AS Béziers Hérault

Béziers
	Pro D2
2022–23	9th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.asbh.net

Association Sportive Béziers Hérault (

Pro D2. They earned their most recent promotion as 2011 Fédérale 1 champions,^[1] but the club also won 11 Top 14

titles since its establishment in 1911.

Béziers was a major force in French rugby throughout the 1970s and 1980s; however, at the end of 2004–05 season they were relegated to Pro D2. After some years playing in French second division, they finished bottom of the table in 2008–09 and were relegated to amateur Fédérale 1,^[2] before returning to Pro D2 after their 2011 title. They are based in Béziers in Occitania, and play at Stade Raoul-Barrière (capacity 18,555). The club colors are red and blue.

History

The club was established in 1911. Their first notable honour was being runners-up in the

SU Agen 14 to 11 in the final. Béziers performed well in the 1964 season as well; losing the championship final to Section Paloise

, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir.

After the success during the early 1960s Béziers became a powerful club in the 1970s. In 1971 Béziers made it to the final of the domestic championship; defeating RC Toulon 15 points to 9 in Bordeaux. The following season Béziers captured the championship, defeating Brive 9 points to nil in Lyon, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well. The club won championships in 1974 and 1975, defeating RC Narbonne and Brive respectively, both times at Parc des Princes in Paris. They were also involved in the 1976 final, though they lost to Agen, 13 to 10. The following season they won the championship again, defeating Perpignan 12 to 4 in the final. They also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well.

The next season they successfully defended their domestic title; defeating

RC Nice and Agen in the finals respectively. They also won the Coupe de France

in the 1986 season.

Béziers returned to the professional ranks in 2011–12 following their 13–6 win over Périgueux in the 2011 Fédérale 1 final on June 26. Both finalists were assured of promotion to Pro D2.

They struggled in their return season in Pro D2, finishing next-to last on the league table and well out of the safety zone. However, when ninth-place Bourgoin were forcibly relegated to Fédérale 1 for financial reasons,^[3] Béziers remained in Pro D2 for 2012–13.

Honours

French championship:
- Champions: 1961, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984
- Runners-up: 1960, 1962, 1964, 1976
Challenge Yves du Manoir
- Champions: 1964, 1972, 1977
- Runners-up: 1961, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1981
Coupe de France
- Champions: 1986
- Runners-up: 1950
Fédérale 1
- Champions: 2011
Elite 2
- Champions: 2000
coupe d'europe Fira
- Champions: 1962

Finals results

French championship

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Venue	Spectators
22 May 1960	FC Lourdes	AS Béziers	14–11	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	37.200
28 May 1961	AS Béziers	US Dax	6–3	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	35.000
27 May 1962	SU Agen	AS Béziers	14–11	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	37.705
24 May 1964	Section Paloise	AS Béziers	14–0	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	27.797
16 May 1971	AS Béziers	RC Toulon	15–9 AP	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	27.737
21 May 1972	AS Béziers	CA Brive	9–0	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31.161
12 May 1974	AS Béziers	RC Narbonne	16–14	Parc des Princes, Paris	40.609
18 May 1975	AS Béziers	CA Brive	13–12	Parc des Princes, Paris	39.991
23 May 1976	SU Agen	AS Béziers	13–10 AP	Parc des Princes, Paris	40.300
29 May 1977	AS Béziers	USA Perpignan	12–4	Parc des Princes, Paris	41.821
28 May 1978	AS Béziers	AS Montferrand	31–9	Parc des Princes, Paris	42.004
25 May 1980	AS Béziers	Stade Toulousain	10–6	Parc des Princes, Paris	43.350
23 May 1981	AS Béziers	Stade Bagnérais	22–13	Parc des Princes, Paris	44.106
28 May 1983	AS Béziers	RC Nice	14–6	Parc des Princes, Paris	43.100
26 May 1984	AS Béziers	SU Agen	21–21	Parc des Princes, Paris	44.076

