Aviron Bayonnais

Aviron Bayonnais (AB, Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (Baiona, in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which, for the 2016-17 season, competed in the top tier of the French league system, in the Top 14 competition. In the 2015–16 Pro D2 Season they were promoted after finishing 2nd and winning the playoff final against Aurillac. In the 2016-2017 season, they finished in last place, and will be relegated back to Pro D2 for the 2017-18 season. Founded in 1904, they play at the Parc des Sports also known as Stade Jean-Dauger in Bayonne. Their mascot is a pottok pony called pottoka. They have ties to the French Basque community.

History
The club was established in 1904, making their first final appearance in the 1913 season, where they defeated S.C.U.F. 31-8 at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. The national domestic championship was replaced by the Coupe de l'Espérance during World War I. The competition was played for four seasons, with Aviron Bayonnais contesting the last final, which they lost to Stadoceste Tarbais 4 to 3.

With the French championship resumed, the club made their next championship game in the 1922 season where they met Toulouse. Aviron Bayonnais lost the final 6 to nil. The two clubs would meet again the next season to again contest the championship final, which Toulouse won again, 3 to nil.

Aviron Bayonnais enjoyed success during the mid-1930s, defeating Biarritz 13 to 8 in Toulouse to win their second championship, and first since 1913. They also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1936, defeating Perpignan in the final. The club saw similar results during the mid-1940s as well, with two championship final appearances; defeating SU Agen in the 1943 final at Parc des Princes in Paris and losing the 1944 season final to Perpignan.

Since the 1940s the club did not find a lot of success over the coming years, as they would have to wait until the 1980s until they would again reach any of the championship finals. In 1980 they contested the final of the Challenge Yves du Manoir, defeating AS Béziers 16 to 10 to gain their second title of that competition. They made it to the final of the 1982 season, although they were defeated by SU Agen, 18 to 9.

Aviron Bayonnais was relegated to the Group A2 in 1996, where it spent eight seasons. The team was promoted to the Top 16/14 in 2004, remaining there for 11 consecutive seasons. The team was relegated to the Pro D2 in 2015, and has been a yo-yo club since then.

Honours

 * French championship Top 14
 * Champions (3): 1913, 1934, 1943
 * Runners-up (4): 1922, 1923, 1944, 1982
 * Pro D2
 * Champions (2): 2019, 2022
 * Challenge Yves du Manoir
 * Champions (2): 1936, 1980
 * Coupe de l'Espérance
 * Runners-up: 1919

Current squad
The Bayonne squad for the 2023–24 season is:

