AXA Elite 1 Final | Stade Bordelais complete French championship four-peat

Four-in-a-row titles are uncommon events and deserve to be celebrated – yet French rugby marked two such rare runs in less than 24 hours.

It had happened first at Stade de France, on a dark and stormy Saturday night, when Toulouse repeated the back-to-back-to-back-to-back exploits of their 1994/97 vintage to claim their sixth Top 14 crown in seven years.

Stade Bordelais matched them on Sunday evening, beating ASM Romagnat 22-10 at Biarritz’s Stade Aguilera, to add the 2026 AXA Elite 1 championship to the 2023, 2024 and 2025 titles already in their collection.

Not since Toulouse Fémina Sports – the precursor to the current Stade Toulousain outfit – won six in a row between 1975 and 1980, en route to a still-standing record of nine titles by 1985, has a single side had such a hold over the women’s club game in France.

And theirs was, by any reckoning, the bigger result. Toulouse had been favourites for the Top 14 title on Saturday evening. Stade Bordelais were the underdogs for this season’s Elite 1 title. Their opponents, Romagnat, arrived having just lost once all season, and were two for two against the defending champions in the regular season.

But this was a Final. Winner-takes-all rugby. A different beast. The Bordelais had already proved they had the heart for it with their come-from-behind victory at Toulouse in the semi-final.

ASM, meanwhile, at the end of a record-breaking campaign, missed their steps at the last.

The result at Stade Aguilera was convincing enough – but it doesn’t entirely show their level of control. By the time Axelle Berthoumieu opened the scoring in the 25th minute, protected at the back of a well-constructed maul, Stade Bordelais had already missed a number of chances.

Madassou Fall-Raclot knocked on as she charged for the line in the 11th minute. Another attack was held up in the in-goal area. Nassira Konde was double-tackled into touch as she crossed in the corner.

But the defending champions weren’t getting it all their own way. Captain Agathe Gérin, playing her last-ever match, had three lineout throws stolen in the opening 20 minutes, while the conditions – it was cooler in south west France on Sunday, but still very humid – made handling tricky.

As did the tackling. This was a full-bore final, with defenders flying into contact and forcing mistakes. And, both sides looked to play when they had the ball in hand. The scoreboard didn’t deserve to be stuck at 5-3 after half-an-hour.

It didn’t stay that way for long. ASM’s fly-half Elodie Fernandez’s routine clearance kick was charged down by second-row Hallie Taufo’ou. She won the foot-race to the ball, and although she was tackled short of the line, it was recycled and found its way to Morgane Bourgeois at the end of the line for a run-in.

The 12-3 scoreline at the break became 15-3 after 51 minutes. But ASM weren’t beaten quite yet. Fernandez scored under the posts to pull ASM to within a try just before the hour as Romagnat enjoyed a spell of prolonged pressure.

The Bordelais’ defence was tested further after winger Marie Ibanez was sin-binned for a high tackle a few minutes later. It held. Despite a scrum that had started back-pedalling.

And, with the clock ticking past 72 minutes, replacement prop Oihana Tome-Belmonte crashed over for the title-deciding touchdown.

“We stayed focused, and it paid off,” Gérin said afterwards. “At no point did we feel like we were losing control. Instead, we told ourselves that if we played our game, we’d win. It was tough, but that’s just been the story of our season.”

ASM’s Italian backrow Francesca Sgorbini, meanwhile, was proud of the performance of her colleagues in yellow and laid down a gauntlet for future opponents.

“Our team never gives up,” she said. “That’s something we’ll build on next season. We need to mature, gain experience to play in matches like that. Stade Bordelais had more experience than us, but we’ll be ready next season.

“Our group is young, and we no longer have Jessy Trémoulière. Right now, we have a team with limited experience, but the young players are stepping up, and things will progress gradually. It’s matches like these that will help us learn.”