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1961	Stade Montois	17–8	AS Béziers
1964	AS Béziers	6–3	Section Paloise
1972	AS Béziers	27–6	AS Montferrand
1973	RC Narbonne	13–6	AS Béziers
1977	AS Béziers	19–18	FC Lourdes
1978	RC Narbonne	19–19 (more tries scored)	AS Béziers
1980	Aviron Bayonnais	16–10	AS Béziers
1981	FC Lourdes	25–13	AS Béziers

Coupe de France

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1950	FC Lourdes	16–3	AS Béziers
1986	AS Béziers	40–9	Stade Aurillacois

Trophée Jean-Prat (Fédérale 1)

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Spectators
26 June 2011	AS Béziers	13–6	CA Périgueux	Stade Sapiac, Montauban

Current standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	B	Pts
1	Oyonnax (C, P)	30	23	1	6	904	457	+447	17	111	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Grenoble	30	19	3	8	672	588	+84	8	87^[a]	Semi-final promotion playoff place
3	Mont-de-Marsan	30	19	0	11	764	649	+115	10	86	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Nevers	30	17	3	10	718	551	+167	11	85
5	Vannes	30	17	1	12	718	633	+85	11	81
6	Agen	30	15	1	14	653	583	+70	15	77
7	Colomiers	30	15	0	15	674	678	−4	10	70
8	Provence	30	13	4	13	652	638	+14	9	69
9	Béziers	30	13	1	16	700	716	−16	11	65
10	Aurillac	30	15	0	15	586	706	−120	5	65
11	Biarritz	30	12	2	16	690	699	−9	8	60
12	Rouen	30	12	2	16	594	767	−173	6	58
13	Montauban	30	12	1	17	678	784	−106	6	54^[a]
14	Soyaux Angoulême	30	11	0	19	569	697	−128	8	52
15	Carcassonne (R)	30	10	1	19	553	677	−124	10	52	Relegation to Nationale
16	Massy (R)	30	7	0	23	499	801	−302	5	33	Relegation to Nationale

Source: Pro D2
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Grenoble were penalised three competition points, and Montauban were penalised two, for financial and administrative issues that made the clubs "non-compliant with the regulatory provisions and decisions of the CCCP".^[4]^[5]

Current squad

The Béziers squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[6]

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

Player	Position	Union
Wilmar Arnoldi	Hooker	South Africa
Yanis Boulassel	Hooker	France
Yvann Lalevee	Hooker	France
José Luis González	Hooker	Argentina
Giorgi Akhaladze	Prop	Georgia
Youssef Amrouni	Prop	France
Francisco Fernandes	Prop	Portugal
John-Hubert Meyer	Prop	South Africa
Luka Tchelidze	Prop	Georgia
Jon Zabala	Prop	Spain
Gillian Benoy	Lock	Belgium
Clement Bitz	Lock	France
Pierre Gayraud	Lock	France
Petero Mailulu	Lock	Fiji
John Madigan	Lock	Ireland
Hans N'Kinsi	Lock	France
Clément Ancely	Back row	France
Steyl Barnard	Back row	South Africa
Pierrick Gunther	Back row	France
Thomas Hoarau	Back row	France
Maxence Lemardelet	Back row	France
Apisalome Kuruisaqila	Back row	Fiji
Sias Koen	Back row	South Africa
Otunuku Panta	Back row	Tonga
William Van Bost	Back row	Belgium

Player	Position	Union
Jean-Victor Goillot	Scrum-half	France
Samuel Marques	Scrum-half	Portugal
Mitch Short	Scrum-half	Australia
Victor Dreuille	Fly-half	France
Harry Glynn	Fly-half	England
Romain Uruty	Fly-half	France
Maxime Espeut	Centre	France
Branden Holder	Centre	South Africa
Paul Reau	Centre	France
Paul Recor	Centre	France
James Tofa	Centre	New Zealand
Taleta Tupuola	Centre	New Zealand
Paul Alquier	Wing	France
Raffaele Storti	Wing	Portugal
Pierre Courtaud	Wing	France
Nicolas Plazy	Wing	France
Watisoni Votu	Wing	Fiji
Gabin Lorre	Fullback	France
Charly Malie	Fullback	France
Tim Nanai-Williams	Fullback	Samoa

Espoirs squad