Stade Rochelais

For the basketball club, see Stade Rochelais Basket.

Stade Rochelais
Full nameStade Rochelais
Nickname(s)Les Maritimes (The Seaborn Men)
Les Jaune et Noir (The Yellow and Blacks)
Les Bagnards (The Convicts)
Founded1898 (1898)
LocationLa Rochelle, France
GroundStade Marcel-Deflandre (Capacity: 16,700)
ChairmanVincent Merling
CoachRonan O'Gara
Captain(s)Grégory Alldritt
Uini Atonio
LeagueTop 14
2024–257th
1st kit
2nd kit
3rd kit
Official website
www.staderochelais.com

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.

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

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

2025–26 Top 14 Table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Toulouse 17 13 0 4 662 352 +310 90 40 10 2 62 Qualification for playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup
2 Pau 16 11 0 5 495 420 +75 61 53 5 2 51
3 Bordeaux Bègles 17 10 0 7 574 444 +130 81 56 7 3 50 Qualification for playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup
4 Montpellier 17 9 1 7 520 373 +147 64 42 6 4 48
5 Clermont 17 10 0 7 558 452 +106 72 56 5 1 46
6 Racing 92 17 10 1 6 497 517 −20 58 66 2 1 45
7 Stade Français 17 8 1 8 471 427 +44 58 55 5 5 44 Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
8 Toulon 17 9 0 8 452 523 −71 61 63 6 1 43
9 Castres 17 9 0 8 405 470 −65 47 59 1 4 41 Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup
10 La Rochelle 17 7 0 10 520 461 +59 68 56 5 4 37
11 Lyon 17 8 0 9 508 489 +19 64 64 3 2 37
12 Bayonne 17 8 0 9 452 557 −105 51 71 2 2 36
13 Perpignan 16 3 0 13 283 445 −162 31 51 1 1 14 Qualification for relegation play-off
14 Montauban 17 1 1 15 325 792 −467 39 113 0 1 7 Relegation to Pro D2
Updated to match(es) played on 15 February 2026. Source: Top 14


Current squad

For player movements before or during the 2025–26 season, see List of 2025–26 Top 14 transfers § La Rochelle.

The La Rochelle squad for the 2025–26 season is:[4][5]

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.
Source: [4]

Emerging (Espoirs) squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Romain Albinet Hooker France
Gabin Garault Hooker France
Mathis Clavier Prop France
Upaleto Feao Prop Tonga
Gael Galvan Prop Argentina
Sio Kite Prop Australia
Maxence Ligeron-Borg Prop France
Christian Luaki Prop France
Toine Obuang Nguema Prop Netherlands
Kirill Fraindt Lock Russia
Robin Garnier Lock France
Simon Huchet Lock France
Charles Kante-Samba Lock France
Ybann Padonou Lock France
Lucas Andjisseramatchi Back row France
Oscar Boutez Back row France
Hugo Marchais Back row France
Edouard Richer Back row France
Player Position Union
Temanatua Boichot Scrum-half France
Nolhann Couillaud Scrum-half France
Diego Jurd Fly-half France
Simeli Daunivucu Centre Fiji
Pierre Berthelot Wing France
Hugo Bizotto Wing France
Nathan Bollengier Wing France
Jurgen Kamamoto Wing Tonga
Peni Torau Vuetimaiwai Wing Fiji
Martin Betsen Fullback France
Maxime Thomas Fullback France

Notable former players

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

The club only had five head coaches from 1992 to 2025 including Ronan O'Gara since 2019.[6][7]

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.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Local club La Rochelle now pressing claims at Europe's top table". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  2. ^ Kitson, Robert (28 May 2022). "This article is more than 2 years old La Rochelle stun Leinster with late try to win Champions Cup for first time". The Observer. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. ^ Gault, Matt (20 May 2023). "Champions Cup: Leinster 26-27 La Rochelle - French side edge thriller". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Effectif" (in French). Stade Rochelais. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  5. ^ "La Rochelle squad for season 2025/2026". All Rugby. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Europe's team of the season are coming to Murrayfield". www.scotsman.com. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  7. ^ Farrell, Sean (12 June 2019). "Ronan O'Gara returning to Top 14 as head coach with La Rochelle". Retrieved 1 November 2024.
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