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Aviron Bayonnais

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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 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
Updated to match(es) played on 17 May 2026. Source: Top 14
Notes:
  1. ↑ Toulouse received a two-point deduction due to irregularities around the transfer of their former player Melvyn Jaminet[1]

Current squad

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The Bayonne squad for the 2025–26 season is:[2][3]

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: [2]

Espoirs squad

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Aviron Bayonnais 2025–26 Espoirs squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Back row

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wings

Fullbacks

(c) denotes the team captain.
Bold denotes internationally capped players.
Source: [2]

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. ↑ "Toulouse rocked by points deduction over Melvyn Jaminet transfer saga". Planet Rugby. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "L'équipe pour la saison 2024-2025 - l'Aviron Bayonnais Rugby Pro". www.abrugby.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  3. ↑ "Bayonne squad for season 2025/2026". all.rugby. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
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