Stade Montois Rugby

Stade Montois Rugby
Full name	Stade Montois Rugby Pro
Nickname(s)	Les Abeilles (The Bees)
Founded	1908; 116 years ago
Location	Mont-de-Marsan, France
Ground(s)	Stade André et Guy Boniface (Capacity: 16,800)
President	Philippe Cazaubon
Coach(es)	David Auradou
Captain(s)	Jérôme Dhien
League(s)	Pro D2
2023–24	8th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.stademontoisrugby.fr

Stade Montois Rugby is a French rugby union team that currently is playing in Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system.

They were founded in 1908 and play in yellow and black. They are based in Mont-de-Marsan, the capital of the Landes département, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and play at the Stade Guy Boniface.

History

Stade Montois is a multi-sports club (28 sections) but its rugby team has always been its flagship. After winning a few regional titles between the two world wars, it reached the top of French club rugby four times in 15 years. It lost its first three French championship finals to Castres Olympique in 1949 (3-14, in a replay, after the original final had ended in a 3-3 draw), to FC Lourdes in 1953 (16-21), and to Racing Club de France in 1959 (3-8). Their finest hour came in 1963 in an all Landes-final against US Dax, won by the Yellow and Black 9-6. They had finally won one, whereas their Dax neighbours would lose all five finals they would play in.

It finished in the bottom table in the first-tier Top 14 in the 2008–09 season. They had just been promoted to the Top 14 after winning the Pro D2 promotion playoffs. They remained in Pro D2 for three seasons before successfully navigating the 2012 promotion playoffs.

Stade Montois' players include the Boniface brothers (André and Guy, who died in a car accident on 1 January 1968), Thomas Castaignède, Christian Darrouy, Benoît Dauga, Laurent Rodriguez. Former Leicester Tigers and Fiji scrum-half wizard Waisale Serevi also played for them as well as other notable Fijians such as Viliame Satala and Vilimoni Delasau.

Honours

French championship Top 14
- Champions (1): 1963
- Runners-up (3): 1949, 1953, 1959
Challenge Yves du Manoir
- Champions (3): 1960, 1961, 1962
- Runners-up (2): 1958, 1966
Pro D2
- Champions: 2002
- Promotion playoff winners: 2008, 2012
Second Division (Groupe B):
- Champions: 1998

Finals results

French championship

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Spectators
22 May 1949	Castres Olympique	14-3	Stade Montois	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	23,000
17 May 1953	FC Lourdes	21-16	Stade Montois	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	32,500
24 May 1959	Racing Club de France	8-3	Stade Montois	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	31,098
2 June 1963	Stade Montois	9-6	US Dax	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	39,000

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up
1958	SC Mazamet	3-0	Stade Montois
1960	Stade Montois	9-9	AS Béziers
1961	Stade Montois	17-8	AS Béziers
1962	Stade Montois	14-9	Section Paloise
1966	FC Lourdes	16-6	Stade Montois

Current standings

2023–24 Pro D2 Table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Provence	30	20	2	8	803	632	+171	8	3	95	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Vannes	30	17	2	11	777	508	+269	10	7	89	Semi-final promotion playoff place
3	Béziers	30	17	1	12	789	715	+74	6	4	80	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Grenoble	30	19	0	11	826	694	+132	8	3	79^[a]
5	Dax	30	17	1	12	626	683	−57	5	2	77
6	Brive	30	16	1	13	689	583	+106	8	2	76
7	Nevers	30	15	0	15	682	610	+72	6	9	75
8	Mont-de-Marsan	30	15	1	14	766	641	+125	5	7	74
9	Aurillac	30	14	1	15	593	764	−171	3	3	64
10	Colomiers	30	13	1	16	661	657	+4	4	6	64
11	Valence Romans	30	13	0	17	623	640	−17	5	5	62
12	Soyaux Angoulême	30	13	2	15	563	616	−53	0	6	62
13	Agen	30	13	1	16	597	732	−135	2	5	61
14	Biarritz	30	11	0	19	618	811	−193	4	5	53
15	Montauban	30	11	0	19	577	755	−178	2	5	51	Relegation play-off
16	Rouen	30	9	1	20	604	753	−149	5	5	48	Relegation to Nationale

Updated to match(es) played on 12 January 2024. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 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
Notes:

^ Following the decisions rendered by the Appeal Commission on July 6, 2023 and December 14, 2023 by the Disciplinary Council, a withdrawal of 12 points applies for FC Grenoble Rugby.The total sanction was reduced on appeal on 31 January 2024, recovering four points in the ranking.

Current squad

The squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[1]^[2]

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

Player	Position	Union
Florian Dufour	Hooker	France
Torsten van Jaarsveld	Hooker	Namibia
Simon Labouyrie	Hooker	France
Samuel Lagrange	Hooker	France
Anthony Alvés	Prop	France
Thomas Bultel	Prop	France
Dino Casadei	Prop	France
Gheorghe Gajion	Prop	Romania
Jean-Luc Innocente	Prop	France
Mattèo Lalanne	Prop	France
Cherif Traoré	Prop	Italy
Romain Durand	Lock	France
Myles Edwards	Lock	England
Aston Fortuin	Lock	South Africa
Nicolas Garrault	Lock	France
Andrei Ostrikov	Lock	Russia
Yann Bréthous	Back row	France
Michael Faleafa	Back row	Tonga
Aurélien Laforgue	Back row	France
Veresa Ramototabua	Back row	Fiji
Raphaël Robic	Back row	France
William Wavrin	Back row	France

Player	Position	Union
Baptiste Canut	Scrum-half	France
Christophe Loustalot	Scrum-half	France
Kévin Viallard	Scrum-half	France
Joris Pialot	Fly-half	France
Willie du Plessis	Fly-half	Netherlands
Simon Desaubiés	Centre	France
Jules Even	Centre	France
Patricio Fernández	Centre	Argentina
Nacani Wakaya	Centre	Fiji
Simão Bento	Wing	Portugal
Gatien Massé	Wing	France
Eroni Sau	Wing	Fiji
Pierre Sayerse	Wing	France
Yoann Laousse-Azpiazu	Fullback	France

Espoirs squad