Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Montpellier HR
Full name	Montpellier Hérault Rugby
Nickname(s)	Les Cistes (The Rockroses); Les Bleu et Blanc (The Bleu and Whites)
Founded	1986
Location	Montpellier, France
Ground(s)	GGL Stadium (Capacity: 15,697)
Chairman	Mohed Altrad
Coach(es)	Richard Cockerill
Captain(s)	Alexandre Bécognée; Yacouba Camara; Arthur Vincent
Most appearances	Fulgence Ouedraogo (340)
Top scorer	Benoît Paillaugue (1,368)
Most tries	Timoci Nagusa (92)
League(s)	Top 14
2022–23	11th
1st kit	2nd 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
- Champions: 2022
- Runners-up (2): 2011, 2018
Rugby Pro D2
- Champions: 2003
European Rugby Challenge Cup
- Champions: 2016, 2021
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
24 June 2022	Montpellier Hérault RC	Castres Olympique	29–10	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	78,245

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

2023–24 Top 14 Table

Club

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Points For

Points Against

Points Diff.

Try Bonus

Losing Bonus

Points

1

Stade Français

3

0

81

34

+47

1

0

13

2

Pau

3

2

0

1

82

51

+31

1

10

3

Castres

3

2

0

1

84

48

+36

1

10

4

Racing

3

2

0

1

99

47

+52

1

10

5

Toulouse

3

2

0

1

72

60

+12

1

0

9

6

Clermont

3

2

0

1

66

60

+6

1

0

9

7

Bordeaux Bègles

3

2

0

1

65

63

+2

0

1

9

8

Lyon

3

1

0

2

51

90

–39

1

0

5

9

La Rochelle

3

1

0

2

60

51

+9

0

1

5

10

Toulon

3

1

0

2

51

63

–12

0

1

5

11

Bayonne

3

1

0

2

40

63

–23

0

1

5

12

Oyonnax

3

1

0

2

75

72

+3

0

4

13

Montpellier

3

1

0

2

48

77

–29

0

4

14

Perpignan

3

0

3

31

126

–95

0

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
Points difference in head-to-head matches
Try differential in head-to-head matches
Points difference in all matches
Try differential in all matches
Points scored in all matches
Tries scored in all matches
Fewer matches forfeited
Classification in the previous Top 14 season

Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup.
Blue background (rows 3 to 6) receive quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup.
Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2023–24 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2024–25 Top 14 season.
Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Updated: 2 September 2023

Current squad

The Montpellier squad for the 2022–23 season is:[4]

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

Player	Position	Union
Tolu Latu	Hooker	Australia
Jérémie Maurouard	Hooker	France
Ru-Hann Greyling	Hooker	South Africa
Brandon Paenga-Amosa	Hooker	Australia
Simon-Pierre Chauvac	Prop	France
Baptiste Erdocio	Prop	France
Grégory Fichten	Prop	France
Enzo Forletta	Prop	France
Luka Japaridze	Prop	Georgia
Titi Lamositele	Prop	Samoa
Henry Thomas	Prop	Wales
Karl Tu'inukuafe	Prop	New Zealand
Harry Williams	Prop	England
Bastien Chalureau	Lock	France
Nico Janse van Rensburg	Lock	South Africa
Tyler Duguid	Lock	Canada
Elliott Stooke	Lock	England
Florian Verhaeghe	Lock	France
Paul Willemse	Lock	France
Alexandre Bécognée	Back row	France
Yacouba Camara	Back row	France
Clément Doumenc	Back row	France
Masivesi Dakuwaqa	Back row	Fiji
Sam Simmonds	Back row	England
Marco Tauleigne	Back row	France

Player	Position	Union
Léo Coly	Scrum-half	France
Benoît Paillaugue	Scrum-half	France
Cobus Reinach	Scrum-half	South Africa
Louis Carbonel	Fly-half	France
Louis Foursans	Fly-half	France
Paolo Garbisi	Fly-half	Italy
Auguste Cadot	Centre	France
Thomas Darmon	Centre	France
Geoffrey Doumayrou	Centre	France
Pierre Lucas	Centre	France
Jan Serfontein	Centre	South Africa
Arthur Vincent	Centre	France
George Bridge	Wing	New Zealand
Gabriel N'Gandebe	Wing	France
Anthony Bouthier	Fullback	France
Alexandre De Nardi	Fullback	France
Julien Tisseron	Fullback	France

Espoirs squad

The Montpellier Hérault Rugby Espoirs squad is:[5]