The 1951–52 French Rugby Union Championship was contested by 64 teams divided in 8 pools. Thirty-two teams were qualified to play a second phase with eight pools of four clubs. The best two from each pool were qualified to play the "last 16".
The Championship was won by Lourdes beating l'
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
in the final.
Context
In 1952, France, was threatened with exclusion from the
Five Nation Championship responsible by the British of "professionalism".
To avoid this sanction, the French Federation promised to abolish the championship and created a list of players accused of professionalism including
Jean Dauger,
Robert Soro
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
and
Maurice Siman.
The exclusion was avoided but the championship is maintained cause the pressure of the clubs.
["Un siècle de rugby", Escot and Rivière (1997), p. 119.]
FFR in any case decided to reduce the number of matches played during the season, cancelling the Coupe de France.
For the first (and last) time, the club excluded from the qualification round, played a consolation tournament called Coupe Cyril-Rutherford in memory of a French rugby pioneer.
The
1952 Five Nations Championship
The 1952 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugb ...
was won by
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
finished fourth.
France won the first edition of ''
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, beating Italy in the final.
Le
Challenge Yves du Manoir
The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir.
History
The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on S ...
was won by
Pau.
Second qualification round
The teams qualifying for the "last 16" phase are in bold
Last 16
The teams qualifying for the quarterfinals are in bold.
Quarterfinals
The teams qualifying for the semifinals are in bold.
Semifinals
Final
References
External links
Compte rendu de la finale de 1952 sur lnr.fr
]
{{DEFAULTSORT:1951-52 French Rugby Union Championship
French rugby union championship, 1952
France 1952
Championship