Castres Olympique
Castres Olympique (French pronunciation: [kastʁ ɔlɛ̃pik]) is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the top level of the French league system.
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| Full name | Castres Olympique | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1906 | ||
| Location | Castres, France | ||
| Ground(s) | Stade Pierre-Fabre (Capacity: 12,500) | ||
| President | Pierre-Yves Revol | ||
| Coach(es) | Mauricio Reggiardo | ||
| Captain(s) | Mathieu Babillot | ||
| League(s) | Top 14 | ||
| 2019–20 | 9th | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Stade Pierre-Fabre, which is one of the smallest in Top 14 with a capacity of 12,500. The team wear blue and white kits.
The team won five French top-division championships in 1949, 1950, 1993 (in a match decided by an irregular try accorded by the referee),[1] 2013, and 2018 as well as one Coupe de France in 1948.
History
In 1898 several alumni of Castres' municipal college met in a city centre bar and decided to create a team allowing them to play their favourite sport, rugby union. For the first few years this team was part of a multisport club until 1906. Unhappy with the dominating position cycling had within the club, the members of the rugby section decided to leave and create a club of their own, solely dedicated to their sport. It was decided that this club would be named Castres Olympique and its colours would be changed from yellow and black to its current blue, white and grey.
The new club reached the top flight after only 15 years of existence and has remained there ever since, bar for a couple of years during the 80s when the club was in the then Section B of the 1st division. The club has never left the 1st division since 1921.
For a while Castres Olympique would experience mixed fortunes until 1948 when they reached and won their first Coupe de France. The prestigious championship would follow a year later, and again in 1950.
From the 1960s the club would experience a stream of mediocre seasons and steady decline until Pierre Fabre, the founder of a local pharmaceutical company, decided to take over the club and restore it to its former relative glory in 1988.
The 1993 French Rugby Union Championship was won by Castres who beat Grenoble 14–11 in controversial final. Indeed a try of Olivier Brouzet is denied to Grenoble[2] and the decisive try by Gary Whetton was awarded by the referee, Daniel Salles, when in fact the defender Franck Hueber from Grenoble touched down the ball first in his try zone. This error gave the title to Castres.[3] Salles admitted the error 13 years later[4] .[5] Jacques Fouroux conflict with the Federation and who was already suspicious before the match of the referee[6] cry out conspiracy.[7]
The club reached the final again in 1995 losing 31–16 to Stade Toulousain.
Castres won the 2012–13 French Rugby Union Championship beating Toulon 19–14 in the final.[8]
The team's owner, Pierre Fabre, the founder of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre. died on 20 July 2013.[9] Castres' home stadium, previously known as Stade Pierre-Antoine, was renamed in his memory during ceremonies in conjunction with Castres' match with Montpellier on 9 September 2017.[10]
Castres won the 2017–18 French Rugby Union Championship beating Montpellier 29–13 in the final.
Honours
- French championship:
- Champions (5) : 1949, 1950, 1993, 2013, 2018
- Runners-up (2) : 1995, 2014
- Coupe de France:
- Champions (1) : 1948
- Challenge Yves du Manoir:
- Runners-up (1) : 1993
- Group B French Champions:
- Champions (1) : 1989
- European Challenge Cup:
- Runners-up (2) : 1997, 2000
- European Shield:
- Champions (1) : 2003
Finals results
French championship
| Date | Winners | Runners-up | Score | Venue | Spectators |
| 22 May 1949 | Castres Olympique | Stade Montois | 14-3 1 | Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse | 23,000 |
| 16 April 1950 | Castres Olympique | Racing Club de France | 11-8 | Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse | 25,000 |
| 5 June 1993 | Castres Olympique | FC Grenoble | 14-11 | Parc des Princes, Paris | 48,000 |
| 6 May 1995 | Stade Toulousain | Castres Olympique | 31-16 | Parc des Princes, Paris | 48,615 |
| 1 June 2013 | Castres Olympique | RC Toulon | 19-14 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 80,033 |
| 31 May 2014 | RC Toulon | Castres Olympique | 18-10 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 80,174 |
| 2 June 2018 | Castres Olympique | Montpellier | 29-13 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 78,441 |
Current standings
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Diff. | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Rochelle | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 322 | 210 | +112 | 30 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 39 | ||||
| 2 | Toulouse | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 365 | 272 | +93 | 42 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 38 | ||||
| 3 | Racing | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 303 | 212 | +91 | 33 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 37 | ||||
| 4 | Toulon | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 284 | 218 | +66 | 27 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 33 | ||||
| 5 | Lyon | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 240 | 184 | +56 | 23 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 29 | ||||
| 6 | Stade Français | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 292 | 228 | +64 | 26 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 29 | ||||
| 7 | Clermont | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 291 | 221 | +70 | 33 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 28 | ||||
| 8 | Bordeaux Bègles | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 283 | 259 | +24 | 29 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 24 | ||||
| 9 | Brive | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 236 | 302 | –66 | 15 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 22 | ||||
| 10 | Pau | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 276 | 311 | –35 | 22 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 21 | ||||
| 11 | Bayonne | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 245 | 352 | –107 | 23 | 45 | 0 | 1 | 21 | ||||
| 12 | Montpellier | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 205 | 200 | +5 | 18 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 17 | ||||
| 13 | Castres | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 179 | 275 | –96 | 15 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 16 | ||||
| 14 | Agen | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 152 | 429 | –277 | 14 | 49 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||
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If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
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| Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Pink background (row 13) will qualify to the Relegation play-offs. Red background (row 14) will automatically be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table — source: | |||||||||||||||||
Current squad
The Castres squad for the 2020–21 season is:[11]
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.
