Challenge Yves du Manoir

Last updated

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.

Contents

History

The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on September 21, 1931, by Racing Club de France with the support of two other clubs, CA Bègles and AS Montferrand. In 1931, twelve breakaway clubs had decided to create their own league (UFRA, Union Française du Rugby Amateur) to protest against violence and covert professionalism which French rugby had sunk into, and which had resulted in the exclusion of France from the Five Nations Tournament that year.

Though Racing Club was not one of them and chose to remain loyal to the French Federation, its board considered it had a duty to put the fun back into rugby. Games were often restricted to the forwards, with wings sometimes not touching the ball once in the entire game. Therefore, organizers were very keen to ensure that teams had an attacking style of play, freed from the terse, stressful obligations of championship matches where winning was all that mattered. Special rules were introduced to encourage spectacular play, such as the banning of placed kicks (either penalty or conversion kicks) in order to accelerate the pace. The name of the competition has gone down in the history of French rugby as the epitome of le beau jeu (the beautiful game) and fair play.

Officially, participating clubs were invited by Racing Club de France. Seven of them took part in the inaugural competition. The first two cups were played in a round-robin format. Afterward, round-robin preliminary stages were played before play-offs took the top two teams to the final. The Challenge became the second club competition in France, very much like a cup competition in soccer is second to the championship. As a consequence, le Du-Manoir, as it was nicknamed, became a very sought-after title for all French clubs.

The competition bears the name of a young promising French international player from Racing Club de France, Yves du Manoir, who died in a plane crash in January 1928 at the age of 23. There was no competition between 1939 and 1952, a period during which the French Federation launched the Coupe de France.

In 1996–1997, the French Federation took over the competition as Trophée Du-Manoir Coupe de France. In 2001 it became the Coupe de la Ligue, then Challenge Sud-Radio for one year in 2003. The competition died out because of the lack of time available in the year and the development of European cups and international duties for top players.

Since 2004, the Challenge Yves du Manoir has been taken over by Racing Club de France as a youth competition for under 15. RC Narbonne won it in 9 times (12 finals, 20 semi finals, all records). Racing Club de France never won the competition, and was runner-up only once.

Finals

YearWinnerScoreRunner-up
1932 SU Agen round robin Lyon OU
1933 Lyon OU round robin SU Agen
1934 Stade Toulousain
RC Toulon
0-0 (tied, joint winners)
1935 USA Perpignan 3-3, 6-0 AS Montferrand
1936 Aviron Bayonnais 9-3 USA Perpignan
1937 Biarritz Olympique 9-3 USA Perpignan
1938 AS Montferrand 23-10 USA Perpignan
1939 Section Paloise 5-0 RC Toulon
1952 Section Paloise round robin Racing Club de France
1953 FC Lourdes 8-0 Section Paloise
1954 FC Lourdes 28-12 RC Toulon
1955 USA Perpignan 22-11 SC Mazamet
1956 FC Lourdes 3-0 USA Perpignan
1957 US Dax 6-6
(by virtue of younger players!)
AS Montferrand
1958 SC Mazamet 3-0 Stade Montois
1959 US Dax 12-8 Section Paloise
1960 Stade Montois 9-9
(scored more tries)
AS Béziers
1961 Stade Montois 17-8 AS Béziers
1962 Stade Montois 14-9 Section Paloise
1963 SU Agen 11-0 CA Brive
1964 AS Béziers 6-3 Section Paloise
1965 US Cognac 5-3 USA Perpignan
1966 FC Lourdes 16-6 Stade Montois
1967 FC Lourdes 9-3 RC Narbonne
1968 RC Narbonne 14-6 US Dax
1969 US Dax 24-12 FC Grenoble
1970 RC Toulon 25-22 SU Agen
1971 US Dax 18-8 Stade Toulousain
1972 AS Béziers 27-6 AS Montferrand
1973 RC Narbonne 13-6 AS Béziers
1974 RC Narbonne 19-10 CA Brive
1975 AS Béziers 16-12 SU Agen
1976 AS Montferrand 40-12 SC Graulhet
1977 AS Béziers 19-18 FC Lourdes
1978 RC Narbonne 19-19
(more tries scored)
AS Béziers
1979 RC Narbonne 9-7 AS Montferrand
1980 Aviron Bayonnais 16-10 AS Béziers
1981 FC Lourdes 25-13 AS Béziers
1982 US Dax 22-19 RC Narbonne
1983 SU Agen 29-7 RC Toulon
1984 RC Narbonne 17-13 Stade Toulousain
1985 RC Nice 21-16 AS Montferrand
1986 AS Montferrand 22-15 FC Grenoble
1987 FC Grenoble 26-7 SU Agen
1988 Stade Toulousain 15-13 US Dax
1989 RC Narbonne 18-12 Biarritz Olympique
1990 RC Narbonne 24-19 FC Grenoble
1991 RC Narbonne 24-19 CA Bègles
1992 SU Agen 23-18 RC Narbonne
1993 Stade Toulousain 13-8 Castres Olympique
1994 USA Perpignan 18-3 AS Montferrand
1995 Stade Toulousain 41-20 CA Bègles
1996 CA Brive 12-6 Section Paloise
1997 Section Paloise 13-11 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
1998 Stade Toulousain 22-15 Stade Français Paris
1999 Stade Français Paris 27-19 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
2000 Biarritz Olympique 24-13 CA Brive
2001 AS Montferrand 34-24 FC Auch
2002 Stade Rochelais 23-19 Biarritz Olympique
2003 (March) Stade Rochelais 22-20 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
2003 (November) Castres Olympique 27-26 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

