Aviron Bayonnais

Aviron Bayonnais
Full name	Aviron Bayonnais Rugby Pro
Nickname(s)	L'Aviron (The Rowing Club); Les Ciel et Blanc (The Sky Blue and Whites)
Founded	14 October 1906; 118 years ago
Location	Bayonne, France
Ground(s)	Stade Jean-Dauger (Capacity: 14,370)
President	Philippe Tayeb
Coach(es)	Grégory Patat
Captain(s)	Denis Marchois
League(s)	Top 14
2023–24	12th
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

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 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

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

Finals results

French championship

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

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

Coupe de l'Espérance

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

Current standings

2024–25 Top 14 Table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Toulouse	18	13	1	4	570	295	+275	72	33	7	4	65	Qualification for playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup
2	Bordeaux Bègles	18	13	0	5	533	376	+157	68	44	4	4	60
3	Toulon	18	12	0	6	490	392	+98	58	42	6	3	57	Qualification for playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup
4	Bayonne	18	11	0	7	439	455	−16	47	58	1	2	47
5	Castres	18	9	1	8	442	468	−26	49	46	1	3	42
6	Lyon	18	8	2	8	468	461	+7	51	48	2	2	40
7	Clermont	18	8	0	10	419	446	−27	53	47	4	3	39	Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
8	Montpellier	18	8	0	10	404	370	+34	40	38	2	4	38	Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
9	La Rochelle	18	8	0	10	403	458	−55	49	49	3	3	38	Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup
10	Pau	18	8	0	10	450	481	−31	48	61	3	3	38
11	Stade Français	18	7	0	11	399	499	−100	42	60	2	2	32
12	Racing 92	18	6	1	11	445	496	−51	50	56	0	5	31
13	Perpignan	18	6	1	11	299	422	−123	26	46	2	2	30	Qualification for relegation play-off
14	Vannes	18	6	0	12	463	605	−142	52	77	0	4	28	Relegation to Pro D2

Updated to match(es) played on 10 March 2025. Source: Top 14

Current squad

The Bayonne squad for the 2024–25 season is:^[1]^[2]

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

Player	Position	Union
Facundo Bosch	Hooker	Argentina
Vincent Giudicelli	Hooker	France
Torsten van Jaarsveld	Hooker	Namibia
Lucas Martin	Hooker	France
Andy Bordelai	Prop	France
Swan Cormenier	Prop	France
Pascal Cotet	Prop	France
Pieter Scholtz	Prop	South Africa
Luke Tagi	Prop	Fiji
Tevita Tatafu	Prop	France
Esteban Capilla	Lock	France
Denis Marchois	Lock	France
Alex Moon	Lock	England
Lucas Paulos	Lock	Argentina
Veikoso Poloniati	Lock	New Zealand
Rémi Bourdeau	Back row	France
Rodrigo Bruni	Back row	Argentina
Uzair Cassiem	Back row	South Africa
Baptiste Chouzenoux	Back row	France
Giovanni Habel-Küffner	Back row	Samoa
Baptiste Heguy	Back row	France
Arthur Iturria	Back row	France

Player	Position	Union
Baptiste Germain	Scrum-half	France
Maxime Machenaud	Scrum-half	France
Guillaume Rouet	Scrum-half	Spain
Camille Lopez	Fly-half	France
Joris Segonds	Fly-half	France
Eneriko Buliruarua	Centre	Fiji
Reece Hodge	Centre	Australia
Sireli Maqala	Centre	Fiji
Manu Tuilagi	Centre	England
Guillaume Martocq	Centre	France
Federico Mori	Centre	Italy
Aurélien Callandret	Wing	France
Mateo Carreras	Wing	Argentina
Arnaud Erbinartgaray	Wing	France
Nadir Megdoud	Wing	Algeria
Gaëtan Germain	Fullback	France
Tom Spring	Fullback	France
Cheikh Tiberghien	Fullback	France

Espoirs squad