The 2025–26 Coupe de France Lord Derby was the 85th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, the premier rugby league knockout competition in France. It began over the weekend of 20–21 December 2025 and concluded with the final on 11 April 2026.
The defending champions were Saint-Estève XIII Catalan who defeated Albi RL XIII in the 2024–25 final. In the 2025–26 final, AS Carcassonne defeated Albi 44–6 to win the trophy for the 18th time.
Background The 85th edition of the Coupe de France Lord Derby, started on 20 December 2025 and concluded with the final on 11 April 2026. Entry was limited to teams in the top two divisions: Super XIII (11 teams) and Elite 2 (4 of the 9 teams). The defending champions, Saint-Estève XIII Catalan, received a bye in the first round, and advanced to the quarter-finals were they were joined by the winning teams from the play-off round. The Elite 2 teams competing in the Lord Derby Cup were given an exemption from the draw for the play-off round of the Challenge Georges Aillères (the Elite 2 league cup).
Format and dates + Lord Derby French Cup competition format Round Date Clubs involved this round Winners from previous round New entries this round Leagues entering at this round Play-off round 20–21 December 14 14 10 teams from Super XIII and 4 teams from Elite 2 Quarter-finals 10–11 January 8 7 1 1 team from Super XIII Semi-finals 7–8 March 4 4 colspan=2 rowspan=2 Final 11 April 2 2
Play-off round The draws for the play-off round and the quarter-finals were made on 25 October. Ties were played over the weekend of 20–21 December.
+ Play-off round fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReport FC Lézignan XIII 26–0 Saint-Gaudens Bears 20 December Stade Du Moulin Report Villeneuve XIII RLLG 18–19 SO Avignon 20 December Stade de La Myre Mory Report Tonneins XIII 6–52 Baroudeurs de Pia XIII 21 December Stade Jean Bernege Report Pamiers XIII 12–90 AS Carcassonne 21 December Complexe Balussou Report Albi RL XIII 42–0 Toulouse Olympique Elite 20 December Stade Mazicou Report Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 30–16 Ille-sur-Têt XIII 21 December Stade Jerome Rieu Report Villefranche XIII Aveyron 16–28 XIII Limouxin 20 December Stade Henri Lagarde Report Source:
Quarter-finals Ties were played on the weekend of 10–11 January.
+ Quarter-final fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReport AS Carcassonne 12–9 XIII Limouxin 10 January Stade Albert Domec Report FC Lézignan XIII 24–20 Saint-Estève XIII Catalan 11 January Stade Du Moulin Report Baroudeurs de Pia XIII 12–36 Albi RL XIII 11 January Stade Jerome Rieu Report Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 30–18 SO Avignon 11 January Stade Daniel Ambert Report Source:
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was made on 20 January. Ties were played on the weekend of 7–8 March at neutral venues.
+ Semi-final fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReport FC Lézignan XIII 24–42 AS Carcassonne 7 March, 15:00 Stade Arnauné, Toulouse Report Albi RL XIII 22–2 Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII 8 March, 16:30 Stade de la Chevalière, Mazamet Report
Final The final of the 2025–26 Coupe de France Lord Derby was originally scheduled to take place on the weekend of 18–19 April. However, in February 2026, it was announced that it had been brought forward to the weekend of 11–12 April and would be played at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan.
Albi, the losing finalists in the 2024–25 competition, had previously only won the cup once, in the 1973–74 season. Carcassonne made their most recent final appearance in the 2023–24 competition when they won the title for a seventeenth time. In the 2025–26 final, AS Carcassonne led 16–6 at half time, and went on to win the match 44–6. The attendance for the final was approximately 3,500. Before the Lord Derby match, Albi defeated Toulouse Olympique 22–16 in the final of the Luc Nitard cup.
+ FinalHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeReport AS Carcassonne 44–6 Albi RL XIII 11 April Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan Stéphane Vincent Report
Teams
AS Carcassonne: Morgan Escaré, Alexis Escamilla, Vincent Albert, Maika Serulevu, Georgy Gambaro, Clement Herrero, Lucas Albert, Clément Boyer, Nolan Lopez Buttignol, Thomas Malfaz, Paul Séguier, Edenn Rogers-Smith, Bastien Escamilla Substitutes:Jowasa Drodrolagi, Djibryl Dauliac, Bastien Canet and Alexis Alberola
Albi RL XIII: Baptiste Fabre, Robin Brochon, Maia Sands, Clément Tailhades, Fouad Yaha, Ilan Boualem, Brad Wall, Chase Bernard, Thibault Correges, Dominique Peyroux, Corentin Le Cam, Tristan Dupuy, John Toleafoa Substitutes: Louis Tailhades, Maxime Puech, Mathieu Liauzun, Jayson Goffin
Source:
References