# 1956–57 French Rugby Union Championship

The 1956–57 French Rugby Union Championship was contested by 48 clubs divided in six pools of eight. The five better of each pool and the two better sixth (for a sum of 32 clubs) were qualified to play the final phase .
The Championship was won by Lourdes that defeated Racing in the final. Lourdes maintained the title won in 1956.

## Context

The 1957 Five Nations Championship was won by England; France ended last with no matches won.
The Challenge Yves du Manoir was won by Dax that beat the Montferrand (the final match was tied 6-6 but Dax won for the lower medium age of the players)

## Qualification round

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Poule A Lourdes Orthez Touloun Roanne Mazamet Montélimar Cahors Grenoble | Poule B La Rochelle Bayonne Montferrand Dax Bègles La Voulte Vichy Cognac | Poule C Toulouse Lyon OU Montauban Paris Université Club Graulhet Périgueux Saint-Girons Castres |
| Poule D Pau Chambéry Auch Agen Niort Angoulême Narbonne Carmaux | Poule E Perpignan Bergerac Tulle Soustons Béziers Albi Biarritz Romans | Poule F Mont-de-Marsan TOEC Aurillac Racing Vienne Stadoceste Tyrosse Lavelanet |

## "Last 32"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Lourdes | La Voulte | 37-13 |
| Auch | Stadoceste | 12-6 |
| Béziers | Tulle | 8-6 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | Carmaux | 8-3 |
| Toulouse | Pau | 3-0 |
| Grenoble | Biarritz | 3-0 |
| Dax | Narbonne | 11-3 |
| Saint-Girons | Angoulême | 8-6 |
| Racing | Agen | 19-3 |
| Romans | Cognac | 3-0 |
| Bayonne | Vichy | 29-3 |
| Montferrand | Mazamet | 6-0 |
| Graulhet | Aurillac | 16-0 |
| Vienne | Castres | 5-3 |
| Perpignan | Toulon | 8-3 |
| Cahors | Montauban | 16-6 |

## "Last 16"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Lourdes | Auch | 19-3 |
| Béziers | Mont-de-Marsan | 14-6 |
| Toulouse | Grenoble | 9-5 |
| Dax | Saint-Girons | 8-3 |
| Racing | Romans | 6-0 |
| Bayonne | Montferrand | 10-0 |
| Graulhet | Vienne | 12-3 |
| Perpignan | Cahors | 6-5 |

## Quarter of finals

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Lourdes | Béziers | 8-6 |
| Toulouse | Dax | 6-3 |
| Racing | Bayonne | 14-3 |
| Graulhet | Perpignan | 14-3 |

## Semifinals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Lourdes | Toulose | 9-0 |
| Racing | Graulhet | 6-6 o.t. |
Racing was declared winner, thanks to the younger medium age of the player.

## Final

| Teams | Lourdes – Racing |
| Score | 16-13 |
| Date | 26 May 1957 |
| Venue | Stade Gerland, Lyon |
| Referee | Charles Durand |
| Line-up | |
| Lourdes | Jean-Louis Taillantou, Pierre Deslus, Thomas Manterola, André Laffond, Louis Guinle, Henri Domec, Jean Prat, Jean Barthe, François Labazuy, Antoine Labazuy, Pierre Tarricq, Roger Martine, Maurice Prat, Henri Rancoule, Pierre Lacaze |
| Racing | Marc Paillassa, Jacques Labèque, Claude Bourbié, Michel Gri, Serge Grousset, Jacques Brun, François Moncla, Michel Crauste, Gérard Dufau, Pierre Chaubet, Alain Chappuis, Christian Vignes, Arnaud Marquesuzaa, Pierre Conquet, Michel Vannier |
| Scorers | |
| Lourdes | 4 tries Barthe, Domec and Rancoule (2), 2 conversions Lacaze (1) and A.Labazuy (1) |
| Racing | 2 tries Gri and Vannier, 2 conversions and 1 penalty Vannier |