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Castres Olympique

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Castres Olympique
Full nameCastres Olympique
Founded1906; 118 years ago (1906)
LocationCastres, France
Ground(s)Stade Pierre-Fabre (Capacity: 12,500)
PresidentPierre-Yves Revol
Coach(es)Jeremy Davidson
Captain(s)Mathieu Babillot
League(s)Top 14
2023–247th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
castres-olympique.com

Castres Olympique (French pronunciation: [kastʁ ɔlɛ̃pik], CAST-(r)) 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.

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

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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.

In 1993, Castres play the final of the 1993 French Rugby Union Championship against Grenoble, a team who was nicknamed "the mammoths", because of its incredibly physical forward pack, coached by the former French national team manager Jacques Fouroux. Castres won its third national title 14–11, in a controversial match. 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, being already suspicious before the match of the referee, saw in this outcome a conspiracy of his enemies from inside the rugby union French Federation.[6][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.

After finishing first in the 2021-2022 Top 14, Castres played a semi-final against the Stade Toulousain of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, beating them 24-18. The final is a rematch of 2018, but this time, Montpellier win 29-10.

Honours

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Finals results

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French championship

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
22 May 1949 Castres Olympique 14–3 Stade Montois Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse 23,000
16 April 1950 Castres Olympique 11–8 Racing Club de France Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse 25,000
5 June 1993 Castres Olympique 14–11 FC Grenoble Parc des Princes, Paris 48,000
6 May 1995 Stade Toulousain 31–16 Castres Olympique Parc des Princes, Paris 48,615
1 June 2013 Castres Olympique 19–14 RC Toulon Stade de France, Saint-Denis 80,033
31 May 2014 RC Toulon 18–10 Castres Olympique Stade de France, Saint-Denis 80,174
2 June 2018 Castres Olympique 29–13 Montpellier Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,441
24 June 2022 Montpellier 29–10 Castres Olympique Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,245

European Rugby Challenge Cup

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
26 January 1997 France Bourgoin 18–9 France Castres Olympique Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers 10,000
28 May 2000 France Section Paloise 34–21 France Castres Olympique Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse 6,000

European Shield

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
25 May 2003 France Castres Olympique 40–12 Wales Caerphilly Madejski Stadium, Reading 4,000

Current standings

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2024–25 Top 14 Table
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Toulouse 13 9 1 3 385 211 +174 48 24 5 3 46 Qualification for Playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup
2 Bordeaux Bègles 13 10 0 3 384 264 +120 50 34 3 2 45
3 Toulon 13 8 0 5 327 279 +48 37 30 3 3 38 Qualification for Playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup
4 Bayonne 13 9 0 4 345 306 +39 39 39 1 1 38
5 Clermont 13 7 0 6 331 319 +12 43 34 4 2 34
6 La Rochelle 13 7 0 6 300 293 +7 37 31 3 1 32
7 Montpellier 13 6 0 7 270 241 +29 24 24 1 4 29 Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
8 Castres 13 6 0 7 324 363 −39 37 39 1 2 27
9 Racing 92 13 5 1 7 321 335 −14 36 36 0 4 26 Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup
10 Pau 13 5 0 8 304 369 −65 35 48 3 1 24
11 Stade Français 13 5 0 8 285 342 −57 32 42 2 1 23
12 Perpignan 13 5 0 8 228 322 −94 21 35 2 1 23
13 Lyon 13 4 2 7 324 362 −38 36 40 1 1 22 Qualification for Relegation play-off
14 Vannes 13 3 0 10 323 445 −122 38 57 0 3 15 Relegation to Pro D2
Updated to match(es) played on 29 December 2024. Source: Top 14


Current squad

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For player movements before or during the 2023–24 season, see List of 2023–24 Top 14 transfers § Castres.

The Castres squad for the 2023–24 season is:[11][12]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Gaëtan Barlot Hooker France France
Pierre Colonna Hooker France France
Loris Zarantonello Hooker Italy Italy
Aurelien Azar Prop France France
Wayan de Benedittis Prop France France
Levan Chilachava Prop Georgia (country) Georgia
Will Collier Prop England England
Nicolas Corato Prop France France
Lois Guerois-Galisson Prop France France
Antoine Tichit Prop France France
Quentin Walcker Prop France France
Guillaume Ducat Lock France France
Paul Jedrasiak Lock France France
Gauthier Maravai Lock France France
Leone Nakarawa Lock Fiji Fiji
Tom Staniforth Lock Australia Australia
Florent Vanverberghe Lock France France
Mathieu Babillot Back row France France
Tyler Ardron Back row Canada Canada
Baptiste Cope Back row France France
Baptiste Delaporte Back row France France
Abraham Papali'i Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Yann Peysson Back row France France
Josaia Raisuqe Back row Fiji Fiji
Player Position Union
Santiago Arata Scrum-half Uruguay Uruguay
Gauthier Doubrere Scrum-half France France
Jérémy Fernandez Scrum-half France France
Louis Le Bruin Fly-half France France
Pierre Popelin Fly-half France France
Vilimoni Botitu Centre Fiji Fiji
Adrea Cocagi Centre Fiji Fiji
Jack Goodhue Centre New Zealand New Zealand
Adrien Séguret Centre France France
Antoine Zeghdar Centre France France
Christian Ambadiang Wing Cameroon Cameroon
Rémy Baget Wing France France
Antoine Bouzerand Wing France France
Nathanaël Hulleu Wing France France
Osea Waqaninavatu Wing Fiji Fiji
Theo Chabouni Fullback France France
Julien Dumora Fullback France France
Geoffrey Palis Fullback France France

Espoirs squad

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Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Mate Ghurtskaia Prop Georgia (country) Georgia
Alexey Konnov Lock Russia Russia
Hugo Lopes Lock France France
Romain Macurdy Lock France France
Feibyan Cornell Tukino Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Dimitri Dronov Back row Russia Russia
Remi Loop Back row Belgium Belgium
Player Position Union
Simon Benoist Scrum-half France France
Louison Gras Fly-half France France
Joris Dupont Centre France France

Notable former players

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Gerry Thornley: Grenoble's Jackman fast becoming one of top Irish coaches". irishtimes. April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  2. ^ "Combien de fois Bayonne s'est imposé dans la capitale ?". www.rugbyrama.fr. Midi olympique. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. ^ "MICHEL RINGEVAL (PART 2): " AU BOUT D'UN QUART D'HEURE, J'AI COMPRIS QU'ON NE GAGNERAIT PAS"". lesportdauphinois.com. November 19, 2016. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. ^ "Daniel Salles à propos de Castres-Grenoble en 1993 : " Je me suis trompé "". sudouest. 1 June 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Parc des Princes, Paris, 5 Juin 1993". LNR. 28 December 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  6. ^ Salviac, Pierre (9 September 2015). Merci pour ces moments: 50 ans de grands reportages. Hachette Book. ISBN 9791093463247. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  7. ^ "Top 14: Toulon-Castres, souviens-toi, il y a vingt ans..." www.lepoint.fr. June 1, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "Castres et " la magie du rugby "". www.republicain-lorrain.fr. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "Castres : ce sera le Stade Pierre-Fabre" [Castres: it will be Stade Pierre-Fabre]. La Dépêche. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Effectif" (in French). Castres Olympique. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Castres squad for season 2023/2024". All Rugby. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
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