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Aviron Bayonnais

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This article is about the rugby union team. For the football club, see Aviron Bayonnais FC.
Aviron Bayonnais
Full nameAviron Bayonnais Rugby Pro
Nickname(s)L'Aviron (The Rowing Club)
Les Ciel et Blanc (The Sky Blue and Whites)
Founded14 October 1906; 119 years ago (1906-10-14)
LocationBayonne, France
GroundStade Jean-Dauger (Capacity: 14,370)
PresidentPhilippe Tayeb
CoachGrégory Patat
CaptainDenis Marchois
LeagueTop 14
2024–254th
Team kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.abrugby.fr

Aviron Bayonnais (AB, Basque: Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (Baiona in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the French league system. Founded in 1904, they play at the Parc des Sports, also known as Stade Jean-Dauger, in Bayonne. The club mascot is a pottok pony called pottoka. They have ties to the French Basque community.

History

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The club was established on 14 October 1906. They made their first final appearance in the 1913 season, when 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. This competition was played for four seasons, with Aviron Bayonnais contesting the last final, which they lost to Stadoceste Tarbais 4–3.

With the French championship resumed, the club made their next championship game in the 1922 season, when they met Toulouse. Bayonne lost the final 6–0. The two teams would contest the championship final once more the next season, which Toulouse won again, 3–0.

Aviron Bayonnais enjoyed success during the mid-1930s, beating Biarritz 13–8 in Toulouse to win their second championship, their 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, 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.

The following decades were less successful, and the club would have to wait until the 1980s to reach another championship final. In 1980 they contested the final of the Challenge Yves du Manoir, defeating AS Béziers 16–10 to win their second title in that competition. They made it to the championship final in the 1982 season, but were defeated by SU Agen, 18–9.

Aviron Bayonnais was relegated to the Group A2 in 1996, where it spent eight seasons. Following promotion to the Top 16/14 in 2004, they remained in the top flight for 11 consecutive seasons. The team was relegated to the second level Pro D2 in 2015, and has been a yo-yo club since then. In the 2021–22 Rugby Pro D2 season, they were promoted after defeating Stade Montois 49–20 in the playoff final.

Honours

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The Aviron Bayonnais squad in 1914.

Finals results

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French championship

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
20 April 1913 Aviron Bayonnais 31–8 S.C.U.F. Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes 20.000
23 April 1922 Stade Toulousain 6–0 Aviron Bayonnais Route du Médoc, Le Bouscat 20.000
13 May 1923 Stade Toulousain 3–0 Aviron Bayonnais Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes 15.000
13 May 1934 Aviron Bayonnais 13–8 Biarritz Olympique Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse 18.000
21 March 1943 Aviron Bayonnais 3–0 SU Agen Parc des Princes, Paris 28.000
26 March 1944 USA Perpignan 20–5 Aviron Bayonnais Parc des Princes, Paris 35.000
29 May 1982 SU Agen 18–9 Aviron Bayonnais Parc des Princes, Paris 41.165

Challenge Yves du Manoir

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Date Winners Score Runners-up
1936 Aviron Bayonnais 9–3 USA Perpignan
1980 Aviron Bayonnais 16–10 AS Béziers

Coupe de l'Espérance

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Date Winner Score Runner-up
1919 Stadoceste Tarbais 4–3 Aviron Bayonnais

Current standings

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2025–26 Top 14 Table
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Toulouse 17 13 0 4 662 352 +310 90 40 10 2 62 Qualification for playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup
2 Pau 16 11 0 5 495 420 +75 61 53 5 2 51
3 Bordeaux Bègles 17 10 0 7 574 444 +130 81 56 7 3 50 Qualification for playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup
4 Montpellier 17 9 1 7 520 373 +147 64 42 6 4 48
5 Clermont 17 10 0 7 558 452 +106 72 56 5 1 46
6 Racing 92 17 10 1 6 497 517 −20 58 66 2 1 45
7 Stade Français 17 8 1 8 471 427 +44 58 55 5 5 44 Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
8 Toulon 17 9 0 8 452 523 −71 61 63 6 1 43
9 Castres 17 9 0 8 405 470 −65 47 59 1 4 41 Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup
10 La Rochelle 17 7 0 10 520 461 +59 68 56 5 4 37
11 Lyon 17 8 0 9 508 489 +19 64 64 3 2 37
12 Bayonne 17 8 0 9 452 557 −105 51 71 2 2 36
13 Perpignan 16 3 0 13 283 445 −162 31 51 1 1 14 Qualification for relegation play-off
14 Montauban 17 1 1 15 325 792 −467 39 113 0 1 7 Relegation to Pro D2
Updated to match(es) played on 15 February 2026. Source: Top 14


Current squad

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For player movements before or during the 2025–26 season, see List of 2025–26 Top 14 transfers § Bayonne.

The Bayonne squad for the 2025–26 season is:[1][2]

Aviron Bayonnais 2025–26 Top 14 squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Back row

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wings

Fullbacks

(c) denotes the team captain.
Bold denotes internationally capped players.
Source: [1]

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
Iban Errercart Hooker France France
Louka Salvi Hooker France France
Cilliers Viljoen Hooker France France
Maxime Casenave Prop France France
Liam Couturier Prop France France
Paul Ducas Prop France France
Hugo Gonzalez Prop Spain Spain
Emosi Tuimania Prop Fiji Fiji
Alejandro Barrios Lock Argentina Argentina
Sohan Dealle Facquez Lock France France
Alvaro Garcia Iandolino Lock Argentina Argentina
Jules Martin-Bonnard Lock France France
Vladimir Palferov Lock Russia Russia
Aiden Stait Lock Australia Australia
Ignacio Valdes-Leiva Lock France France
Manus van Leeuwen Lock Netherlands Netherlands
Manex Ariceta Back row Spain Spain
Ronan Caule-Duler Back row France France
Noa Lacombe Back row France France
Nika Lomidze Back row Georgia (country) Georgia
Raphael Marchesin Back row France France
Aymeric Rousere Back row France France
Jonah Thompson Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Noa Traversier Back row France France
Player Position Union
Baptiste Tilloles Scrum-half France France
Diego Langlois Fly-half France France
Benat Sarraude Fly-half France France
Pyrenees Boyle-Tiatia Centre New Zealand New Zealand
Gabriel Lapegue Centre France France
Joseph Magne Centre France France
Lany Maignien Centre France France
Bastien Rasa Centre France France
Tom Leveque Wing France France
Telmo Fisher Centre Spain Spain
Declan Minto Centre Australia Australia

Notable former players

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Coaches

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See also

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Further reading

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  • Castiella, Manuel (2001). Un siècle de rugby à Bayonne (in French). Atlantica.

References

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  1. ^ a b "L'équipe pour la saison 2024-2025 - l'Aviron Bayonnais Rugby Pro". www.abrugby.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  2. ^ "Bayonne squad for season 2025/2026". all.rugby. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
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