# 1973–74 French Rugby Union Championship

The 1973–74 French Rugby Union Championship was won by Béziers beating Narbonne in the final.

## Formula

The 64 clubs are divided in two groups.
* Group A with the 32 better of the previous season, divided in 4 pools of 8. The best 6 of each pools were qualified to knockout stages.
* Group B, with the other 32 teams, divided in 4 pools of 8. The first two of each pools were qualified to knock-on stage.

## Qualification round
### Group A

The clubs classified in the six first places of each pool (24 clubs on 32) were qualified for the knockout stages.
The team are here listed in ranking order, in bold, the team qualified.
| Pool 1 Agen Stadoceste Toulouse Bayonne Avignon Saint-Saturnin Saint-Girons Aurillac Dijon | Pool 2 Narbonne Montferrand Dax Biarritz Vichy Lourdes Graulhet Boucau |
| Pool 3 Béziers La Rochelle La Voulte Pau Touloun Bègles Valence Castres | Pool 4 Brive Stade Bagnérais Lavelanet US Bressane Racing Perpignan Stade Beaumontois Grenoble |

### Group B

The clubs classified in the two first places of each pool (8 clubs on 32) were qualified for the knockout stages.
The teams qualified are here listed:
| Albi Mérignac Mont-de-Marsan Montauban | Montchanin RRC Nice Saint-Jean-de-Luz Tulle |

## Knockout stages

(Single match stage)

### "Last 32"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Béziers | US Bressane | 9-3 |
| Montchanin | Lavelanet | 0-8 |
| RRC Nice | Avignon Saint-Saturnin | 22-3 |
| La Rochelle | La Voulte | 9-3 |
| Brive | Saint-Girons | 32-3 |
| Albi | Toulose | 12-10 |
| Racing | Mont-de-Marsan | 27-11 |
| Perpignan | Montferrand | 17-6 |
| Narbonne | Lourdes | 9-6 |
| Biarritz | Tulle | 14-10 |
| Montauban | Touloun | 9-14 |
| Stadoceste | Bayonne | 16-7 |
| Agen | Bègles | 24-9 |
| Pau | Mérignac | 18-15 |
| Saint-Jean-de-Luz | Dax | 3-15 |
| Stade Bagnérais | Vichy | 10-18 |

### "Last 16"

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Béziers | Lavelanet | 15-6 |
| RRC Nice | La Rochelle | 22-12 |
| Brive | Albi | 41-0 |
| Racing | Perpignan | 6-10 |
| Narbonne | Biarritz | 28-8 |
| Toulon | Stadoceste | 12-16 |
| Agen | Pau | 21-24 |
| Dax | Vichy | 16-6 |

### Quarter of finals

In bold the clubs qualified for the next round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Béziers | RRC Nice | 6-0 |
| Brive | Perpignan | 25-15 |
| Narbonne | Stadoceste | 16-9 |
| Pau | Dax | 13-8 |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Results |
| Béziers | Brive | 19-10 |
| Narbonne | Pau | 15-9 |

## Final

| Teams | Béziers - Narbonne |
| Score | 16-14 |
| Date | 12 May 1974 |
| Venue | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| Referee | Francis Palmade |
| Line-up | |
| Béziers | Armand Vaquerin, Christian Prax, Alain Paco, Georges Senal, Michel Palmié, Olivier Saïsset, Yvan Buonomo, Alain Estève, Richard Astre, Henri Cabrol, Paul Cieply, Gabriel Constantino, Joseph Navarro, Jack Cantoni, Jean-Pierre Pesteil, |
| Narbonne | Jean-Pierre Hortoland, Pierre Salettes, Raymond Canaguier, Jean-Marie Spanghero, Claude Spanghero, Alain Montlaur, André Belzons, Walter Spanghero, Gérard Sutra, Jo Maso, Daniel Dumas, François Sangalli, Gérard Viard, Henri Ferrero, Jean-Michel Benacloï, Patrick Taurines, |
| Scorers | |
| Béziers | 1 try Navarro, 1 penalty Cabrol, 3 drops Astre (2) and Cabrol (1) |
| Narbonne | 2 tries Belzons and Sangalli, 2 penalties Bénacloï |
Narbonnw started very well, with two tries, a drop by Henri Cabrol, but Walter Spanghero and his fellow lost the title in the last seconds.
Béziers won the 3rd of six titles of a collection in the 1970s. Narbonne had to wait until 1979 to win his second "Bouclier de Brennus",
To remark that this was the final playerd in the new Parc des Princes.