The French D1 Elite league heads into the opening round of the playoffs this weekend with two wild card matchups.
The defending champion Thonon Black Panthers who had, for them, a mediocre season finishing with a record of 4-3-1 in Conference A, will face the third place finishers in Conference B, the 5-5 Nice Dauphins. The last time these two teams played each other in the playoffs was in 2014 when Thonon blanked the Dauphins 38-0 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, the Grizzlys Catalans 5-4-1, who wound up in second place in Conference B, will take on Conference A’s number three team, the Rouen Leopards 4-1-3. These two teams have never played each other before.
This is the third straight year that the Grizzlys have reached the Wild Card stage. In 2022 and 2023 they were knocked out, first by the Saint-Ouen Cougars in 2022 and then by La Courneuve Flash last year. The Black Panthers played in the Wild Card round in 2022 when they eliminated the Toulouse Ours. Thonon went on to the final that year where they lost to the Flash. For the Rouen Leopards, this is their first trip to the playoffs since 2017 when they were knocked out of the semifinal round by the Flash. Rouen returned to the top league this season for the first time since 2019. This is the Dauphins first trip to the playoffs since 2016 when they went all the way to the final where they lost to the Saint-Ouen Cougars.
Saturday, June 8
Nice Dauphins (5-5) @ Thonon Black Panthers (4-3-1)
Watch live. Nice Dauphins @ Thonon Black Panthers, June 8, 19:00 CET (7 pm, 1 pm EDT).
Rouen Leopards (4-1-3) @ Grizzlys Catalans (5-4-1)
