Stade Rochelais
Stade Rochelais (French pronunciation: [stad ʁɔʃlɛ]), commonly called La Rochelle, is a French professional rugby union club based in La Rochelle, France that competes in the Top 14. Founded in 1898 and wearing yellow and black, the club's first-team plays its home matches at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
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Full name | Stade Rochelais | |||
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Nickname(s) | Les Maritimes (The Seaborn Men) Les Jaune et Noir (The Yellow and Blacks) Les Bagnards (The Convicts) | |||
Founded | 1898 | |||
Location | La Rochelle, France | |||
Ground(s) | Stade Marcel-Deflandre (Capacity: 16,000) | |||
Chairman | Vincent Merling | |||
Coach(es) | Ronan O'Gara | |||
Captain(s) | Grégory Alldritt Uini Atonio | |||
League(s) | Top 14 | |||
2022–23 | 2nd | |||
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Official website | ||||
www |
Alongside other French club Brive, La Rochelle is one of only two clubs that won the European Rugby Champions Cup (twice in its case; beating Leinster in both 2022 and 2023 finals) without succeeding in winning its domestic championship losing on both occasions against Toulouse in the final: the first time in 2021 and the second in 2023. Owned by several shareholders, including club president and coffee magnate Vincent Merling, the club is renowned for the fervour of its supporters and its continual sold-out home matches.
History
Originally formed in 1898, Stade Rochelais won three regional Atlantic championships in the early part of the 20th century, qualifying them for the French Championship, where they reached the quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals once.[1] The popularity of rugby league in the area lessened the number of available players, and in 1935 Stade Rochelais merged with neighbours Union Sportive Rochelaise.[1]
Occupation of La Rochelle by troops from Nazi Germany, accompanied by a banning of rugby league by the Vichy Government, forced the city's rugby league club La Rochelle-Etudiants XIII to also be merged into Stade Rochelais in 1941.[1] This was overseen by club President Marcel Deflandre, who was later executed for his role as part of the French Resistance - the club's stadium is named Stade Marcel-Deflandre in his honour.[1]
The club formed a school for training players and coaches in the 1950s, resulting in them reaching the French Championship quarter-finals three times in the 1960s.[1] They were relegated in 1985, returning in 1997.[1] They were again relegated in 2002, though they won the Challenge Yves du Manoir that same year.[1] They retained the Challenge title the following year but were not promoted again until 2010.[1] They spent one season in Top 16 before being relegated again.[1]
Les Maritimes came third in the 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season and were promoting after beating Agen in the play-off final.
Honours
- Top 14
- Runners-up (2): 2020–21, 2022-23
- European Rugby Champions Cup
- Champions (2): 2021–22, 2022–23
- Runners-up (1): 2020–21
- EPCR Challenge Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2018–19
- Challenge Yves du Manoir
- Champions (2): 2002, 2003

Current standings
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | Stade Français | 21 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 440 | 356 | +84 | 46 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 67 | Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup and Playoffs |
2 | Toulouse | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 596 | 469 | +127 | 81 | 55 | 6 | 3 | 61 | |
3 | Racing 92 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 525 | 418 | +107 | 67 | 42 | 5 | 4 | 57 | |
4 | Toulon | 21 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 558 | 418 | +140 | 57 | 47 | 4 | 3 | 55 | |
5 | Bordeaux Bègles | 21 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 521 | 463 | +58 | 60 | 54 | 3 | 3 | 54 | |
6 | La Rochelle | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 474 | 372 | +102 | 54 | 34 | 5 | 7 | 52 | |
7 | Pau | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 497 | 481 | +16 | 51 | 54 | 2 | 4 | 50 | Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup |
