Montpellier Hérault Rugby

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Montpellier Hérault Rugby
Logo Montpellier Hérault rugby 2013.svg
Full nameMontpellier Hérault Rugby
Nickname(s)Les Cistes (The Cistuses)
MHR
Founded1986; 35 years ago (1986)
LocationMontpellier, France
Ground(s)GGL Stadium (Capacity: 15,697)
PresidentMohed Altrad
Coach(es)Philippe Saint-André
Captain(s)Fulgence Ouedraogo
League(s)Top 14
2020–2110th
Team kit
2nd kit
3rd kit
Official website
www.montpellier-rugby.com

Montpellier Hérault Rugby (French pronunciation: ​[mɔ̃pɛlje eʁo ʁyɡbi klœb, -pəl-]; Occitan: Montpelhièr Erau Rugbi Club) is a French professional rugby union club, based in Montpellier, Occitanie and named after the Hérault river. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, the Top 14. They originally played at Stade Sabathé (capacity 5,000) but moved to the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, later known as Altrad Stadium, and since renamed the GGL Stadium, in 2007. They wear white and blue.

History[]

The club was established in 1986 through the merger of two other rugby union clubs, the Stade Montpelliérain and MUC Rugby.

In 1993 the club won the Challenge de l'Espérance.

In 2003 the club became the champion of France's second division national rugby league, the Pro D2. After finishing second in the league table at the end of the 2002–03 season, Montpellier advanced to the playoffs. They defeated Auch in the semi-finals and Tarbes in the finals to win promotion to the Top 14. The following season the club played for the European Shield, and contested the final. Played in May 2004, Montpellier defeated Italian club Viadana 25 points to 19 to win the Shield.

The club barely avoided relegation after the 2006–07 season. Winning only nine games during a twenty-six-game season, Montpellier found itself in a relegation position with only two games left to play. Thanks to a bonus-point victory in week 25, the team finished just four points ahead of Agen which was relegated to the Pro D2 at the end of the year.

After 2006–07, the club's fortunes began to improve. In June 2007, Fulgence Ouedraogo became the first Montpellier player to play on the French national rugby union team. That same summer the club's new stadium, the Stade Yves-du-Manoir (now GGL Stadium), opened. In 2007–08 Montpellier enjoyed its first winning season in the Top 14. The club made its next step up the table in 2010–11 when it unexpectedly finished sixth by a single point and made the Top 14 playoffs for the first time. The underdog squad defeated both Castres and Racing Métro to make the championship game where they were defeated 15–10 by Toulouse. Since that season, Montpellier has become a consistent playoff contender, finishing fifth in both 2011–12 and 2012–13 and second on the league table in 2013–14.

Thanks to the club's excellent 2010–11 showing, Montpellier was awarded its first spot in the Heineken Cup tournament for 2011–12. The club returned for the 2012–13 tournament and made the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Clermont. Montpellier returned for the final edition of the Heineken Cup in 2013–14, and are participating in the successor to the Heineken Cup, the European Rugby Champions Cup, in 2014–15.

From 2011 the club has been chaired and funded by Mohed Altrad.[1]

In late November 2019, Montpellier were beaten by Connacht in the opening game of the Champions Cup pool stages.[2]

Honours[]

  • Top 14
  • Rugby Pro D2
    • Champions: 2003
  • European Rugby Challenge Cup
  • European Shield:
    • Champions: 2004
  • Challenge de l'Espérance:
    • Champions: 1993

Finals results[]

Top 14[]

Date Winners Runners-up Score Venue Spectators
4 June 2011 Stade Toulousain Montpellier Hérault RC 15–10 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 77,000
2 June 2018 Castres Olympique Montpellier Hérault RC 29–13 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 79,441

European Shield[]

Date Winners Runners-up Score Venue Spectators
21 May 2004 Montpellier Hérault RC Viadana 25-19 Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma 2,553

European Challenge Cup[]

