CA Brive
Full nameClub Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin
Nickname(s)Les Coujous
Les Gaillards (The Strapping Lads)
Les Noir et Blanc (The Black and Whites)
Les Zèbres (The Zebras)
Founded1910 (1910)
LocationBrive-la-Gaillarde, France
Ground(s)Stade Amédée-Domenech (Capacity: 14,759)
PresidentSimon Gillham
Coach(es)Patrice Collazo
Captain(s)Saïd Hireche
Most appearancesFrance Jean-Claude Roques (373)
Top scorerFrance Jean-François Thiot (1796)
Most triesFrance Jean-Pierre Puidebois (115)
League(s)Top 14
2022–2314th (relegated)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.cabrive-rugby.com

Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive (French pronunciation: [bʁiv]) or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department.

Brive is a historical member of French rugby union, being one of the clubs that spent the most seasons in the top French domestic competition. "Les Coujous" also won the Heineken Cup in 1997, defeating Leicester Tigers in the final in a 28-9 win.

Many great players, both French and foreign, played for the club currently headed by Simon Gillham, and the youth academy has a good reputation. Brive players who also on to play for France include: Amédée Domenech, nicknamed "Le Duc" ("The Duke") who played there in the 1950s and 60s, and gave his name to the stadium after his death in 2003; prolific flanker Olivier Magne, fly-halves Christophe Lamaison and Alain Penaud, number-eight Jean-Luc Joinel and hooker Michel Yachvili, the father of Dimitri Yachvili, also wore the black and white jersey.

Their home ground is the 14,759-capacity Stade Amédée-Domenech and the club colours are black and white.

History

The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on 12 October 1912. Before the Second World War, Brive changed from rugby union to rugby league but returned to union after the war.

It played regularly in the First Division, and established itself as the stronghold of rugby in Limousin but for many years its only title was a Second Division trophy won in 1957. Brive did not make it to the final of the First Division championship until 1965. On 23 May that year they met SU Agen at Stade de Gerland in Lyon only to lose 15–8. Brive next made it to the final in the 1972 season, where they faced AS Béziers on 21 May in Lyon again, and again the Black and White came out the losers, as Béziers won their second consecutive title (9–0). Brive met AS Béziers in the final again three season later, in 1975. By then, Béziers had become the unbeatable team of the decade, and they won their fifth title, this time by just one point (13–12), at Parc des Princes in Paris.

Brive experienced a resurgence in the middle of the 1990s, first in 1996, when they made their first finals appearance since the mid-1970s in Paris. Brive however went down 20–13 to Stade Toulousain. It was their fourth losing final. Only one club have lost more finals without winning one than them (US Dax, on five). That year however, they won the Challenge Yves du Manoir, defeating Pau 12–6. The following season, they made it to the final of the Heineken Cup where they faced the Leicester Tigers from England at Cardiff Arms Park. Brive finally won a final, defeating the Tigers 28–9.[1] They are the only club to win the European Cup without ever winning their domestic championship.

On 22 February 1997, Brive, as European champions, were pitted against Auckland Blues who had recently won the Super 12. The French team were no competition to an extra powerful Kiwi side which won easily 47–11.[2] In 1998 Brive again reached the final of the Heineken Cup, this time against Bath. They came close to capturing back-to-back titles, losing by just one point, 19–18 at Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.

Since then, however, the club has been in dire straits, as it was subjected to a punitive relegation to the second division in 2000 due to bad financial management. They bounced back two years later but have struggled ever since in the lower echelons of the league table, except in 2004 when they managed to qualify for the playoffs. In 2005, Brive went to the semi-finals of European Challenge Cup, but they lost to Pau. In 2009, after taking the sixth place of the Championship, the Black and White could participate in the Heineken Cup, but the competition was difficult for them, against the Europeans champions Leinster, Llanelli Scarlets and London Irish.

