Stade Toulousain

Since its creation in 1907, Stade Toulousain drew on the past of the city. The design of Stade Toulousain's crest refers to the initials of Thomas Aquinas (transl. Saint Thomas in French ; S and T, same as the club's name) whose bones rest in the Church of the Jacobins, in Toulouse. The interlaced letters came from a famous tiled floor of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, where the relics were temporarily moved for almost two centuries after the French Revolution.^[1] The historical colours, red and black, are rooted in the ceremonial costume of the capitouls of Toulouse. A municipal body created in 1147, the capitouls were until the French Revolution the consuls of the city. Their traditional costume was red and black (with white bands), as shown in the oldest portraits dating from the 14th century.^[2]

Early years

Stade Toulousain played its first final of the national title French Championship in 1909 and lost it to Stade Bordelais Université Club (17–0) in Toulouse. In 1912 Stade Toulousain won its first national title. It had to wait until 1922 before it won its second. However the 1920s were a golden era for the club. Their first final action in the 1920s was in 1921, when they were defeated by USA Perpignan. Despite losing in 1921, the side went on to win the 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1927 championships.

1930s to 1950s

The following decades were relatively quiet after such a dominant era during the 1920s. Stade Toulousain would not make it to any grand finals during the 1930s, and it would not be until the late 1940s when they would return. However they did contest the

1970s to 1980s

In 1971 Toulouse contested the

The dominance continued in the 1990s, starting with a grand final loss in 1991, and a Challenge Yves du Manoir championship in 1993, defeating Castres 13 to 8 in the final. The mid-1990s saw Stade Toulousain become a major force yet again, as the club claimed four premierships in a row, winning the championship in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997, as well as the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1995. The club emulated its success in the European Rugby Cup, becoming the first ever champions in the 1995–96 season.

The late 1990s and the 2000s saw the club again reach great heights. The club won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1998, defeating Stade Français Paris, the

Toulouse play their home games at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, which was built in the late 1980s and was recently renovated. It has a capacity of 19,500. Stade Toulousain is one of the rare teams, in France and especially in rugby union, that own its stadium. Since February 2020, it has also been home to rugby league team Toulouse Olympique, which currently competes in the 2nd tier Championship, following negotiations and an agreement between both executive boards.^[5]

The stadium however cannot always accommodate all the fans of the Toulouse club. For the larger fixtures, such as championship or

• Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup
  • Champions (5):
    2021
  • Runners-up (2):
    2008
• French Champions:
  • Champions (22): 1912, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1947, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994,
    2023
  • Runners-up (7): 1903, 1909, 1921, 1969, 1980, 1991, 2003, 2006
• Challenge Yves du Manoir:
  • Champions (4): 1934, 1988, 1993, 1995
  • Runners-up (2): 1971, 1984
• French Cup:
  • Champions (4): 1946, 1947, 1984, 1998
  • Runners-up (2): 1949, 1985
• Toulouse Masters:
  • Champions (2): 1986, 1990

European record

• Toulouse qualified for the
  Heineken Cup
  in every season of that competition's existence (1995–96 to 2013–14), and played in the inaugural season of the replacement competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup.

• The club have the best competition record in the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup, having won the competition five times and having played seven finals, and was the first team to win over 100 games in the history of the competition. Along with Munster, Toulouse is the most victorious team in the history of the competition, with a total of 124 wins. It's the second best club in European rugby in terms of total games played in the highest European competition possible with 179 games alongside Leinster and behind Munster.

• Stade toulousain completed "the Double" (Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup-National Championship) 2 times (1995-1996 and 2020-2021), a record shared with Leicester Tigers (2000-2001 and 2001-2002) and Saracens (2015-2016 and 2018-2019).

• Vincent Clerc is the second all-time top try scorer in Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup history, having scored 36 units.

Current standings

Selected presidents

René Bouscatel.

• Ernest Wallon: 1907–12
• Charles Audry: 1912–30
• Louis Puech: 1944–51
• Jean Fabre
  : 1980–90
• René Bouscatel: 1992–2017
• Didier Lacroix: 2017-

Bouscatel is the most successful president in the history of the club.