Date Winners Runners-up Score Venue Spectators
13 May 2016 Montpellier Hérault RC Harlequins 26-19 Grand Stade de Lyon, Lyon 28.556[3]
21 May 2021 Montpellier Hérault RC Leicester 18-17 Twickenham, London 10.000

Current standings[]

2020–21 Top 14 Table · · discuss
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff. Tries for Tries against Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Toulouse (C) 26 17 1 8 767 557 +210 92 53 8 3 81
2 La Rochelle (RU) 26 17 0 9 726 452 +274 79 41 6 4 78
3 Racing (SF) 26 17 0 9 757 577 +180 82 48 6 4 78
4 Bordeaux Bègles (SF) 26 15 1 10 740 546 +216 78 41 7 3 72
5 Clermont (QF) 26 15 1 10 830 619 +211 88 61 6 5 71
6 Stade Français (QF) 26 15 0 11 701 622 +79 69 63 6 6 70
7 Castres 26 15 1 10 625 676 −51 61 63 3 5 69
8 Toulon 26 14 0 13 641 605 +36 62 53 7 4 66
9 Lyon 26 14 1 11 678 568 +110 74 56 3 4 65
10 Montpellier 26 10 0 16 579 615 –36 51 58 6 9 54
11 Brive 26 11 0 15 585 711 −126 52 78 2 5 51
12 Pau 26 9 1 16 688 752 −64 65 76 3 10 46
13 Bayonne (R) 26 10 0 16 565 796 −231 48 94 1 5 46
14 Agen (R) 26 0 0 26 315 1101 −696 30 146 0 2 2

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 2021–22 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 (rows 7 and Montpellier) indicates teams outside the play-offs that also earn a place in the Champions Cup.
Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will qualify to the relegation play-offs.
Red background (row 14) will automatically be relegated to Rugby Pro D2.

Final table — source: [1]
Updated: 5 June 2021

Current squad[]

The Montpellier squad for the 2021–22 season is:[4]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Hooker France France
Guilhem Guirado Hooker France France
Jérémie Maurouard Hooker France France
Brandon Paenga-Amosa Hooker Australia Australia
Prop France France
Grégory Fichten Prop France France
Prop France France
Malik Hamadache Prop France France
Mohamed Haouas Prop France France
Titi Lamositele Prop United States United States
Mikheil Nariashvili Prop Georgia (country) Georgia
Henry Thomas Prop England England
Lock France France
Lock France France
Nico Janse van Rensburg Lock South Africa South Africa
Lock France France
Paul Willemse Lock France France
Back row France France
Yacouba Camara Back row France France
Martin Devergie Back row France France
Kélian Galletier Back row France France
Zach Mercer Back row England England
Fulgence Ouedraogo Back row France France
Marco Tauleigne Back row France France
Player Position Union
Gela Aprasidze Scrum-half Georgia (country) Georgia
Benoît Paillaugue Scrum-half France France
Cobus Reinach Scrum-half South Africa South Africa
Thomas Darmon Fly-half France France
Paolo Garbisi Fly-half Italy Italy
Handré Pollard Fly-half South Africa South Africa
Geoffrey Doumayrou Centre France France
Centre France France
Yvan Reilhac Centre France France
Jan Serfontein Centre South Africa South Africa
Arthur Vincent Centre France France
Masivesi Dakuwaqa Wing Fiji Fiji
Gabriel N'Gandebe Wing France France
Vincent Rattez Wing France France
Wing France France
Josua Vici Wing Fiji Fiji
Anthony Bouthier Fullback France France

Notable former players[]

See also[]

  • List of rugby union clubs in France
  • Rugby union in France

References[]

  1. ^ Savchuk, Katia (23 March 2015). "From Bedouin To Billionaire: Meet The Man Changing What It Means To Be French After Charlie Hebdo". Forbes. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Connacht stun Montpellier". 17 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Effectif". Montpellier Hérault Rugby (in French). Retrieved 7 September 2019.

External links[]

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