Castres Olympique

Castres Olympique
Full name	Castres Olympique
Founded	1906; 118 years ago
Location	Castres, France
Ground(s)	Stade Pierre-Fabre (Capacity: 12,500)
President	Pierre-Yves Revol
Coach(es)	Jeremy Davidson
Captain(s)	Mathieu Babillot
League(s)	Top 14
2022–23	9th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.castres-olympique.com

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.

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 (3) : 1995, 2014, 2022
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
24 June 2022	Montpellier	Castres Olympique	29–10	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	78,245

Current standings

2023–24 Top 14 Table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Toulouse (Q)	26	16	1	9	765	592	+173	103	72	7	3	76	Playoffs and Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
2	Stade Français (Q)	26	17	1	8	539	511	+28	57	49	4	1	75
3	Bordeaux Bègles (Q)	26	15	0	11	677	558	+119	80	66	5	4	69
4	Toulon (Q)	26	15	0	11	704	519	+185	72	58	5	4	69
5	La Rochelle (Q)	26	13	1	12	595	496	+99	69	49	5	7	66
6	Racing 92 (Q)	26	13	0	13	622	546	+76	79	56	5	5	62
7	Castres	26	13	0	13	643	642	+1	69	77	4	6	62	Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
8	Clermont	26	12	2	12	621	671	−50	74	78	6	3	61	Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
9	Pau	26	13	0	13	630	609	+21	68	72	3	5	60	Qualification for 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup
10	Perpignan	26	13	0	13	634	701	−67	80	85	5	1	58
11	Lyon	26	12	0	14	630	754	−124	72	90	5	2	55
12	Bayonne	26	11	0	15	572	669	−97	65	77	2	6	52
13	Montpellier (Q)	26	9	0	17	542	655	−113	61	79	1	7	44	Qualification for Relegation play-off
14	Oyonnax (R)	26	7	1	18	539	790	−251	58	99	0	4	34	Relegation to Pro D2

Updated to match(es) played on 18 May 2024. Source: Top 14
(Q) Qualified for the playoffs; (R) Relegated

Current squad

The Castres squad for the 2022–23 season is:^[11]

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
Loris Zarantonello	Hooker	France
Aurelian Azar	Prop	France
Levan Chilachava	Prop	Georgia
Wayan de Benedittis	Prop	France
Antoine Guillamon	Prop	France
Wilfrid Hounkpatin	Prop	France
Antoine Tichit	Prop	France
Matt Tierney	Prop	Canada
Quentin Walcker	Prop	France
Tyler Ardron	Lock	Canada
Romain Macurdy	Lock	France
Gauthier Maravat	Lock	France
Leone Nakarawa	Lock	Fiji
Ryno Pieterse	Lock	South Africa
Tom Staniforth	Lock	Australia
Florent Vanverberghe	Lock	France
Mathieu Babillot	Back row	France
Nick Champion de Crespigny	Back row	Australia
Baptiste Delaporte	Back row	France
Abraham Papali'i	Back row	New Zealand
Yann Peysson	Back row	France
Josaia Raisuqe	Back row	Fiji
Asier Usarraga	Back row	Spain

Player	Position	Union
Santiago Arata	Scrum-half	Uruguay
Gauthier Doubrere	Scrum-half	France
Jeremy Fernandez	Scrum-half	France
Ben Botica	Fly-half	New Zealand
Louis Le Brun	Fly-half	France
Pierre Popelin	Fly-half	France
Vilimoni Botitu	Centre	Fiji
Andrea Cocagi	Centre	Fiji
Jack Goodhue	Centre	New Zealand
Adrien Seguret	Centre	France
Antoine Bouzeand	Wing	France
Nathanaël Hulleu	Wing	France
Martin Laveau	Wing	France
Filipo Nakosi	Wing	Fiji
Antoine Zeghdar	Wing	France
Julien Dumora	Fullback	France
Geoffrey Palis	Fullback	France

Espoirs squad

The Castres Olympique Espoirs squad is:^[12]