Stade Rochelais
French rugby union club, based in La Rochelle
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Stade Rochelais (French pronunciation: [stad ʁɔʃlɛ]), commonly called La Rochelle, is a French professional rugby union club based in La Rochelle, France that competes in the Top 14. Founded in 1898 and wearing yellow and black, the club's first-team plays its home matches at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
Les Jaune et Noir (The Yellow and Blacks)
Les Bagnards (The Convicts)
| ||||
| Full name | Stade Rochelais | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Les Maritimes (The Seaborn Men) Les Jaune et Noir (The Yellow and Blacks) Les Bagnards (The Convicts) | |||
| Founded | 1898 | |||
| Location | La Rochelle, France | |||
| Ground | Stade Marcel-Deflandre (Capacity: 16,700) | |||
| Chairman | Vincent Merling | |||
| Coach | Ronan O'Gara | |||
| Captain(s) | Grégory Alldritt Uini Atonio | |||
| League | Top 14 | |||
| 2024–25 | 7th | |||
| ||||
| Official website | ||||
| www | ||||
Alongside other French club Brive, La Rochelle is one of only two clubs that won the European Rugby Champions Cup (twice in its case; beating Leinster in both 2022 and 2023 finals) without succeeding in winning its domestic championship losing on both occasions against Toulouse in the final: the first time in 2021 and the second in 2023. Owned by several shareholders, including club president and coffee magnate Vincent Merling, the club is renowned for the fervour of its supporters and its continual sold-out home matches.
History
Originally formed in 1898, Stade Rochelais won three regional Atlantic championships in the early part of the 20th century, qualifying them for the French Championship, where they reached the quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals once.[1] The popularity of rugby league in the area lessened the number of available players, and in 1935 Stade Rochelais merged with neighbours Union Sportive Rochelaise.[1]
Occupation of La Rochelle by troops from Nazi Germany, accompanied by a banning of rugby league by the Vichy Government, forced the city's rugby league club La Rochelle-Etudiants XIII to also be merged into Stade Rochelais in 1941.[1] This was overseen by club President Marcel Deflandre, who was later executed for his role as part of the French Resistance - the club's stadium is named Stade Marcel-Deflandre in his honour.[1]
The club formed a school for training players and coaches in the 1950s, resulting in them reaching the French Championship quarter-finals three times in the 1960s.[1] They were relegated in 1985, returning in 1997.[1] They were again relegated in 2002, though they won the Challenge Yves du Manoir that same year.[1] They retained the Challenge title the following year but were not promoted again until 2010.[1] They spent one season in Top 16 before being relegated again.[1]
Les Maritimes came third in the 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season and were promoting after beating Agen in the play-off final.
In May 2022, they won both their first ever trophy and first ever Champions Cup defeating Leinster 24–21 at the Stade Vélodrome.[2]
In May 2023, they retained the Champions Cup again defeating Leinster this time 27–26 at the Aviva Stadium.[3]
Honours
- European Rugby Champions Cup
- French championship Top 14
- European Rugby Challenge Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2019
- League Cup
- Champions (2): 2002, 2003
Finals results
French Championship
| Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June 2021 | Stade Toulousain | 18–8 | Stade Rochelais | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 14,000 |
| 17 June 2023 | Stade Toulousain | 29–26 | Stade Rochelais | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 79,804 |
European Rugby Champions Cup
| Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 May 2021 |  Stade Toulousain |
22–17 | Stade Rochelais |
Twickenham Stadium, London | 10,000 |
| 28 May 2022 | Stade Rochelais |
24–21 |  Leinster |
Orange Vélodrome, Marseille | 59,682 |
| 20 May 2023 | Stade Rochelais |
27–26 | Leinster |
Aviva Stadium, Dublin | 51,711 |
European Rugby Challenge Cup
| Date | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 May 2019 | ASM Clermont |
36–16 | Stade Rochelais |
St James' Park, Newcastle | 28,438 |