Notable former players

 * 🇦🇷 Lisandro Arbizu
 * 🇦🇷 Martín Bustos Moyano
 * 🇦🇷 Matías Cortese
 * 🇦🇷 Nicolás Fernández Miranda
 * 🇦🇷 Santiago Fernández
 * 🇦🇷 José María Núñez Piossek
 * 🇦🇷 Juan Pablo Orlandi
 * 🇦🇺 Rodney Blake
 * 🇦🇺 Mark Chisholm
 * 🇦🇺 Cameron Treloar
 * Ramón Ayarza
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Phil Davies
 * Filimoni Bolavucu
 * Gabiriele Lovobalavu
 * Savenaca Rawaca
 * Metuisela Talebula
 * Saïmoni Vaka
 * 🇫🇷 André Alvarez
 * 🇫🇷 Clément Ancely
 * 🇫🇷 Grégory Arganese
 * 🇫🇷 Yoan Audrin
 * 🇫🇷 Julien Audy
 * 🇫🇷 Denis Avril
 * 🇫🇷 Marc Baget
 * 🇫🇷 Antoine Battut
 * 🇫🇷 Robert Baulon
 * 🇫🇷 André Béhotéguy
 * 🇫🇷 Henri Béhotéguy
 * 🇫🇷 Christian Bélascain
 * 🇫🇷 Eugène Billac
 * 🇫🇷 Benjamin Boyet
 * 🇫🇷 Renaud Boyoud
 * 🇫🇷 Maurice Celhay
 * 🇫🇷 Baptiste Chouzenoux
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Condom
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Dauger
 * 🇫🇷 Walter Desmaison
 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Dospital
 * 🇫🇷 Richard Dourthe
 * 🇫🇷 Bernard Duprat
 * 🇫🇷 Pépito Elhorga
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Élissalde
 * 🇫🇷 Anthony Étrillard
 * 🇫🇷 Benjamin Fall
 * 🇫🇷 Fernand Forgues
 * 🇫🇷 Xavier Garbajosa
 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Gayraud
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Michel Gonzalez
 * 🇫🇷 Steven Hall
 * 🇫🇷 Arnaud Héguy
 * 🇫🇷 Cédric Heymans
 * 🇫🇷 Yoann Huget
 * 🇫🇷 Aretz Iguiniz
 * 🇫🇷 Vincent Inigo
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Iraçabal
 * 🇫🇷 Louis Junquas
 * 🇫🇷 Paul Labadie
 * 🇫🇷 Simon Labouyrie
 * 🇫🇷 Thibault Lacroix
 * 🇫🇷 Patrice Lagisquet
 * 🇫🇷 Damien Lagrange
 * 🇫🇷 Daniel Larrechea
 * 🇫🇷 Grégoire Lascubé
 * 🇫🇷 René Lasserre
 * 🇫🇷 Christophe Lamaison
 * 🇫🇷 Camille Lopez
 * 🇫🇷 Christian Magnanou
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Jo Marmouyet
 * 🇫🇷 Romain Martial
 * 🇫🇷 Rémy Martin
 * 🇫🇷 Lionel Mazars
 * 🇫🇷 Yannick N'Gog
 * 🇫🇷 Marvin O'Connor
 * 🇫🇷 Charles Ollivon
 * 🇫🇷 Clément Otazo
 * 🇫🇷 Laurent Pardo
 * 🇫🇷 Patrick Perrier
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet
 * 🇫🇷 Roland Pétrissans
 * 🇫🇷 Lucas Pointud
 * 🇫🇷 Julien Puricelli
 * 🇫🇷 Jérôme Schuster
 * 🇫🇷 Scott Spedding
 * 🇫🇷 Jacques Rollet
 * 🇫🇷 David Roumieu
 * 🇫🇷 Benjamin Thiéry
 * 🇫🇷 Matthieu Ugalde
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Marie Usandisaga
 * Giorgi Jgenti
 * Davit Khinchaguishvili
 * Avto Kopaliani
 * 🇮🇹 Lorenzo Cittadini
 * 🇮🇹 Craig Gower
 * 🇮🇹 Salvatore Perugini
 * 🇮🇹 Ramiro Pez
 * 🇯🇵 Wataru Murata
 * 🇳🇦 P. J. van Lill
 * 🇳🇿 Stephen Brett
 * 🇳🇿 Tom Donnelly
 * 🇳🇿 Ross Filipo
 * 🇳🇿 Troy Flavell
 * 🇳🇿 Gerard Fraser
 * 🇳🇿 Dwayne Haare
 * 🇳🇿 Tanerau Latimer
 * 🇳🇿 Sione Lauaki
 * 🇳🇿 Joe Rokocoko
 * 🇳🇿 Blair Stewart
 * 🇳🇿 Neemia Tialata
 * Willie du Plessis
 * Sam Gerber
 * JC Janse van Rensburg
 * Rassie Jansen van Vuuren
 * Joe Pietersen
 * 🇷🇺 Viacheslav Grachev
 * Census Johnston
 * Leo Lafaiali'i
 * Jeremy Tomuli
 * Johnnie Beattie
 * James McLaren
 * Oscar Astarloa
 * Cédric Garcia
 * Francisco Puertas Soto
 * Manu Ahotaeiloa
 * Lisiate Faʻaoso
 * Pila Fifita
 * Opeti Fonua
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Ben Broster
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mike Phillips

Coaches

 * 2008-Janu.2010 : 🇫🇷 Richard Dourthe, 🇫🇷 Thierry Mentières, 🇫🇷 Jean-Philippe Coyola.
 * Janu.2010-2010 : 🇫🇷 Christian Gajan.
 * 2010-Dec.2011 : 🇫🇷 Christian Gajan, 🇫🇷 Thomas Lièvremont, 🇫🇷 Frédéric Tauzin.
 * Dec.2011-Janu.2012 : 🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Elissalde,🇫🇷 Didier Faugeron, 🇫🇷 Pierre-Henry Broncan.
 * Janu.2012-June 2012 : 🇫🇷 Didier Faugeron,🇫🇷 Denis Avril.
 * 2012-2013 : 🇫🇷 Christian Lanta, 🇫🇷 Christophe Deylaud, 🇫🇷 Denis Avril.
 * 2013-2014 : 🇫🇷 Christian Lanta, 🇫🇷 Christophe Deylaud
 * 2014-2015 : 🇦🇷🇦🇺 Patricio Noriega, 🇫🇷 Nicolas Morlaes, Rob Linde, 🇫🇷 Daniel Larrechea.
 * 2015-2017 : 🇫🇷 Vincent Etcheto, Dewald Senekal, 🇮🇹 Simone Santa Maria.
 * 2017-2018 : 🇫🇷 Pierre Berbizier, 🇫🇷 Joël Rey, 🇫🇷 Vincent Etcheto, 🇮🇹 Simone Santa Maria.
 * 2018-2019 : 🇫🇷 Yannick Bru, 🇫🇷 Joël Rey, 🇫🇷 Vincent Etcheto, 🇫🇷 Éric Artiguste.
 * 2019-2021 : 🇫🇷 Yannick Bru, 🇫🇷 Joël Rey, 🇫🇷 Rémy Ladauge, 🇫🇷 Éric Artiguste.
 * 2021-2022 🇫🇷 Yannick Bru, 🇫🇷 Joël Rey, 🇫🇷 Éric Artiguste, 🇫🇷 Jean-Frédéric Dubois.
 * 2022- : 🇫🇷 Grégory Patat, 🇫🇷 Joël Rey, 🇳🇿 Gerard Fraser, 🇫🇷 Éric Artiguste.