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Notable former players
Ignacio Fernández Lobbe- Mario Ledesma
Phil Christophers- Paul Volley
Seremaia Bai
Marc Andreu- David Attoub
- Pierre Bernard
- David Bory
- Mathieu Bourret
- Alain Carminati
- Romain Cabannes
- Thomas Castaignède
- Gerard Cholley
- Antonie Claassen
- Arnaud Costes
- Yann Delaigue
- Ibrahim Diarra
- Richard Dourthe
- Brice Dulin
- Yannick Forestier
- Romain Froment
- Karim Ghezal
- Raphaël Ibañez
- Benjamin Kayser
- Laurent Labit
- Thierry Lacroix
- Pierre-Gilles Lakafia
- Remi Lamerat
- Lionel Nallet
- Pascal Papé
- Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet
- Matthias Rolland
- Nicolas Spanghero
- Patrick Tabacco
- Rémi Tales
- Guilaume Taussac
- Romain Teulet
- Sébastien Tillous-Borde
- Julien Tomas
Dragoș Dima- Adrian Lungu
- Mihai Lazăr
- Alexandru Manta
Akvsenti Giorgadze- Anton Peikrishvili
Pablo Canavosio- Ramiro Pez
- Fabio Staibano
Kees Lensing
Frank Bunce- Carl Hoeft
- Kees Meeuws
- Kevin Senio
- Sitiveni Sivivatu
- Gary Whetton
- Karena Wihongi
- Rudi Wulf
Darron Nell- Pedrie Wannenburg
Kirill Kulemin
Piula Faʻasalele- Laloa Milford
- Joe Tekori
- Freddie Tuilagi
- Romi Ropati
Max Evans- Richie Gray
- Glenn Metcalfe
- Gregor Townsend
José Díaz- Cedric Garcia
- Pierre-Emmanuel Garcia
Salesi Sika
References
- "Gerry Thornley: Grenoble's Jackman fast becoming one of top Irish coaches". irishtimes. April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- "Combien de fois Bayonne s'est imposé dans la capitale ?". www.rugbyrama.fr. Midi olympique. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- "MICHEL RINGEVAL (PART 2): " AU BOUT D'UN QUART D'HEURE, J'AI COMPRIS QU'ON NE GAGNERAIT PAS"". lesportdauphinois.com. November 19, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- "Daniel Salles à propos de Castres-Grenoble en 1993 : " Je me suis trompé "". sudouest. 1 June 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- "Parc des Princes, Paris, 5 Juin 1993". LNR. 28 December 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- Salviac, Pierre (9 September 2015). Merci pour ces moments: 50 ans de grands reportages. books.google.fr. ISBN 9791093463247. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- "Top 14: Toulon-Castres, souviens-toi, il y a vingt ans..." www.lepoint.fr. June 1, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- "Castres et " la magie du rugby "". www.republicain-lorrain.fr. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- "Pierre Fabre, founder of pharmaceutical giant, dies". Agence France Presse. France 24. 2013-07-20. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
- "Castres : ce sera le Stade Pierre-Fabre" [Castres: it will be Stade Pierre-Fabre]. La Dépêche. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- "Effectifs". Castres Olympique (in French). Retrieved 6 September 2019.
External links
- (in French) Castres Olympique Official website