Current standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toulouse | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 981 | 617 | +364 | 134 | 73 | 13 | 3 | 86[a] | Qualification for playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup |
| 2 | Montpellier | 26 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 824 | 587 | +237 | 101 | 69 | 8 | 4 | 82 | |
| 3 | Stade Français | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 869 | 664 | +205 | 113 | 83 | 11 | 6 | 79 | Qualification for playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup |
| 4 | Pau | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 817 | 665 | +152 | 98 | 82 | 7 | 3 | 78 | |
| 5 | Racing 92 | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 828 | 723 | +105 | 101 | 91 | 6 | 2 | 74 | |
| 6 | La Rochelle | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 824 | 634 | +190 | 106 | 73 | 8 | 4 | 72 | |
| 7 | Clermont | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 812 | 708 | +104 | 103 | 87 | 8 | 3 | 71 | Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup |
| 8 | Bordeaux Bègles | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 822 | 719 | +103 | 113 | 90 | 8 | 6 | 70 | |
| 9 | Toulon | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 714 | 820 | −106 | 96 | 103 | 8 | 1 | 59 | Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup |
| 10 | Castres | 26 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 660 | 751 | −91 | 81 | 96 | 3 | 8 | 55 | |
| 11 | Lyon | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 734 | 774 | −40 | 92 | 101 | 3 | 3 | 52 | |
| 12 | Bayonne | 26 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 747 | 869 | −122 | 94 | 113 | 4 | 3 | 51 | |
| 13 | Perpignan | 26 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 550 | 797 | −247 | 64 | 99 | 1 | 4 | 29 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 14 | Montauban | 26 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 495 | 1349 | −854 | 61 | 197 | 0 | 1 | 7 | Relegation to Pro D2 |
Notes:
- Toulouse received a two-point deduction due to irregularities around the transfer of their former player Melvyn Jaminet[4]
Current squad
The La Rochelle squad for the 2025–26 season is:[5][6]
| La Rochelle 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. |
Espoirs squad
| La Rochelle 2025–26 Espoirs squad | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Props
Hookers
Locks
|
Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
|
Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
|
Notable former players
Facundo Bosch- Ramiro Herrera
- Germán Llanes
- Federico Todeschini
Zack Holmes- Brock James
- Ryan Lamb
- Lopeti Timani
Julien Berger
Jason Marshall
Lesley Vainikolo
Sireli Bobo- Eneriko Buliruarua
- Norman Ligairi
- Kini Murimurivalu
- Jone Qovu
- Seru Rabeni
- Alipate Ratini
- Savenaca Rawaca
- Albert Vulivuli
Marc Andreu- Julien Audy
- Alexi Balès
- Jean-Pascal Barraque
- Steeve Barry
- Pierre Bérard
- Mohamed Boughanmi
- Benoît Bourrust
- Damien Cler
- Thomas Combezou
- Manoël Dall'igna
- Benjamin Dambielle
- Vincent Debaty
- Yacine Dekkiche
- William Demotte
- Geoffrey Doumayrou
- Luc Ducalcon
- Arnaud Élissalde
- Jean-Baptiste Élissalde
- Jean-Pierre Élissalde
- Sébastien Fauqué
- Lionel Faure
- Romain Frou
- Loann Goujon
- Jean-Philippe Grandclaude
- Gabriel Lacroix
- Damien Lagrange
- Grégory Lamboley
- Benjamin Lapeyre
- Benoit Lecouls
- Henri Magois
- Gérald Merceron
- Jean Pambrun
- Vincent Pelo
- Julien Pierre
- Jules Plisson
- Dany Priso
- Vincent Rattez
- Arthur Retière
- David Roumieu
- Christophe Samson
- Laurent Simutoga
- Jérémy Sinzelle
- Rémi Talès
Jean-Teiva Jacquelain
Gagi Bazadze- Guram Papidze
Robert Mohr
Gonzalo Canale- Pietro Ceccarelli
- Leandro Cedaro
Jason Eaton- Hamish Gard
- Romana Graham
- David Raikuna
- Rene Ranger
- Victor Vito
- Ihaia West
Petrișor Toderașc
Alofa Alofa- Piula Faʻasalele
- Tamato Leupolu
Ricky Januarie- Paul Jordaan
Arnaud, then his son Jean-Pierre and his grandson Jean-Baptiste all played for La Rochelle as scrum-halves.
Coaches
Well known former coaches include
- Arnaud Élissalde
- Jean-Pierre Élissalde
- Patrice Collazo
- Xavier Garbajosa
- Ronan O'Gara
The club only had five head coaches from 1992 to 2025 including Ronan O'Gara since 2019.[7][8]
Leadership and management
Vincent Merling, president as of 2017, had guided the club for 25 years. He was the driving force behind the "Grow Together" campaign launched in 2015 that persuaded 500 local businesses to support/sponsor the club.[7]