Biarritz Olympique

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Biarritz Olympique
Full name	Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque
Founded	1913
Location	Biarritz, France
Ground	Parc des Sports Aguiléra
Capacity	12,667[1]
President	Marcel Martin
Coach	Patrice Lagisquet and Jacques Delmas
League	Top 14
2005-06	1st
Home colours		Away colours
Official Website
www.bo-pb.com

Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, often abbreviated BOPB, is a professional French rugby union club that plays in Biarritz in Aquitaine at Parc des Sports Aguiléra. It currently competes in the top level of the Top 14 competition. The club was founded as Biarritz Stade in 1902, and merged with Biarritz SC in 1913 to become Biarritz Olympique. In 1998, it adopted its current name (Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque), which refers to the club's Basque heritage. One of the club's best known players is France great Serge Blanco.

The club has won the domestic championship numerous times, including a number of victories in the 1930s and 2000s. As well as the domestic competition, Biarritz also contest the European Heineken Cup. The club were the losing finalists of the 2005-06 Heineken Cup, although the same season they won the Top 14 on June 10, 2006.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The early years 1.2 The 1980s and 90s 1.3 2000s 2 Stadium 3 Strip 4 Supporters 5 Honors 6 Finals results 6.1 French championship 6.2 Heineken Cup 6.3 Challenge Yves du Manoir 6.4 Coupe de France 7 European record 8 Current squad 9 Famous players 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The early years

The history of the club extends back to the late 1800's. An athletic club, Biarritz Stade (named that, in 1902) opened up a rugby quarter. In 1909, the Biarritz Sporting Club was established. On April 26, 1913, the fusion of the two clubs took place. The new name of the club was Biarritz Olympique and its inaugural president was M. P. Campagne. On May 13, 1934, Biarritz Olympique played in the final of the French premiership; they were however, defeated by Aviron Bayonnais 13 points to 8 at Stade des Ponts Jumeaux in Toulouse in front of 18,000 people. It was the only all-Basque final and is still the final in which the two contenders were separated by the shortest distance (3 miles), outside the all-Parisian finals of the late 19th century.

A year later, Biarritz again found themselves in the final of the national championship, this time against USA Perpignan. They emerged victorious, winning three points to nil, claiming their first ever national championship. The success continued in the latter stages of the decade. In the 1938 championship, Biarritz again met USAP in the final, though this time, the Perpignan club were able to get the win, Biarritz losing 11 points to six. A year later, the two clubs met in the final again, with Biarritz coming out as the better club on the day, winning six points to nil, and claiming the second national championship. But for almost 50 years, Biarritz was not going to feature prominently in the French league.

[edit] The 1980s and 90s

It was not until the late 1980s that BO, as it is nicknamed, was going to reach the top again. In 1989 Biarritz contested their first Challenge Yves du Manoir final since the 1937 season. However, they were defeated by RC Narbonne 18-12 in the final. In 1992, Biarritz made it to the national final, played at Parc des Princes in Paris. However, Biarritz went down to RC Toulon 19 points to 14. In the 1997-98 season, Biarritz competed in their first European Rugby Cup competition, playing in the European Challenge Cup. Biarritz won six of their three fixtures, and did not make it past the pool stages. The 1998-99 season was similar to the previous, though they were able to win one more of their pool fixtures, but finished third in the pool standings after other French clubs Agen and Brive.

In their third Challenge Cup, Biarritz only lost a won pool game and finished first in the standings. However they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by English club Bristol. As well as the success in the Challenge Cup, in the 1999-00 season, they also won the Coupe de France for the first time since 1937, defeating CA Brive 24-13 in the final. Biarritz also earned qualification for the Heineken Cup.^[2]

[edit] 2000s

Biarritz, now playing in the elite European competition, the Heineken Cup, the club had a successful run, finishing at the top of their pool, but were eliminated by Irish team Munster, losing 38-29 in the quarter-finals at Thomond Park. In the 2001-02 Heineken Cup Biarritz did not make the finals, finishing second in their pool, winning two of their six pool fixtures.

In 2002, Biarritz made their way to the domestic final for the first time in a decade. They defeated SU Agen 25 to 22 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis in front of 78,457. That season they were also runners-up to Stade Rochelais in the Coupe de France final, losing 21-19. The 2002-03 Heineken Cup was also a success for Biarritz, finishing at the top of their pool standings, they were quarter-finalists, but lost to Leinster at Lansdowne Road.

The 2003-04 Heineken Cup was a best ever for Biarritz, as they made it to the semi-finals for the first time, losing to fellow French club Toulouse 19-11. This was repeated in 2004-05, Biarritz again making the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup, but losing to Stade Français, 20-17 at Parc des Princes. More success followed in 2005, where they defeated the Stade Français club 37 points to 34 in the domestic final after a very rugged challenge.

In the year 2006, they made it to the Heineken Cup final were they met Munster. They lost the compelling final 19-23. They were however able to put the Heinken Cup loss behind them and make it to the final of the 2005-06 Top 14, where they met Toulouse. Biarritz led nine points to six at half time but stormed to victory in the second half, the final score being 40 to 13, making Biarritz back to back winners.

[edit] Stadium

Biarritz play their home matches at the Parc des Sports Aguiléra, which is a multi-use stadium in Biarritz. The stadium is used mostly for rugby union. The stadium is able to hold 10,000 people.

For the 2005-06 Heineken Cup semi-finals, Biarritz, were allowed to host a semi-final across the border at Estadio Anoeta in Donostia/San Sebastián. The Anoeta is the nearest stadium to Biarritz with a suitable capacity, as a Heineken Cup semi-final must be played at a venue which can hold at least 20,000 spectators.

[edit] Strip

Biarritz Olympique usually play in red and white colours. Their home uniform consists of red socks and shorts with a predominantly white shirt with red sides. Their uniform is collarless and is produced by Puma.

