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Union | Fédération Française de Rugby | ||
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Founded | 1911 | ||
Location | Béziers, France | ||
Ground(s) | Stade Raoul-Barrière (Capacity: 18,555) | ||
President | Cédric Bistué | ||
Coach(es) | Manny Edmonds Christophe Hamacek | ||
League(s) | Pro D2 | ||
2023–24 | 3rd | ||
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Official website | |||
www |
Association Sportive Béziers Hérault (Occitan: Associacion Esportiva de Besièrs Erau), often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of Béziers, is a French rugby union club currently playing in the second level of the country's professional rugby system, Pro D2. They earned their most recent promotion as 2011 Fédérale 1 champions,[1] but the club also won 11 Top 14 titles since its establishment in 1911.
Béziers was a major force in French rugby throughout the 1970s and 1980s; however, at the end of 2004–05 season they were relegated to Pro D2. After some years playing in French second division, they finished bottom of the table in 2008–09 and were relegated to amateur Fédérale 1,[2] before returning to Pro D2 after their 2011 title. They are based in Béziers in Occitania, and play at Stade Raoul-Barrière (capacity 18,555). The club colors are red and blue.
History
[edit]The club was established in 1911. Their first notable honour was being runners-up in the Coupe de France. However it would not be until the 1960s when the club began its rise to prominence. Béziers made their first championship appearance in the 1960 season. On 22 May they faced FC Lourdes in the final, losing 14 points to 11 in Toulouse. Béziers found mixed success during the 1960s following their first championship loss to Lourdes. The next season they won their first championship, defeating US Dax 6 points to 3 in Lyon. They were also runners-up in the Challenge Yves du Manoir that season. They also contested the domestic championship in 1962, though they lost to SU Agen 14 to 11 in the final. Béziers performed well in the 1964 season as well; losing the championship final to Section Paloise, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir.
After the success during the early 1960s Béziers became a powerful club in the 1970s. In 1971 Béziers made it to the final of the domestic championship; defeating RC Toulon 15 points to 9 in Bordeaux. The following season Béziers captured the championship, defeating Brive 9 points to nil in Lyon, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well. The club won championships in 1974 and 1975, defeating RC Narbonne and Brive respectively, both times at Parc des Princes in Paris. They were also involved in the 1976 final, though they lost to Agen, 13 to 10. The following season they won the championship again, defeating Perpignan 12 to 4 in the final. They also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well.
The next season they successfully defended their domestic title; defeating ASM Clermont Auvergne 31 points to 9 in the championship game in Paris. They however did not win back-to-back Challenge Yves du Manoir titles; though they came close, being runners-up. The success continued in the early 1980s as well, winning the championship of the 1980 season, defeating Toulouse 10 to 6 in the final, as well as being Challenge Yves du Manoir runners-up that season. Béziers repeated this again the next season; actually defeating Toulouse in the championship final again, and were runners-up in the Challenge Yves du Manoir. They were champions again in 1983 and 1984, defeating RC Nice and Agen in the finals respectively. They also won the Coupe de France in the 1986 season.
Béziers returned to the professional ranks in 2011–12 following their 13–6 win over Périgueux in the 2011 Fédérale 1 final on June 26. Both finalists were assured of promotion to Pro D2.
They struggled in their return season in Pro D2, finishing next-to last on the league table and well out of the safety zone. However, when ninth-place Bourgoin were forcibly relegated to Fédérale 1 for financial reasons,[3] Béziers remained in Pro D2 for 2012–13.
