Coupe de France Georges-Aillères

Originally called Challenge Georges-Aillères, it started as an invitational preseason tournament hosted by Toulouse XIII Broncos at their home venue Stade Philippe-Struxiano.[2] It was named after retired player Georges Aillères, who played most of his career for Toulouse area rugby league and rugby union clubs.[1] The original format was a single-day round robin consisting of abridged 30-minute games.[2] Toulouse's two main teams, the home side Broncos (Elite 2) and the Olympique (Elite 1), were mainstays while the two remaining spots were filled on a year-to-year basis.[2] The Broncos won the 2012 edition, the earliest on record, losing to fellow Elite 2 members Lescure d'Albigeois, but beating both Elite 1 participants Toulouse Olympique and Limoux.[3]

In 2015, tournament hosts Toulouse Broncos were absorbed by the Toulouse Olympique organization and the event went dormant.[4] Instead, the preseason featured a "Friendship Trophy" game between Toulouse's newly merged team and Albi, with the proceeds going to Albi product and Toulouse Olympique player Yoann Didone, who had recently suffered grave injuries in a road accident.[5]

In 2016, the French Rugby League Federation took over the tournament's name and relaunched it under an entirely different format. The new version serves as a secondary cup competition open to all Elite 2 teams, using full-length games and a more spread-out schedule akin to other league cups.[6] In 2019, the tournament was renamed Coupe de France Georges-Aillères, as part of a general strategy by the federation to brand its various cup competitions "Coupe de France", regardless of their level.[1]