# 1965–66 French Rugby Union Championship

The 1965–66 French Rugby Union Championship was contested by 56 teams divided in 7 pools, The four first teams of each pool and the better for classified fifth were qualified for the "last 32".
The Agen won the Championship 1965–66 after beating Dax in the final and hold the title.

## Context

The 1966 Five Nations Championship was won by Wales thanks to his victory (9-8) against France in the last day.
The Challenge Yves du Manoir was won en 1966 by the Lourdes that beat Mont-de-Marsan 16 - 6.

## Qualification round

In bold the qualified to next round
| Pool 1 Angoulême Agen Lyon OU Périgueux Quillan AS Saint-Junien Toulouse Vienne | Pool 2 Auch Bayonne Brive Condom (Condom) Lannemezan USA Limoges Romans Vichy | Pool 3 Castres Cognac Grenoble Lourdes Mazamet Montauban Mont-de-Marsan Toulouse Olympique EC |
| Pool 4 Chambéry Dax Pau Perpignan Saint-Claude SBUC La Rochelle La Voulte | Pool 5 Cahors Graulhet Montferrand Narbonne Paris Université Club Saint-Sever Touloun Tyrosse | Pool 6 Aurillac Stade Beaumontois Bègles Béziers Dijon Le Creusot Racing Valence |
| Pool 7 Albi Biarritz Bourgoin-Jallieu Carmaux Chalon Foix Stadoceste Tulle | | |

## "Last 32"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Agen | Chalon | 11-3 |
| La Rochelle | Montauban | 6-3 |
| Narbonne | Pau | 9-0 |
| La Voulte | Paris Université Club | 25-11 |
| Racing | Lyon OU | 9-8 |
| Angoulême | Auch | 16-3 |
| Brive | Lourdes | 6-0 |
| Béziers | Bayonne | 17-15 |
| Dax | Limoges | 16-3 |
| Bègles | Périgueux | 29-5 |
| Stadoceste | Albi | 18-6 |
| Toulouse Olympique EC | Lannemezan | 19-3 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | Grenoble | 26-16 |
| Tulle | Aurillac | 3-3 |
| Graulhet | Stade Beaumontois | 6-6 |
| Touloun | Biarritz | 14-8 |

## "Last 16"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Agen | La Rochelle | 9-5 |
| Narbonne | La Voulte | 12-8 |
| Racing | Angoulême | 15-11 |
| Brive | Béziers | 12-9 |
| Dax | Bègles | 12-5 |
| Stadoceste | Toulouse Olympique EC | 10-5 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | Tulle | 16-0 |
| Graulhet | Toulon | 8-6 (a. p.) |

## Quarter of finals

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Agen | Narbonne | 9-3 |
| Racing | Brive | 12-9 |
| Dax | Stadoceste | 19-3 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | Graulhet | 3-6 |

## Semifinals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Agen | Racing | 14-8 |
| Dax | Graulhet | 11-5 |

## Final

| Teams | Agen - Dax |
| Score | 9-8 |
| Date | 22 May 1966 |
| Venue | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse |
| Referee | Paul Madelmont |
| Line-up | |
| Agen | Marius Lagiewski, Jean-Claude Malbet, Raymond Palladin, Jacques Fort, Michel Lasserre, Michel Sitjar, Serge Viotto, Francesco Zani, Pierre Lacroix, Jean-Louis Dehez, Bernard Pomiès, Jean-Pierre Razat, Pierre Gruppi, Jean-Louis Mazas, Jean-Michel Pechambert Remplaçants : Georges Cavailles, Pierre Biémouret, Claude Salesse, Jean-Claude Soula, Serge Méricq |
| Dax | Jean-Michel Lucq, Léon Bérho, Christian Lasserre, Marcel Cassiède, Jean-Claude Labadie, Pierre Darbos, Gilles Benali, Claude Contis, Georges Capdepuy, Pierre Albaladejo, Jacques Bénède, Jean-Claude Sanz, Claude Dourthe, Michel Arrieumerlou, Jacques Saubesty |
| Scorers | |
| Agen | 1 try Lasserre, 1 penalty and 1 drop Dehez |
| Dax | 1 try Benali, 1 conversion Saubesty, 1 drop Albaladejo |
Dax line-up a very young team, with a lot of young people. Dourthe (17 years ols), Arrieumerlou (18 and half), Capdepuy (20) and Benali (18).
The final was signed by a lot of brutalities and violence.