# 1980–81 French Rugby Union Championship

The 1980–81 French Rugby Union Championship was won by Béziers beating Stade Bagnérais in the final.

## Formula

For the second time, the clubs of the "Group B" didn't participate to win the title, but played a proper championship.
The group A, like the group B was divided in four pools of ten clubs.
The eight better of each pool were qualified for the knockout stages.

## Group A
### Qualification round

In bold the teams qualified for knock out stages, ordered according to the ranking.
| Pool A Bayonne Pau Valence Béziers Oloron Nîmes Thuir Aurillac Mazamet Saint-Jean-de-Luz | Pool B Romans Agen Toulouse Dax Carcassonne Narbonne Albi RRC Nice Périgueux Auch |
| Pool C Touloun Perpignan Montferrand Tulle Angoulême Biarritz Stadoceste Castres Avignon Saint-Saturnin Montchanin | Pool D Grenoble Lourdes Graulhet Boucau Brive Bègles Stade Bagnérais US Bressane La Rochelle Chambéry |

### "Last 32"

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Perpignan | Nîmes | 25-6 |
| Valence | Thuir | 13-10 |
| Béziers | Carcassonne | 29-6 |
| Grenoble | Aurillac | 6-12 |
| Bayonne | Castres | 14-12 |
| Graulhet | Stadoceste | 9-21 |
| Lourdes | Biarritz | 23-9 |
| Pau | Tulle | 22-3 |
| Toulon | RRC Nice | 6-15 |
| Montferrand | Bègles | 9-4 |
| Boucau | Brive | 12-15 |
| Toulouse | Narbonne | 12-6 |
| Agen | Albi | 21-10 |
| Angoulême | Stade Bagnérais | 12-24 |
| Dax | Oloron | 42-21 |
| Romans | US Bressane | 21-9 |

### "Last 16"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Perpignan | Valence | 28-7 |
| Béziers | Aurillac | 22-10 |
| Bayonne | Stadoceste | 12-18 |
| Lourdes | Pau | 25-9 |
| RRC Nice | Montferrand | 9-15 |
| Brive | Toulose | 24-23 |
| Agen | Stade Bagnérais | 6-23 |
| Dax | Romans | 19-9 |

### Quarter of finals

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Perpignan | Béziers | 12-13 |
| Stadoceste | Lourdes | 7-9 |
| Montferrand | Brive | 6-3 |
| Stade Bagnérais | Dax | 16-9 |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Béziers | Lourdes | 35-9 |
| Montferrand | Stade Bagnérais | 3-6 |

### Final

| Teams | Béziers - Stade Bagnérais |
| Score | 22-13 |
| Date | 25 May 1981 |
| Venue | Parc des Princes |
| Referee | Jean-Pierre Bonnet |
| Line-up | |
| Béziers | Armand Vaquerin, Alain Paco, Jean-Louis Martin, Alain Estève, Michel Palmié, Jean-Marc Cordier, Pierre Lacans, Henri Mioch, Philippe Morrisson, Jean-Pierre Pesteil, Marc Andrieu, Claude Martinez, Jean-Luc Rivallo, Michel Fabre, Patrick Fort Replacements : Philippe Escande, Yvan Buonomo, Bernard Teissier, Christian Prax, Michel Calas |
| Bagnères | Michel Laguerre-Basse, Antranik Torossian, Michel Urtizverea, André Cazenave, René Vergez, Claude Frutos, Albert Cigagna, Omar Derghali, Adrien Mournet, Philippe Fourneau, Michel Dancla, Pierre Rispal, Roland Bertranne, Jean-François Gourdon, Jean-Michel Aguirre Replacements : Gérard Chevallier, Yves Duhard, Arnaud Duplan, Roger Bayen, Michel Mardegan, Jean-Louis Carrère |
| Scorers | |
| Béziers | 2 tries Andrieu and Fabre, 1 conversion and 2 penalties Fort, 2 drops Pesteil |
| Bagnères | 2 tries Gourdon, 1 conversion and 1 penalty Aguirre |
Béziers held their title of French Champions and won the fourth Bouclier de Brennus in five years. Stade Bagnérais lost the second final, after the one in 1979.

## Group B
### Qualification round

In bold the teams qualified for knockout stages, ordered according to the ranking.
| Pool E Annecy Arras Bourgoin Stade Clermontois Dijon La Voulte Le Creusot Montélimar Paris Université Vienne | Pool F Cognac Decazeville (Decazeville) Fumel Limoges Mérignac Niort Racing Rodez(Rodez) Stade Foyen (Sainte-Foy-la-Grande) La Teste |
| Pool G US Montauban Cahors Carmaux Castelnaudary Condom Foix (Foix) Lannemezan Millau Lombez Samatan Marmande | Pool H US Tyrosse Avenir Aturin Stade Beaumontois Hagetmau Mauléon Mont de Marsan Orthez Peyrehorade (Peyrehorade) Soustons Vic-Bigorre (Vic-en-Bigorre) |

### "Last 32"

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| US Tyrosse | | |
| US Montauban | | |

### "Last 16"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| US Tyrosse | | |
| US Montauban | | |

### Quarter of finals

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| US Tyrosse | | |
| US Montauban | | |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| US Tyrosse | | |
| US Montauban | | |

## Final

| Teams | US Tyrosse – US Montauban |
| Score | 15-9 (after over-time) |
| Venue | Agen |