Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Montpellier Hérault Rugby (French pronunciation: ​[mɔ̃.pə.lje eʁo ʁyɡbi klœb]) (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.

Montpellier Hérault Rugby
Full nameMontpellier Hérault Rugby
Nickname(s)Les Cistes (The Cistuses)
MHR
Founded1986 (1986)
LocationMontpellier, Occitanie, France
Ground(s)GGL Stadium (Capacity: 15,697)
PresidentRoy Spiers
Coach(es)Xavier Garbajosa
Captain(s)Fulgence Ouedraogo
League(s)Top 14
2018–196th (playoff quarter-finalists)
Team kit
2nd kit
3rd kit
Official website
www.montpellier-rugby.com

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

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

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]

Current standings
2019–20 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff. Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Bordeaux Bègles17131347531715853286161
2Lyon17120546530416150275053
3Racing1791745132612551305346
4Toulon179263963346237323245
5La Rochelle17908370377-738383342
6Clermont171007423415839451041
7Toulouse178183683313737304240
8Montpellier176384043901442372537
9Castres177010392460-6838433233
10Brive17719364441-7732481233
11Bayonne17719327409-8227450333
12Pau176011334414-8031420428
13Agen175111323414-9136460426
14Stade Français175111328488-16030500325

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

  1. Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
  2. Points difference in head-to-head matches
  3. Try differential in head-to-head matches
  4. Points difference in all matches
  5. Try differential in all matches
  6. Points scored in all matches
  7. Tries scored in all matches
  8. Fewer matches forfeited
  9. Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Green background (rows 1 and 2) receive semi-final play-off places and receive berths in the 2020–21 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 2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will qualify to the Relegation play-offs.
Red background (row 14) will automatically be relegated to Rugby Pro D2.
Final table — source:

Current squad
For player movements before or during the 2019–20 season, see List of 2020–21 Top 14 transfers § Montpellier.

The Montpellier squad for the 2020–21 season is:[4]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Youri Delhommel Hooker France
Bismarck du Plessis Hooker South Africa
Vincent Giudicelli Hooker France
Guilhem Guirado Hooker France
Levan Chilachava Prop Georgia
Grégory Fichten Prop France
Antoine Guillamon Prop France
Mohamed Haouas Prop France
Johannes Jonker Prop South Africa
Mikheil Nariashvili Prop Georgia
Titi Lamositele Prop United States
Jacques du Plessis Lock South Africa
Nico Janse van Rensburg Lock South Africa
Konstantin Mikautadze Lock Georgia
Paul Willemse Lock France
Julien Bardy Back row Portugal
Yacouba Camara Back row France
Lucas de Connick Back row France
Martin Devergie Back row France
Kélian Galletier Back row France
Kévin Kornath Back row France
Fulgence Ouedraogo Back row France
Louis Picamoles Back row France
Caleb Timu Back row Australia
Player Position Union
Kahn Fotuali'i Scrum-half Samoa
Benoît Paillaugue Scrum-half France
Cobus Reinach Scrum-half South Africa
Enzo Sanga Scrum-half France
Johan Goosen Fly-half South Africa
Handré Pollard Fly-half South Africa
Alex Lozowski Centre England
Vincent Martin Centre France
Yvan Reilhac Centre France
Jan Serfontein Centre South Africa
François Steyn Centre South Africa
Henry Immelman Wing South Africa
Nemani Nadolo Wing Fiji
Timoci Nagusa Wing Fiji
Gabriel N'Gandebe Wing France
Anthony Bouthier Fullback France
Benjamin Fall Fullback France

Notable former players

See also

References
  1. Savchuk, Katia (23 March 2015). "From Bedouin To Billionaire: Meet The Man Changing What It Means To Be French After Charlie Hebdo". Forbes. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. "Connacht stun Montpellier". 17 November 2019.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Effectif". Montpellier Hérault Rugby (in French). Retrieved 7 September 2019.
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