1996–97 French Rugby Union Championship

The 1996/97 season was the 98th staging of the French rugby union championship. It included 20 teams in the top league ( of today's top 14).

The championship was divided into two phases. It began with the qualifying round, in which ten teams played in two groups against each other. The eight top finishers in both groups moved into the knockout round, while the two last placed athlete had to dismount each group in the second division. This affected the RC Nîmes, CA Périgueux, the Université Paris Club and Stade Dijonnais.

The home game right of K. -o- round, even at the 16 teams were involved, resulted from the better placement in the qualifying round. In the second round followed by the quarter-and semi-final. The two semi-final winners met in the playoff for the last time at the Parc des Princes held in Paris on 31 May 1997. Stade Toulousain won against the CS Bourgoin- Jallieu and won for the 14th time the championship.

Qualifying round

• Relegation to the second division

Second round

The SU Agen continued as a result of better placement through the qualification.

Quarterfinals

Semifinal

Final

Stade Toulousain: Line-up: Franck Belot, David Berty, Christian Califano, Thomas Castaignède, Jérôme Cazalbou, Christophe Deylaud, Sylvain Dispagne, Jean -Louis Jordana, Didier Lacroix, Michel Marfaing, Nicolas Martin, Hugues Miorin, Stéphane Ougier, Régis Sonne, Patrick Soula Substitutes: Jean -Marie Bisaro, Philippe Capelleri, Olivier Carbonneau, David Couzinet, Xavier Garbajosa, Pascal Lasserre, Julien Tilloles

CS Bourgoin- Jallieu: Line-up: Gilles Cassagne, Marc Cécillon, Alexandre Chazalet, Jean Daudé, Nigel Geany, Stéphane glass, Laurent Leflamand, Michel Malafosse, Dominique Mazille, David Morgan, Alexandre Péclier, Pierre Rashi, Jean -Pierre Sanchez, Ludovic Saunier, Philippe Vessilier Substitutes: Laurent Belligoï, Pascal Fernandez, Julien Frier, Laurent Gomez, Nicolas Guilhot, Jean -François Martin, Frédéric Nibelle