[edit] Supporters

The Biarritz supporters sometimes wave the Basque flag in the stands. Traditional Basque songs are also heard, as Basque supporters have a reputation for being very good singers. The Parc des Sports Aguilera is considered an intimidating venue to play at, with Biarritz supporters having a reputation for being very vocal.^[3] Yet BO is considered as a middle class club with a middle class following. Biarritz has a smaller fanbase than the local rival, Aviron Bayonnais, whose fans taunt Biarritz as unauthentic, less Basque and frankly mercenary. Its main patron is Serge Kampf, the owner and founder of Cap Gemini, one of the world's largest information technology, consulting, outsourcing and professional services company. He is a personal friend of Serge Blanco, whom he helped after his career, and a stand at Aguiléra was named after him in August 2006.

[edit] Honors

• French championship
  • Champions: 1935, 1939, 2002, 2005, 2006
  • Runners-up: 1934, 1938, 1992

• Heineken Cup:
  • Runners-up: 2006

• Challenge Yves du Manoir:
  • Champions: 1937, 2000
  • Runners-up: 1989

• Coupe de France/Coupe de la Ligue
  • Runners-up: 2002

[edit] Finals results

[edit] French championship

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Venue	Crowd
13 May 1934	Aviron Bayonnais	Biarritz Olympique	13-8	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	18.000
12 May 1935	Biarritz Olympique	USA Perpignan	3-0	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	23.000
8 May 1938	USA Perpignan	Biarritz Olympique	11-6	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	24.600
30 April 1939	Biarritz Olympique	USA Perpignan	6-0 AP	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	23.000
6 June 1992	RC Toulon	Biarritz Olympique	19-14	Parc des Princes, Paris	48.000
8 June 2002	Biarritz Olympique	SU Agen	25-22 AP	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	78.457
11 June 2005	Biarritz Olympique	Stade Français	37-34 AP	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	79.475
10 June 2006	Biarritz Olympique	Stade Toulousain	40-13	Stade de France, Saint-Denis

[edit] Heineken Cup

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Venue	Crowd
20 May 2006	Munster	Biarritz Olympique	23-19	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74.534

[edit] Challenge Yves du Manoir

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1937	Biarritz Olympique	9-3	USA Perpignan
1989	RC Narbonne	18-12	Biarritz Olympique
2000	Biarritz Olympique	24-13	CA Brive

[edit] Coupe de France

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
2002	Stade Rochelais	23-19	Biarritz Olympique

[edit] European record

Season	Competition	Games				Points			Notes
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
2006-07	Heineken Cup	2	2	0	0	72	17	55
2005-06	Heineken Cup	9	7	0	2	230	131	99	Runners-up to Munster
2004-05	Heineken Cup	9	6	0	2	199	122	77	Semi-finalist (lost to Stade Français)
2003-04	Heineken Cup	8	5	0	3	177	126	51	Semi-finalist (lost to Toulouse)
2002-03	Heineken Cup	7	4	0	3	185	128	57
2001-02	Heineken Cup	6	2	1	3	104	95	9	Quarter-finalists (lost to Leinster)
2000-01	Heineken Cup	7	4	0	3	193	190	3	Quarter-finalists (lost to Munster)
1999-00	Challenge Cup	7	5	0	2	256	109	147	Quarter-finalists (lost to Bristol)
1998-99	Challenge Cup	6	4	0	2	187	124	63
1997-98	Challenge Cup	6	3	0	3	123	153	-30

[edit] Current squad

Nat. Position Player CE Mathieu Acebes HK Benoit Auguste PR Denis Avril WG Andrea Bacchetti PR Gonzalo Baccheti PR Petru Vladimir Bălan WG Jean-Baptiste Gobelet PR Reda Benazzi FL Serge Betsen WG Philippe Bidabe WG Sireli Bobo SH Sébastien Tillous-Borde FB Nicolas Brusque CE Romain Cabannes FL Denis Cabreton LK Manuel Carizza LK Yohann Carpentier LK David Couzinet FH Benjamin Dambielle LK Santiago Dellape HK Benoit Denoyelle PR Fabien Drogon SH Julien Dupuy FH Thibault Duvallet

Nat. Position Player FL Mohammed Dridi PR Marco Ferrer FL Vincent Forestier CE Martin Gaitan LK Trevor Hall PR Rémy Hughes N8 Imanol Harinordoquy CE David Iratzoqui CE Xantxo Isteque PR Kasiano Lealamanua PR Benoît Lecouls CE Denis Lison N8 Thomas Lièvremont CE Andrea Masi FL Steve Malonga WG Jimmy Marlu PR Mosese Moala HK Benjamin Noirot N8 Gonzalo Padro FH Julien Peyrelongue FL Bastien Sohet LK Jerome Thion CE Damien Traille FH Charles Edouard Yachvili FH Dimitri Yachvili

[edit] Famous players

• Serge Betsen
• Serge Blanco
• Michel Celaya
• Jean-Michel Gonzales
• Imanol Harinordoquy
• Patrice Lagisquet
• Olivier Roumat
• Dimitri Yachvili
• Damien Traille
• Philippe Bernat-Salles
• Thierry Dusautoir
• Marc Lievremont
• Laurent Mazas

[edit] References

1. ^ European Rugby Cup: Biarritz Olympique. ERC Rugby. Retrieved on 29 November 2006.
2. ^ Biarritz. scrum.com. Retrieved on 29 November 2006.
3. ^ Heineken Cup 2006-07. BBC. Retrieved on 29 November 2006.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Biarritz Olympique

• (French) Official site
• Data, Results and others (in English, in French)
• Biarritz Olympique anthem
• (French) Aupa BO Fansite