Stade Rochelais

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Stade Rochelais
Full nameStade Rochelais
Nickname(s)Les Maritimes (The Seaborn Men)
Les Jaune et Noir (The Yellow and Blacks)
Les Bagnards (The Convicts)
Founded1898; 126 years ago (1898)
LocationLa Rochelle, France
Ground(s)Stade Marcel-Deflandre (Capacity: 16,000)
ChairmanVincent Merling
Coach(es)Ronan O'Gara
Captain(s)Grégory Alldritt
Uini Atonio
League(s)Top 14
2022–232nd
1st kit
2nd kit
3rd kit
Official website
www.staderochelais.com

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.

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[edit]

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[edit]

Current standings[edit]

2023–24 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff. Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Racing 12 8 0 4 352 223 +129 4 4 40
2 Bordeaux Bègles 12 8 0 4 330 263 +67 2 2 36
3 Stade Français 12 7 1 4 238 199 +39 2 1 33
4 Toulouse 12 7 0 5 297 243 +54 3 1 32
5 Toulon 12 7 0 5 305 238 +67 2 2 32
6 Pau 12 7 0 5 268 246 +22 2 1 31
7 Castres 12 6 0 6 309 281 +28 3 3 30
8 La Rochelle 12 6 0 6 260 217 +43 2 4 30
9 Clermont 12 5 1 6 274 287 –13 2 2 26
10 Bayonne 12 5 0 7 243 290 -47 1 3 24
11 Perpignan 12 5 0 7 246 362 –116 1 0 21
12 Oyonnax 12 5 0 7 255 345 -90 0 0 20
13 Lyon 12 4 0 8 250 375 –125 2 2 20
14 Montpellier 12 3 0 9 225 283 –58 0 4 16

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
  2. Points difference in head-to-head matches
  3. Try differential in head-to-head matches
  4. Points difference in all matches
  5. Try differential in all matches
  6. Points scored in all matches
  7. Tries scored in all matches
  8. Fewer matches forfeited
  9. Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2024–25 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 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2023–24 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2024–25 Top 14 season.
Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2.
Updated: 7 January 2024


Current squad[edit]

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.

Player Position Union
Pierre Bourgarit Hooker France France
Sacha Idoumi Hooker France France
Quentin Lespiaucq Hooker France France
Uini Atonio Prop France France
Georges-Henri Colombe Prop France France
Alexsandre Kuntelia Prop Georgia (country) Georgia
Thierry Paiva Prop France France
Joel Sclavi Prop Argentina Argentina
Reda Wardi Prop France France
Ultan Dillane Lock Ireland Ireland
Thomas Lavault Lock France France
Rémi Picquette Lock France France
Thomas Ployet Lock France France
Will Skelton Lock Australia Australia
Grégory Alldritt Back row France France
Levani Botia Back row Fiji Fiji
Paul Boudehent Back row France France
Judicaël Cancoriet Back row France France
Noé Della Schiava Back row France France
Matthias Haddad Back row France France
Yoan Tanga Back row France France
Player Position Union
Thomas Berjon Scrum-half France France
Teddy Iribaren Scrum-half France France
Tawera Kerr-Barlow Scrum-half New Zealand New Zealand
Antoine Hastoy Fly-half France France
Hugo Reus Fly-half France France
Ihaia West Fly-half New Zealand New Zealand
Jonathan Danty Centre France France
Jules Favre Centre France France
UJ Seuteni Centre Samoa Samoa
Dillyn Leyds Wing South Africa South Africa
Jack Nowell Wing England England
Raymond Rhule Wing South Africa South Africa
Teddy Thomas Wing France France
Brice Dulin Fullback France France

Espoirs squad[edit]

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

Player Position Union
Alexandre Kaddouni Prop France France
Louis Penverne Prop France France
Karl Sorin Prop France France
Nika Sutidze Prop Georgia (country) Georgia
Robin Garnier Lock France France
Simon Huchet Lock France France
Sampie Joubert Lock South Africa South Africa
Charles Kante-Samba Lock France France
Oscar Jégou Back row France France
Edouard Richer Back row France France
Player Position Union
Lucas Zamora Scrum-half France France
Timothee Castaignede Fly-half France France
Simeli Daunivucu Centre Fiji Fiji
Romain Lamit Centre France France
Seru Tomasi Centre Fiji Fiji
Theo Williamson Centre England England
Ika Anagu Wing Ireland Ireland
Nathan Bollengier Wing France France
Hoani Bosmorin Wing France France
Mathis Lhomet Wing France France
Maxime Tetlow Fullback France France

France results[edit]

Top 14 Championship Final[edit]

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[edit]

European Rugby Champions Cup Final[edit]

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[edit]

Arnaud, then his son Jean-Pierre and his grandson Jean-Baptiste all played for La Rochelle as scrum-halves.

Coaches[edit]

Well known former coaches include

The club only had three head coaches from 1992 to 2017, including Patrice Collaco since 2011.[4]

Leadership and management[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Local club La Rochelle now pressing claims at Europe's top table". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Effectif" (in French). Stade Rochelais. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  3. ^ "La Rochelle squad for season 2023/2024". All Rugby. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Europe's team of the season are coming to Murrayfield". www.scotsman.com. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links[edit]