8 | Perpignan | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 500 | 557 | −57 | 64 | 69 | 5 | 0 | 49 | |
9 | Castres | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 522 | 523 | −1 | 56 | 62 | 4 | 5 | 49 | |
10 | Bayonne | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 460 | 532 | −72 | 51 | 62 | 2 | 6 | 44 | |
11 | Clermont | 21 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 447 | 538 | −91 | 50 | 63 | 3 | 3 | 42 | |
12 | Lyon | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 482 | 621 | −139 | 52 | 73 | 4 | 2 | 42 | |
13 | Montpellier | 21 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 418 | 496 | −78 | 46 | 57 | 1 | 5 | 38 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
14 | Oyonnax | 21 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 449 | 645 | −196 | 47 | 80 | 0 | 4 | 26 | Relegation to Pro D2 |
Current squad
The La Rochelle squad for the 2022–23 season is:[2][3]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Espoirs squad
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
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France results
Top 14 Championship Final
Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
25 June 2021 | Stade Toulousain | 18–8 | Stade Rochelais | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 14,000 |
17 June 2023 | Stade Toulousain | 29-26 | Stade Rochelais | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 79,804 |
European results
European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
22 May 2021 | Stade Toulousain | 22–17 | Stade Rochelais | Twickenham Stadium, London | 10,000 |
28 May 2022 | Stade Rochelais | 24–21 | Leinster | Orange Vélodrome, Marseille | 59,682 |
20 May 2023 | Stade Rochelais | 27–26 | Leinster | Aviva Stadium, Dublin | 51,711 |
Notable former players
Facundo Bosch
Ramiro Herrera
Germán Llanes
Federico Todeschini
Zack Holmes
Brock James
Ryan Lamb
Lopeti Timani
Julien Berger
Jason Marshall
Lesley Vainikolo
Sireli Bobo
Eneriko Buliruarua
Norman Ligairi
Kini Murimurivalu
Jone Qovu
Seru Rabeni
Alipate Ratini
Savenaca Rawaca
Albert Vulivuli
Marc Andreu
Julien Audy
Alexi Balès
Jean-Pascal Barraque
Steeve Barry
Pierre Bérard
Mohamed Boughanmi
Benoît Bourrust
Damien Cler
Thomas Combezou
Manoël Dall'igna
Benjamin Dambielle
Vincent Debaty
Yacine Dekkiche
William Demotte
Geoffrey Doumayrou
Luc Ducalcon
Arnaud Élissalde
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde
Jean-Pierre Élissalde
Sébastien Fauqué
Lionel Faure
Romain Frou
Loann Goujon
Jean-Philippe Grandclaude
Gabriel Lacroix
Damien Lagrange
Grégory Lamboley
Benjamin Lapeyre
Benoit Lecouls
Henri Magois
Gérald Merceron
Jean Pambrun
Vincent Pelo
Julien Pierre
Jules Plisson
Dany Priso
Vincent Rattez
Arthur Retière
David Roumieu
Christophe Samson
Laurent Simutoga
Jérémy Sinzelle
Rémi Talès
Jean-Teiva Jacquelain
Gagi Bazadze
Guram Papidze
Robert Mohr
Gonzalo Canale
Pietro Ceccarelli
Leandro Cedaro
Jason Eaton
Hamish Gard
Romana Graham
David Raikuna
Rene Ranger
Victor Vito
Ihaia West
Petrișor Toderașc
Alofa Alofa
Piula Faʻasalele
Tamato Leupolu
Ricky Januarie
Paul Jordaan
Arnaud, then his son Jean-Pierre and his grandson Jean-Baptiste all played for La Rochelle as scrum-halves.
Coaches
Well known former coaches include
- Arnaud Élissalde
- Jean-Pierre Élissalde
- Ronan O’Gara
The club only had three head coaches from 1992 to 2017, including Patrice Collaco since 2011.[4]
Leadership and management
Vincent Merling, president as of 2017, had guided the club for 25 years. He was the driving force behind the “Grow Together” campaign launched in 2015 that persuaded 500 local businesses to support/sponsor the club.[4]
See also
- List of rugby union clubs in France
- Rugby union in France
References
- "Local club La Rochelle now pressing claims at Europe's top table". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- "Effectif" (in French). Stade Rochelais. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- "La Rochelle squad for season 2023/2024". All Rugby. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- "Europe's team of the season are coming to Murrayfield". www.scotsman.com. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
External links
- (in French) Stade Rochelais Official website