Lord Derby Cup 2024–2025

The 2024–25 Coupe de France Lord Derby was the 84th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, the premier rugby league knockout competition in France. It began over the weekend of 19–20 October 2024 and ended with the final at the Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne, on 5 April 2025.

The defending champions were AS Carcassonne who defeated FC Lézignan XIII in the 2023–24 final to win the cup for a third consecutive time.^[1] In the 2024–25 final, Saint-Estève XIII Catalan defeated Albi RL XIII 26-18 to reclaim the trophy they had last won in the 2017–18 season.

The 84th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, started on 19 October 2024 and concluded with the final on 5 April 2025. Entry was limited to teams in the top two divisions: Super XIII (11 teams) and Elite 2 (9 teams). Eight of the teams from Elite 2 took part in a play-off round with the four winners advancing to the round of 16 where they were joined by the remaining teams who entered the competition at this stage: Palau Broncos, who received a bye in the first round, and the Super XIII teams.^[2][3]

The draws for the play-off round and the round of 16 were made on 12 September. Ties were played over the weekend of 19–20 October.^[4]

Ties were played over the weekend of 4–5 January.

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 10 January. Ties were played on the weekend of 8–9 February.^[7]

The draw for the semi-finals was made on 14 February. Ties are to be played on the weekend of 22–23 March at neutral venues.^[9]

The final of the 2024–25 Coupe de France Lord Derby was originally scheduled to take place on the weekend of 3–4 May.^[2] However, in March 2025 it was announced that it would be played on 5 April at the Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié preceded by the final of the Luc Nitard Cup (under-19s).^[3]

Saint-Estève XIII Catalan had last won the cup in the 2017–18 competition and then reached the final again the following season. Their opponents, Albi, had previously won the cup once, in the 1973–74 season, and last reached the final in the 2022–23 season.^[10] In the 2024–25 final, Saint-Estève XIII Catalan led 16-10 at half time, Albi then levelled the score, and took the lead with around 30 minutes to play, before two tries from Saint-Estève XIII Catalan saw them take the trophy with a 26-18 win.^[11][12] The attendance for the final was 4,488.^[13] Before the Lord Derby match, Toulouse Olympique won their third consecutive Luc Nitard cup with a 48-36 win over Saint-Estève XIII Catalan.^[14]

Albi RL XIII: Romain Franco, Nittim Pedrero, Hnaloan Budden, Adrien Salies, Théo Guinguet, Brad Wall, Tony Gigot, Benjamin Shea, Mathieu Liauzun, Chase Bernard, Corentin Le Cam, Jayson Goffin, Mickael Goudemand
Interchanges: Clément Tailhades, Maxime Puech, Louis Tailhades, Tristan Dupuy, Maxime Rostang, Théo Lardot
Coaches: Joris Canton and Fabien Denis

Saint-Estève XIII Catalan: Tanguy Zenon, Léo Darrelatour, Clément Martin, Lenny Marc, Corentin Rey, Bruno Castany, Caesar Red, Franck Maria, Yacine Ben Abdeslem, Florian Vailhen, Lucas Tignol, Loan Castano, Thibaud Margalet
Interchanges: Giovanni Descalzi Ganthier, Robin Hugues, Renaud Lapierre, Valentin Fernandez, Rayan Tadjeur, Léo Llong
Coaches: Justin Murphy and Rémi Casty

Source:^{[11][13][15][16]}