Selected former coaches

• Tom "Rusty" Richards
  : 1913 (as player/manager)
• François Borde: 1928-30, 1934-38
• Roger Piteu: 1945-49
• Claude Labatut: 1971-76, 1976-80
• Robert Bru: 1980-83
• Pierre Villepreux: 1982-89 (coached along with Skrela between 1983 and 1989)
• Jean-Claude Skrela: 1983-92 (coached along with Villepreux between 1983 and 1989)
• Guy Novès: 1988-90 (as assistant coach), 1993-2015
• Ugo Mola: 2015-

Current squad

The Toulouse squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[7]

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

Player Position Union Ian Boubila Hooker France Guillaume Cramont Hooker France Julien Marchand Hooker France Peato Mauvaka Hooker France David Ainu'u Prop United States Dorian Aldegheri Prop France Cyril Baille Prop France Maxime Duprat Prop France Nepo Laulala Prop New Zealand Paul Mallez Prop France Joël Merkler Prop Spain Rodrigue Neti Prop France Marco Trauth Prop France Richie Arnold Lock Australia Joshua Brennan Lock France Piula Fa'asalele Lock Samoa Thibaud Flament Lock France Emmanuel Meafou Lock France Clément Vergé Lock France Léo Banos Back row France Mathis Castro-Ferreira Back row France François Cros Back row France Anthony Jelonch Back row France Théo Ntamack Back row France Alban Placines Back row France Alexandre Roumat Back row France Jack Willis Back row England

Player Position Union Antoine Dupont Scrum-half France Baptiste Germain Scrum-half France Paul Graou Scrum-half France Blair Kinghorn Fly-half Scotland Romain Ntamack Fly-half France Pita Ahki Centre Tonga Pierre-Louis Barassi Centre France Paul Costes Centre France Santiago Chocobares Centre Argentina Sofiane Guitoune Centre France Setareki Bituniyata Wing Fiji Dimitri Delibes Wing France Nelson Épée Wing France Matthis Lebel Wing France Arthur Retière Wing France Lucas Tauzin Wing France Ange Capuozzo Fullback Italy Juan Cruz Mallía Fullback Argentina Thomas Ramos Fullback France

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 Thomas Lacombre Hooker France Malachi Hawkes Prop Australia Ted Condon Lock Australia Leo Labarthe Lock France Raphaël Portat Lock France Lomig Jouanny Back row France Clément Sentubéry Back row France

Player Position Union Niek Doornenbal Scrum-half Netherlands Ruben Maka Scrum-half France Valentin Delpy Fly-half France Kalvin Gourgues Fly-half France Edgar Retiere Fly-half France Hugo Pichardie Centre Spain Mehdi Narjissi Centre France Celian Pouzelgues Centre France Florian Remue Centre Belgium Pelayo Serrano Centre Spain Ilan Vaasen Centre Netherlands Darius Cassamajor Wing France Matias Remue Fullback Belgium

Notable former players

Fabien Pelous

The following are players who have represented their country, players who have won a title with the club, players who have played a sufficient number of games to go down in the club history or players who came from the academy and have made a significant career in another team:

Fans

Being one of the most popular teams in France, Toulouse has many fan clubs all over the country:^[8]

• Le Huit (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Toulouse)
• Le Huit Section Aveyron (branch based in Aveyron)
• Le Rouge et le Noir (formerly Les Ultras, the oldest fan club based in Toulouse).
• Le 16e homme (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Haute-Garonne)
• Le 16e homme Toulousains 2 Paris (branch based in Paris)
• L'amicale des Supporters (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Toulouse)
• Tolosa XV (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Haute-Garonne)
• Les Salopettes Rouges (fan club based in Tarn)

Toulouse supporters are known for being very active on social media. Stade Toulousain is the most followed rugby club on social media in the world, ahead

Stade Ernest-Wallon atmosphere is well known in France and Europe to be one of the best of club rugby. Toulouse can rely on a passionate city, having one of the best attendances in the league. The club's mascot, Ovalion, is a lion, animal which is the symbol of Peugeot, main sponsor of the club.^[11]

See also

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

References