de l'Aiguille, Limoux | | | |
| Stade Mazicou, Albi | Stade Mazicou, Albi | Stade Mazicou, Albi | 1 | Limoux | 36 | | | |
| 4 | Albi | 24 | 5 | Saint-Estève Catalan | 4 | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne |
| 5 | Saint-Estève Catalan | 28(a.e.t) | | | | 1 | Limoux | 16 |
| | | | Stade Albert-Domec, Carcassonne | Stade Albert-Domec, Carcassonne | Stade Albert-Domec, Carcassonne | 2 | Carcassonne | 20 |
| Stade du Moulin, Lézignan | Stade du Moulin, Lézignan | Stade du Moulin, Lézignan | 2 | Carcassonne | 31 | | | |
| 3 | Lézignan | 46 | 3 | Lézignan | 18 | | | |
| 6 | SO Avignon | 12 | | | | | | |
Source:

### Grand Final

* Sunday, 22 May, 2022 15:30
| Limoux | 16 – 20 | Carcassonne |
| Tries: Yann Belmaziz (8') 1 Zachary Santo (78') 1 Goals: Patrick Templeman 4 (8', 14' pen, 52' pen, 78' ) | 1st: 8 – 12 2nd: 8 – 8 | Tries: 1 (28') Maika Serulevu 1 (38') Alexis Escamilla 1 (44') Dane Francis 1 (64') Clément Soubeyras Goals: 2 Clément Herrero (28', 38') Sin Bins: (7') Mickael Simon |
* Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne Attendance: 8,231 Referee: Benjamin Casty