Honours
[edit]- French championship Top 14
- Challenge Yves du Manoir
- Champions (4): 1964, 1972, 1975, 1977
- Runners-up (6): 1960, 1961, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1981
- French Cup
- Champions (1): 1986
- Runners-up (1): 1950
- Fédérale 1
- Champions: 2011
- Elite 2
- Champions: 2000
- coupe d'europe Fira
- Champions: 1962
Finals results
[edit]French championship
[edit]Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
22 May 1960 | FC Lourdes | 14–11 | AS Béziers | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | 37.200 |
28 May 1961 | AS Béziers | 6–3 | US Dax | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | 35.000 |
27 May 1962 | SU Agen | 14–11 | AS Béziers | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | 37.705 |
24 May 1964 | Section Paloise | 14–0 | AS Béziers | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | 27.797 |
16 May 1971 | AS Béziers | 15–9 AP | RC Toulon | Parc Lescure, Bordeaux | 27.737 |
21 May 1972 | AS Béziers | 9–0 | CA Brive | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | 31.161 |
12 May 1974 | AS Béziers | 16–14 | RC Narbonne | Parc des Princes, Paris | 40.609 |
18 May 1975 | AS Béziers | 13–12 | CA Brive | Parc des Princes, Paris | 39.991 |
23 May 1976 | SU Agen | 13–10 AP | AS Béziers | Parc des Princes, Paris | 40.300 |
29 May 1977 | AS Béziers | 12–4 | USA Perpignan | Parc des Princes, Paris | 41.821 |
28 May 1978 | AS Béziers | 31–9 | AS Montferrand | Parc des Princes, Paris | 42.004 |
25 May 1980 | AS Béziers | 10–6 | Stade Toulousain | Parc des Princes, Paris | 43.350 |
23 May 1981 | AS Béziers | 22–13 | Stade Bagnérais | Parc des Princes, Paris | 44.106 |
28 May 1983 | AS Béziers | 14–6 | RC Nice | Parc des Princes, Paris | 43.100 |
26 May 1984 | AS Béziers | 21–21 | SU Agen | Parc des Princes, Paris | 44.076 |
Challenge Yves du Manoir
[edit]Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up |
1960 | Stade Montois | 9–9 | AS Béziers |
1961 | Stade Montois | 17–8 | AS Béziers |
1964 | AS Béziers | 6–3 | Section Paloise |
1972 | AS Béziers | 27–6 | AS Montferrand |
1973 | RC Narbonne | 13–6 | AS Béziers |
1975 | AS Béziers | 16–12 | SU Agen |
1977 | AS Béziers | 19–18 | FC Lourdes |
1978 | RC Narbonne | 19–19 (more tries scored) |
AS Béziers |
1980 | Aviron Bayonnais | 16–10 | AS Béziers |
1981 | FC Lourdes | 25–13 | AS Béziers |
French Cup
[edit]Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up |
1950 | FC Lourdes | 16–3 | AS Béziers |
1986 | AS Béziers | 40–9 | Stade Aurillacois |
Current standings
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | Provence | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 803 | 632 | +171 | 8 | 3 | 95 | Semi-final promotion playoff place |
2 | Vannes | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 777 | 508 | +269 | 10 | 7 | 89 | |
3 | Béziers | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 789 | 715 | +74 | 6 | 4 | 80 | Quarter-final promotion playoff place |
4 | Grenoble | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 826 | 694 | +132 | 8 | 3 | 79[a] | |
5 | Dax | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 626 | 683 | −57 | 5 | 2 | 77 | |
6 | Brive | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 689 | 583 | +106 | 8 | 2 | 76 | |
7 | Nevers | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 682 | 610 | +72 | 6 | 9 | 75 | |
8 | Mont-de-Marsan | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 766 | 641 | +125 | 5 | 7 | 74 | |
9 | Aurillac | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 593 | 764 | −171 | 3 | 3 | 64 | |
10 | Colomiers | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 661 | 657 | +4 | 4 | 6 | 64 | |
11 | Valence Romans | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 623 | 640 | −17 | 5 | 5 | 62 | |
12 | Soyaux Angoulême | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 563 | 616 | −53 | 0 | 6 | 62 | |
13 | Agen | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 597 | 732 | −135 | 2 | 5 | 61 | |
14 | Biarritz | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 618 | 811 | −193 | 4 | 5 | 53 | |
15 | Montauban | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 577 | 755 | −178 | 2 | 5 | 51 | Relegation play-off |
16 | Rouen | 30 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 604 | 753 | −149 | 5 | 5 | 48 | Relegation to Nationale |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
- Points difference in head-to-head matches
- Try differential in head-to-head matches
- Points difference in all matches
- Try differential in all matches
- Points scored in all matches
- Tries scored in all matches
- Fewer matches forfeited
- Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Notes:
- ^ Following the decisions rendered by the Appeal Commission on July 6, 2023 and December 14, 2023 by the Disciplinary Council, a withdrawal of 12 points applies for FC Grenoble Rugby.The total sanction was reduced on appeal on 31 January 2024, recovering four points in the ranking.