Winners

Finals lost are in brackets

See also

Related Research Articles

Stade Toulousain French rugby union club, based in Toulouse

Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Occitania and the reigning Top 14 and European Rugby Champions Cup champion. Toulouse is the most successful club in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup a record five times – in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2021. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps and Munster, respectively. Stade Toulousain have also won a record 21 French Championship titles. It is traditionally one of the main providers for the French national team. Their home ground is the Stade Ernest-Wallon. However, big Top 14 matches along with European Rugby Champions Cup games are often played at the Stadium Municipal de Toulouse. The club colours are red, black and white.

SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne French rugby union club

Sporting Union Agen Lot-et-Garonne, commonly referred to as Agen[aʒɛ̃], is a French rugby union club based in Agen in the department of Lot-et-Garonne. They currently play in Pro Division 2 of French professional rugby.

AS Béziers Hérault Rugby team

Association Sportive Béziers Hérault, often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of Béziers, is a French rugby union club currently playing in the second level of the country's professional rugby system, Pro D2. They earned their most recent promotion as 2011 Fédérale 1 champions, but the club also won 11 Top 14 titles since its establishment in 1911.

ASM Clermont Auvergne French rugby union club

Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French champions in 2009-10 and 2016-17. The rugby section is a part of a multi-sport club called AS Montferrand, which was founded in 1911 and adopted that name in 1919. Although the rugby section changed its name to the current ASM Clermont Auvergne in 2004, it is still frequently referred to as Montferrand both within and outside France.

FC Grenoble French rugby union club

The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892.

Section Paloise French rugby union club, based in Pau

Section Paloise, commonly referred to as Section[sɛk.sjɔ̃] or as Pau[po], is a French rugby union club founded in 1902 based in Pau, capital of Béarn and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Département. The rugby club competes in Top 14, the highest level of the French league system and is a section of the multisport club Section Paloise.

Stade Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes, France

The Stade Yves-du-Manoir is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France.

Racing 92 French rugby union club, based in Paris

Racing 92 is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to Racing 92. "92" is the number of Hauts-de-Seine, a département of Île-de-France, bordering Paris to the west, where they play, and whose council gives financial backing to the club. They currently play in the Top 14, having been promoted as 2008–09 champions of Rugby Pro D2. After starting the 2017–18 season at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir stadium at Colombes, where the France national team played for several decades, Racing played their first match at the new U Arena, since renamed Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre on 22 December 2017.

Lyon OU French rugby union club, based in Lyon

Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season after winning the 2015–16 title of the second-level Pro D2. The club has bounced between the top two levels in recent years, having also been promoted in 2011 and 2014 and relegated in 2012 and 2015.

The 1959 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 3, 1959, and May 18, 1959, that saw Le Havre AC of Division 2 defeat FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

The 1948 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 10, 1948, that saw Lille OSC defeat RC Lens 3–2 thanks to goals by Roger Vandooren and Jean Baratte (2).

The 1937 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 9, 1937, that saw FC Sochaux-Montbéliard defeat RC Strasbourg 2–1 thanks to goals by Miguel Angel Lauri and Bernard Williams.

The Coupe de France Final 1939 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 14, 1939, that saw RC Paris defeat Olympique Lillois 3–1 thanks to goals by José Pérez, Emile Veinante and Jules Mathé.

The 1932 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on April 24, 1932, that saw AS Cannes defeat RC Roubaix 1–0 thanks to a goal by Louis Cler.

The 1931 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 3, 1931, that saw Club Français defeat SO Montpellier 3–0 thanks to a goal by Miklos Boros, Arthur Parkes and Robert Furois.

The 1930 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on April 27, 1930, that saw FC Sète defeat RC Paris 3–1 thanks to goals by Alexandre Friedmann and Yvan Bek (2).

The 1993 France rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of eight matches played by the France national rugby union team in South Africa in June and July 1993. The French team won four matches, drew two and lost two. They won their two match international series against the South Africa national rugby union team, drawing the first game and winning the second for a one-nil series victory. The tour was marred by a serious facial injury suffered by the captain, Jean-François Tordo, who was raked by Garry Pagel in the match against Western Province. Tordo required 50 stitches and plastic surgery and took no further part in the tour.

RC Narbonne French rugby union club, based in Narbonne

Racing Club de Narbonne Méditerannée is a French rugby union club that play in the second-level Pro D2.

The 1927-28 French Rugby Union Championship of first division was won la Pau that beat the 'Quillan in the final.

The 1932-33 French Rugby Championship was won by Lyon OU that defeated Narbonne in the final.

References