After difficulties and a relegation to the second division in 2012, Brive returned to the Top 14 the following year, after defeating Pau.[3]

Honours

Finals results

Heineken Cup

Date Winner Runner-up Score Stadium Attendance
25 January 1997 Brive Leicester Tigers 28–9 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 41,664
31 January 1998 Bath Brive 19–18 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 36,500

French Rugby Union Championship

Date Winner Runner-up Score Stadium Attendance
23 May 1965 Agen Brive 15–8 Stade de Gerland, Lyon 28,758
21 May 1972 Béziers Brive 9–0 Stade de Gerland, Lyon 31,161
18 May 1975 Béziers Brive 13–12 Parc des Princes, Paris 39,991
1 June 1996 Toulouse Brive 20–13 Parc des Princes, Paris 48,162

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Date Winner Runner-up Score Stadium Attendance
8 June 1963 Agen Brive 11–0 Parc des Princes, Paris N/A
18 May 1974 Narbonne Brive 19–10 Stade Yves du Manoir, Colombes 15,000
27 January 1996 Brive Pau 12–6 Stade Charléty, Paris 13,000

Coupe de France

Date Winner Runner-up Score Stadium Attendance
1 June 2000 Biarritz Brive 24–13 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 17,500

Current standings

2022–23 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff. Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Toulouse (CH)261718682474+2088381
2La Rochelle (RU)261709673479+1947378
3Lyon (QF)2614111688626+624567
4Stade Français (QF)2613211616480+1365667
5Racing (SF)2614111734684+505366
6Bordeaux Bègles (SF)2613112576501+754563
7Toulon2614012588557+313261
8Bayonne2613112596662–662258
9Castres2613112532635–1031257
10Clermont2611114588635–394656
11Montpellier2611015624617+74654
12Pau2610115591634–436452
13Perpignan2610016503724–2210343
14Brive (R)267019440731–2911736

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
  2. Points difference in head-to-head matches
  3. Try differential in head-to-head matches
  4. Points difference in all matches
  5. Try differential in all matches
  6. Points scored in all matches
  7. Tries scored in all matches
  8. Fewer matches forfeited
  9. Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup.
Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup.
Yellow background (row 7 and 8) receive berths in the Champions Cup.
Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2023–24 Top 14 season.
Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Final table

Current squad

First Team squad

The Brive squad for the 2023–24 season
Props

Hookers

Locks

Backrow

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

Fullback

(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players.

* denotes players qualified to play for France on residency or dual nationality. ST denotes a short-term signing. Players and their allocated positions from the Brive Rugby website.[4]

    Espoirs squad

    The Brive Espies squad for the 2023–24 season
    Props
    • France Yann Lagane
    • Fiji Daniel Fereti
    • France Aymeric Lager
    • France Pierre-Chanel Tafili

    Hookers

    • France Grégan Fonteille
    • France Quentin Algay

    Locks

    • Fiji Joeli Matalaweru
    • France Thomas Seguy
    Backrow
    • Fiji Max Lestro
    • France Benjamin LeFranc
    • France Loan Lavergne
    • France David Geneste
    • Netherlands Teun Karst
    • France Geoffrey Malaterre

    Scrum-halves

    Fly-halves

    • France Tanguy Lacoste
    • France Tom Raffy
    • France Luka Keletaona
    Centre
    • Netherlands Kaj Verhoorn
    • Georgia (country) Georges Shvelidze
    • France Maxence Biasotto
    • France Maxime Claux
    • France Bastien Masse

    Wingers

    • Spain Jeremy Trevithick
    • France Eliot Marquis
    • Haiti Kévin Febien

    Fullback

    • South Africa Nic Krone
    • England Lewis Noon
    (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players.

    * denotes players qualified to play for France on residency or dual nationality. ST denotes a short-term signing. Players and their allocated positions from the Brive Rugby website.[4]

      Notable former players

      The following are players who have represented their country, players who have won a title with the club, players who have played a sufficient number of games to go down in the club history or players who came from the academy and have made a significant career in another team:

      See also

      References

      1. Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-7732-X.
      2. Pope, Bruce (23 February 1997). "Brive out with the washing". The Independent. London: INM. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
      3. Imakhoukhene, Hamid (19 May 2013). "Brive ne l'a pas volée". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2014.
      4. 1 2 "Effectif". CA BRIVE RUGBY SITE OFFICIEL (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-26.
      This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.