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After seven matches of the 18-game AXA Elite 1 season in France, the 10 teams are now on a break until the end of January.
So, at the end of this first block of games, it’s the ideal time to take stock of each side’s form so far…
Toulouse (33 points)
Stade Toulousain have run hot since the opening match of the campaign, a no-internationals 29-19 win over Stade Bordelais on 12 October. In the first seven matches, they have scored 294 points, including 44 tries to top AXA Elite 1 table on points difference.
For the record, second-placed Romagnat — unsurprisingly — have the next most potent attack, with 232 points from seven, including 35 touchdowns. The latter have the best defence in the league, with Toulouse slipping down to third, but with an attack as potent as that, they can afford to be marginally more porous in defence.
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It’s not as if Toulouse are conceding many — just 92 points across their seven games to date, compared to Romagnat’s miserly 54.
All seems set fair for Toulouse, then, to maintain their course to the top of the table at the end of the campaign. Their next big challenge is on 1 February when, a week after they host Montpellier as the league resumes, they head to their nearest rivals.
Romagnat (33 points)
Seven wins in seven. It can’t get much better than that for Romagnat, who have been boosted by improved resources this season, and made some canny signings to improve their squad.
Just points difference — 24 of them to be precise — separates the Auvergne side from leaders Toulouse at the end of the opening block of matches. Romagnat averaged more than 33 points per game, and conceded just seven across 80 minutes in that seven-match winning streak.
Romagnat will return to action with a trip to Bobigny on 25 January. Then, in a league that already looks like a two-horse race, it’s the big one, at home to Toulouse to sign off the first-half of the season. That match — and the return fixture on the final weekend of the season — should decide first and second in the table.
Stade Bordelais (25 points)
A gap, then, to third-placed Stade Bordelais, defending back-to-back-to-back Elite 1 champions. Franco-Canadian coach François Ratier was handed one last win in charge in his final match before he settles in his new office at Marcoussis, ready to take charge of the France national team.
With his CV, it’s no surprise France were keen to hire Ratier, who guided the Lionnes to two titles of their three consecutive titles since joining from Toronto Arrows in 2023. But it’s undoubtedly a blow to the club side, who have benefited from his nous, organisation and work ethic.
The champions’ season opened with defeats against the top two, but they then got into their groove and strung together four wins in four, nilling hosts Montpellier in a clear statement in front of Canal Plus’ cameras.
Ratier’s last match in charge was a routine 22-3 home victory over Lyon in which Joanna Grisez scored her seventh try of the season. But what happens next — they’re at Grenoble, then host Toulon in their first two outings in 2026 — matters most now.
Blagnac (17 points)
Blagnac have played at each of the top three sides in their last five matches of the season so far, losing 36-3 at Romagnat, 33-12 at Stade Bordelais, and 52-22 rout at neighbours Toulouse.
They’ve offset those defeats with wins over Bobigny, Toulon and Lille — and signed off 2025 by overtaking Montpellier to take fourth at Christmas with a hard-fought win at home.
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More importantly, they’ve got the three most difficult away days of their campaign out of the way early on. Things, Blagnac will hope, can only get better, as they head towards the business end of the season — with matches at Lyon and at home against Grenoble restarting their campaign in 2026. Expect to see them around and about the post-season play-off places later.
Montpellier (15 points)
After three wins in their opening three games, at Grenoble, at home to Toulon and away at Bobigny, the first block of the season then turned rather sour for Montpellier, who have since endured defeats at home to Romagnat, at Lille, and at home against Stade Bordelais.
Blagnac away less than two weeks before Christmas did not give Montpellier — the second most successful team in domestic history in France, behind Toulouse, and the most successful in the 21st century — much in the way of festive cheer as they lost a tense encounter 12-10.
They need to end their losing streak sooner rather than later, if they’re to recover and regain fourth place from the side that beat them last time out. Next up, however, they entertain unbeaten Toulouse at the end of January.
Grenoble (14 points)
The Women’s Rugby World Cup was hard on Grenoble’s internationals. Back-row forwards Léa Champon and Téani Feleu returned to France with injuries, while captain Manaé Feleu and hooker Elisa Riffoneau were both feeling the after-effects of the long, physically and mentally draining, spell with Les Bleues.
