Coupe de France Georges-Aillères
French rugby league tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
French rugby league tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Georges Aillères French Cup (French: Coupe de France Georges-Aillères) is a French rugby league tournament. It is the league cup competition for Elite 2 teams.[1]
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Formerly known as | Challenge Georges-Aillères |
| Instituted | 2012 (Invitational) 2016 (National) |
| Country |  France (FFR XIII) |
| Holders | RC Baho XIII (2018-19) |
| Website | Georges Aillères Cup on FFR13.fr |
| Related competition | Elite 2 |
Originally called Challenge Georges-Aillères, it started as an invitational preseason tournament hosted by Toulouse XIII Broncos at their home venue Stade Philippe-Struxiano.[2] It was named after retired player Georges Aillères, who played most of his career for Toulouse area rugby league and rugby union clubs.[1] The original format was a single-day round robin consisting of abridged 30-minute games.[2] Toulouse's two main teams, the home side Broncos (Elite 2) and the Olympique (Elite 1), were mainstays while the two remaining spots were filled on a year-to-year basis.[2] The Broncos won the 2012 edition, the earliest on record, losing to fellow Elite 2 members Lescure d'Albigeois, but beating both Elite 1 participants Toulouse Olympique and Limoux.[3] The 2013 edition was won by Lézignan.[4]
In 2015, tournament hosts Toulouse Broncos were absorbed by the Toulouse Olympique organization and the event went dormant.[5] Instead, the preseason featured a "Friendship Trophy" game between Toulouse's newly merged team and Albi, with the proceeds going to Albi product and Toulouse Olympique player Yoann Didone, who had recently suffered grave injuries in a road accident.[6]
In 2016, the French Rugby League Federation took over the tournament's name and relaunched it under an entirely different format. The new version serves as a secondary cup competition open to all Elite 2 teams, using full-length games and a more spread-out schedule akin to other league cups.[7] In 2019, the tournament was renamed Coupe de France Georges-Aillères, as part of a general strategy by the federation to brand its various cup competitions "Coupe de France", regardless of their level.[1]
The Georges Aillères Cup is one of three minor French Cups offered for competition by the national federation, together with the Paul Dejean Cup (French: Coupe Paul-Dejean) for National Division clubs, and the Albert Falcou Cup (French: Coupe Albert-Falcou) for Federal Division clubs.[1] The country's major cup tournament is the Lord Derby Cup (French: Coupe Lord Derby), which is open to clubs from all divisions but typically dominated by Elite 1 teams.[1]
 |
| Year | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | RC Baho XIII | 33–29 | Villefranche XIII Aveyron | [8] | |
| 2018 | Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII | 20–17 | Villefranche XIII Aveyron | [9] | |
| 2019 | RC Baho XIII | 40–12 | Baroudeurs de Pia XIII | [10] | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19[a] | ||||
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