National Division 2 is the fourth tier of
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
in France, below the
National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, East, South 1, South 2, South-East, South-West and West. Clubs play each other home and away in their respective regional league with the top clubs progressing into a series of play-off matches to determine the champions. The champions can apply for promotion to the ''National Division 1''. This tier was formerly known as the Federal Championship.
History
The league was first played for in 1974/75 under the title Federal Division. In 2008 the competition was rebranded as the National Division 2. The domestic cup for clubs in the league is the
Coupe Falcou
The Albert Falcou Cup (), also called Albert Falcou French Cup (), is an annual knock-out competition organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII for amateur rugby league clubs in France.
History
The competition was introduced i ...
which was formerly called the French Federal Cup.
In 2023, the Federal and
National Division merged in a restructuring of the
French rugby league system. For the 2023–24 season there were four National Divisions grouped in pairs: National Division 1 & 2 and National Division 3 & 4. The lower divisions took the place of the Federal Division and clubs in Division 4 had the option of playing
nine-a-side matches. In the first part of the season teams were divided into regional pools from which they qualified for the finals stage.
In the 2024–25 season, the league was altered again to have a single National Division 1 and, following the withdrawal of several clubs, a National Division 2/3.
Teams
National Division 2/3 teams for the 2024–25 season:
[
* Tonneins XIII 2
* La Réole/Bègles
* XIII Gascon
* US Trentels XIII
* Toulouse JJ
* Valderiès XIII
* Ecole du XIII St Pierrais
* US Villeneuvoise XIII
* Belvèze/Razes
* Pamiers XIII 2
* Villeneuve Minervois XIII
* Gratentour XIII
* AS Clairac XIII
* Le Barcarès XIII Laurentin Baroudeur
* VAL 13
* ]XIII Catalan
XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with ...
* Montpellier XIII
* Paris Châtillon XIII
* Lyon
* Racing Club Caumont XIII
* SU Cavaillon XIII
* US Apt XIII
* Nice XIII
* Corbeil XIII
* Montpellier Hérault Rugby League
Past winners
See also
* French rugby league system
*Rugby league in France
Rugby league has been played in France since 1934. As with rugby union, rugby league was introduced by the English and the heartland of the game is in the south of France.
During the Second World War, in association with the French Rugby Federa ...
*Lord Derby Cup
The Coupe de France Lord Derby (), or just Coupe Lord Derby ('Lord Derby Cup'), is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy. The tournament was first conte ...
*Coupe Falcou
The Albert Falcou Cup (), also called Albert Falcou French Cup (), is an annual knock-out competition organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII for amateur rugby league clubs in France.
History
The competition was introduced i ...
* Paul Dejean Cup
References
External links
*
*List of Finals 1978–2007 :
{{Rugby League in France
Rugby league competitions in France