So a club at the start of a long rebuild under a new president, who arrived this summer, didn’t get off to the fastest of starts, losing three of their first five.
But at the end of November they gave second-placed Romagnat a run for their money, losing 17-10 in dismal conditions, and evened up their season’s win-loss tally with a 20-5 win on the road at bottom-of-the-table Lille in their last match of the year.
They’re the first to host a post-Ratier Stade Bordelais in the new year. A victory isn’t out of the equation. But Grenoble are in the early months of a three-year rebuild, with a target of winning the league by 2028. No one’s seriously expecting too much out of this season. Top four would be welcome, but would exceed expectations.
Bobigny (11 points)
Three away days in their opening four games, and a surprise loss at home to a resurgent Montpellier. Bobigny’s season got off to a slow start. But a couple of wins on the bounce, against Grenoble at home and on the road at Toulon signalled something of a turnaround.
Manager Clémence Gueucier was on the shortlist for the France job. But now that role has gone elsewhere, she’ll focus fully on getting the best out of her charges. Bobigny are one of several teams in the mix to claim the last top-four slot, two places better than they managed last season.
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Unfortunately, for Bobigny, they ended 2025 hosting a rampant Toulouse side, and lost 51-10. Next up, they host Romagnat, one place below the leaders on points difference only. They have to burst the Auvergne side’s unbeaten bubble to avoid falling off the back of the chasing pack.
Lyon (8 points)
Lyon scored their first win of the season at home to Lille on the sixth weekend of the season, having opened their campaign with a promising 12-12 draw at home against Bobigny.
The club, promoted to the top flight in 2019, has set a target of a title by 2028. Right now, they’re well off the pace, but stark results don’t tell the whole story. A 38-6 loss at Toulouse, for example, doesn’t explain the four-try impact of the hosts’ bench in the final 20, or the fact that the visitors’ six points was a below-expectations return for some promising attacks off solid defence.
A last-minute Toulon try condemned Lyon to a 20-18 loss on the south coast. They lost a tight derby at Grenoble by just four points.
Ambitions are clear. Lyon want to turn the Big Four into a Big Five. A win over Lille suggested they were, maybe, up and running — but they screeched to a halt again with a 22-3 defeat at Stade Bordelais in their last outing of 2025, leaving themselves with work to do if they’re to challenge the top four at the business end of the campaign.
Their return to action at the end of January promises to be tough. They’re at home to Blagnac first up, then travel to Montpellier, before hosting leaders Toulouse.
Toulon (5 points)
Rugby Club Toulon Provence Méditerranée knew their debut season in the top flight of women’s rugby in France was never going to be easy. One hard-fought win over Lyon in early November — courtesy of a last-minute Marie Soko try — and six defeats in their first seven outings merely proves the preseason suspicions of the club’s staff were correct.
They’ve done a lot right. Recruiting veteran Scottish international Chloe Rollie and Italians Sofia Stefan and Beatrice Veronese for their first campaign at the highest level, bringing in a mental health coach to help players deal with the expected problems of stepping up a level, and seeking tactical and practical support from brother club, Top 14 side Toulon all makes sense.
All this has just got to translate into wins and points. They failed to trouble the scoreboard in their last outing of the year, losing 41-0 at Romagnat. Their next match, on January 25, is a potentially decisive relegation battle, at home against Lille.
Lille (4 points)
The early season fixture list was cruel on Lille, with trips to Romagnat, Toulouse, and Blagnac, and a home game against Stade Bordelaise fixed for the first four weeks of the season. And the results were hard to take. They shipped 209 points in those four games, and scored just 18 in reply.
So, the hard-fought 6-5 win over Montpellier that followed — all 11 points were scored in the first half — looked like it could be something of a turning point. And they backed it up with an improved performance in defeat at Lyon, where they conceded just 24 points and scored 15.
Lille narrowly avoided relegation to Elite 2 last season, and their relatively modest ambitions extend to repeating that trick again this time around. But a 20-5 loss at home to Grenoble in their last outing of 2025 leaves them stuck to the bottom of the table, with a crucial trip to the side just above them in the table when AXA Elite 1 rugby returns at the end of January.