Current squad
[edit]The Béziers squad for the 2023–24 season is:[4][5]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Espoirs squad
[edit]Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
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Notable former players
[edit]Santiago González Bonorino
Federico Todeschini
Gonzalo Quesada
Santiago Iglesias Valdez
Matias Viazzo
Rodney Iona
Jye Mullane
Josh Valentine
Warwick Waugh
Tyrone Viiga
Anthony Hill
Marc Andrieu
Richard Astre
Yoan Audrin
Marc Baget
David Banquet
Raoul Barrière
Lionel Beauxis
Pierre Bérard
Mohamed Boughanmi
Terry Bouhraoua
André Buonomo
Yvan Buonomo
Adolphe Bousquet
Sébastien Bruno
Henri Cabrol
Didier Camberabero
Gilles Camberabero
Jack Cantoni
Alain Carminati
Romain Carmignani
Richard Castel
Frédéric Cermeno
Olivier Chaplain
Arnaud Costes
Pierre Danos
Paul Dedieu
Cédric Desbrosse
Benjamin Desroches
Michel Dieudé
Richard Dourthe
Jean-Frédéric Dubois
Nicolas Durand
Philippe Escande
Alain Estève
Michel Fabre
Patrick Fort
Philippe Gallart
Camille Gérondeau
Kevin Gimeno
Jean-Philippe Grandclaude
Steven Hall
Jean-Pierre Hortoland
Alain Hyardet
Pierre Lacans
Thibault Lacroix
Julien Laharrague
Félix Lambey
Brice Mach
Rémy Martin
Jean-Paul Medina
Alexandre Menini
Ludovic Mercier
Pierre Mignoni
Brice Miguel
Hakim Miloudi
Yannick Nyanga
Alain Paco
Michel Palmié
Jean-Pierre Pesteil
Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet
Jérôme Porical
Thibaut Privat
Jean-Luc Rivallo
Olivier Saïsset
Claude Saurel
Jean Sébédio
Cédric Soulette
Dimitri Szarzewski
Armand Vaquerin
Vasil Katsadze
Davit Khinchagishvili
Irakli Machkhaneli
Lasha Malaghuradze
Lasha Lomidze
Goderdzi Shvelidze
Jamie Hagan
Conrad Marais
Andrew Mehrtens
Lachie Munro
Elijah Niko
Alin Petrache
Cristian Petre
Augustin Petrechei
Lucian Sîrbu
Steve Fualau
Robert Ebersohn
Dries Swanepoel
Álvar Gimeno
Suka Hufanga
Winston Mafi
Samiu Vahafolau
Salesi Sika
Seta Tuilevuka
Albert Tuipulotu
Andy Powell
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Béziers sacré champion". L'Équipe (in French). 2011-06-26. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- ^ "Rugby - Fiche equipe Béziers - Calendrier - It's rugby".
- ^ Moriarty, Ian (9 August 2012). "Bourgoin wilt under financial pressure". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- ^ "Effectif Pro". Association Sportive Béziers Hérault. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Béziers squad for season 2023/2024". All Rugby. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
External links
[edit]- (in French) AS Béziers Hérault Official website