Lyon OU

Lyon OU
Full name Lyon Olympique Universitaire
Nickname(s) Les Loups (The Wolves)
Founded 1896
Location Lyon, France
Ground(s) Matmut Stadium (Capacity: 8,000)
President Yvan Patet
Coach(es) Matthieu Lazerges
Raphaël Saint-André
League(s) Top 14
2010-11 Champions, Pro D2
1st kit
2nd kit

Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team that competes in the Top 14, the first level of the country's professional league system. They earned their spot in the Top 14 by winning the 2010–11 title of the second-tier Pro D2.

They were founded in 1896 and play in red and black. They are based in Lyon in Rhône-Alpes, and play at the Stade Vuillermet, in Lyon.

Contents

History

Le LOU, as it is traditionally known, is one of the oldest sports clubs in France and among the first outside Paris to have set up a rugby section. The club’s original name was Racing Club, the result of a merger of the Racing Club de Vaise and the Rugby Club de Lyon. It was renamed Racing et Cercles Réunis in 1902 after several other clubs joined it, then a few months later Lyon Olympique. Finally, in 1910, it became Lyon Olympique Universitaire. The red and black were adopted in 1902.

The club developed several sections (it now has 13), one the most successful being the rugby union section, which is now known as LOU Rugby. The rugby club took part in three successive French championship finals (1931–33), losing the first one to RC Toulon (3-6) but winning the next two against RC Narbonne (9-3 and 10-3). It then played in lower amateur leagues until it was promoted back to the second professional division (Pro D2). In 2006-07, it had the second biggest budget of the championship and its ambition was to rejoin the Top 14 in the next two years, under the leadership of their coach Christian Lanta, who formerly led Racing Club de France, Italian club Treviso and SU Agen. However, they would not succeed in their promotion quest until 2011.

Honours

Finals results

French championship

Date Winner Runner-up Score Venue Spectators
10 May 1931 RC Toulon Lyon OU 6-3 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 10,000
5 May 1932 Lyon OU RC Narbonne 9-3 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 13,000
7 May 1933 Lyon OU RC Narbonne 10-3 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 15,000

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Year Winner Score Runner-up
1932 SU Agen round robin Lyon OU
1933 Lyon OU round robin SU Agen

Current squad

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

Player Position Union
Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux Hooker France
Vincent Colliat Hooker France
Tony Testa Hooker Italy
Bogdan Balan Prop Romania
Julien Facundo Prop France
Xavier Fiard Prop France
Antoine Guillamon Prop France
Guram Kavtidze Prop Georgia
Sébastien Petit Prop France
Tariel Ratianidze Prop Georgia
Anthony Roux Prop France
Vincent Ruyssen Prop France
Arnauld Tchougong Prop Cameroon
Philemon Toleafoa Prop Samoa
Coenraad Basson Lock South Africa
Arnaud Marchois Lock France
Christian Njewel Lock Cameroon
Christian Short Lock Ireland
Jean Sousa Lock France
Pierre Vigouroux Lock France
Luke Abraham Flanker England
Nicolas Bontinck Flanker France
Vincent Clément Flanker France
Arnaud Dorier Flanker France
Gérald Gambetta Flanker France
Josselin Grange Flanker France
Eugène N'Zi Flanker France
Sisa Koyamaibole Number 8 Fiji
Juan Manuel Leguizamón Number 8 Argentina
Alexandru Manta Number 8 Romania
Player Position Union
Ricky Januarie Scrum-half South Africa
Brice Salobert Scrum-half France
Romain Veniat Scrum-half France
Régis Lespinas Fly-half France
Xavier Sadourny Fly-half France
Alipate Fatafehi Centre Tonga
Nicolas Raffault Centre France
Waisele Sukanaveita Centre Fiji
Lee Thomas Centre Wales
Laurent Tranier Centre France
Vinaya Wakanivuga Centre Fiji
James Bailey Wing England
Rémy Grosso Wing France
Mosese Ratuvou Wing Fiji
Franck Romanet Wing France
Éric Tomamichel Wing France
Romain Loursac Fullback France
Thibault Suchier Fullback France
Mark van Gisbergen Fullback England

Transfers 2011/2012

Players In

External links