CA Brive

Brive

Full name

Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin

Founded

1910

Location

Brive-la-Gaillarde, France

Ground(s)

Stade Amédée-Domenech (Capacity: 15,000)

President

Jean-Jacques Bertrand

Coach(es)

Nicolas Godignon

Captain(s)

Arnaud Mela

League(s)

Top 14

2013–14

9th

1st kit

2nd kit

3rd kit

Official website

www.cabrive-rugby.com

Club athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin (or simply "CA Brive") is a French rugby union team founded in 1910 and based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the département of Corrèze of the Limousin région . They wear black and white and play in the Stade Amédée-Domenech (capacity 15,000).

History

The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on 12 October 1912. Before the Second World War, Brive changed from rugby union to rugby league but returned to union after the war.

It played regularly in the First Division, and established itself as the stronghold of rugby in Limousin but for many years its only title was a Second Division trophy won in 1957. Brive did not make it to the final of the First Division championship until 1965. On 23 May that year they met SU Agen at Stade de Gerland in Lyon only to lose 15–8. Brive next made it to the final in the 1972 season, where they faced AS Béziers on May 21 in Lyon again, and again the Black and White came out the losers, as Béziers won their second consecutive title (9–0). Brive met AS Béziers in the final again three season later, in 1975. By then, Béziers had become the unbeatable team of the decade, and they won their fifth title, this time by just one point (13–12), at Parc des Princes in Paris. Brive experienced a resurgence in the middle of the 1990s, first in 1996, when they made their first finals appearance since the mid-1970s in Paris. Brive however went down 20–13 to Stade Toulousain. It was their fourth losing final. Only one club have lost more finals without winning one than them (US Dax 5). That year however, they won the famed Challenge Yves du Manoir, defeating Pau 12–6. The following season, they made it to the final of the Heineken Cup where they faced the Leicester Tigers from England at Cardiff Arms Park. Brive finally won a final, defeating the Tigers 28–9.^[1] So far, they are one of only two clubs to win the European Cup without ever winning the domestic championship, the other club being the Northampton Saints. On 22 February 1997, Brive, as European champions, were pitted against Auckland Blues who had recently won the Super 12. The French team were no competition to an extra powerful Kiwi side which won easily 47–11.^[2] In 1998 Brive again reached the final of the Heineken Cup, this time against Bath. They came agonizingly close to capturing back-to-back titles, losing by just one point, 19–18 at Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.

Since then, however, the club has been in dire straits, as it was subjected to a punitive relegation to the second division in 2000 due to bad financial management. They bounced back two years later and have struggled ever since in the lower echelons of the league table, except in 2004 when they managed to qualify for the playoffs. In 2005, Brive went to the semi-finals of European Challenge Cup, but they lose against Pau. In 2009, after taking the sixth place of the Championship, the Black and White could participate to the Heineken Cup, but the competition was difficult for them, against the Europeans champions the Leinster, the Llanelli Scarlets and the London Irish.

After difficulties and a relegation in second divition in 2012, they return in Top 14 next year, in defeat Pau.^[3]

Players past and present

Brive have bred some 30 players who went on to play for France. Among them, Amédée Domenech, nicknamed "Le Duc"" ("the Duke") who played there in the 50s and 60s, and gave his name to the stadium shortly after his death in 2003. Prolific flanker Olivier Magne, fly-half Christophe Lamaison or Alain Penaud, number-eight Jean-Luc Joinel and hooker Michel Yachvili, the father of Dimitri Yachvili, also wore the CAB jersey. Argentinian fly-half Lisandro Arbizu and powerful prop Christian Martin also played for them. Two French internationals are currently playing for Brive, fullback Alexis Palisson and Arnaud Méla. But the club has become home to many Pacific Islanders including the Fijian Norman Ligairi, the Samoa and Gloucester legend Terry Fanolua and Tongan Suka Hufanga. They recently signed Welsh International, Barry Davies from the Llanelli Scarlets and Andy Goode from the Leicester Tigers, and have also signed New Zealand-born England international Riki Flutey from London Wasps effective with the 2009–10 season.

Finals results

French championship

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Stadium	Spectators
23 May 1965	SU Agen	CA Brive	15–8	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	28.758
21 May 1972	AS Béziers	CA Brive	9–0	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31.161
18 May 1975	AS Béziers	CA Brive	13–12	Parc des Princes, Paris	39.991
1 June 1996	Stade Toulousain	CA Brive	20–13	Parc des Princes, Paris	48.162

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Stadium	Spectators
1 June 1963	Pau	CA Brive	12-6	Stade Charléty, Paris	13.000
18 May 1974	RC Narbonne	CA Brive	19–10	Stade Yves du Manoir, Colombes
27 January 1996	CA Brive	SU Agen	11–0	Parc des Princes, Paris	13.000

Coupe de France

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Stadium	Spectators
1 June 2000	Biarritz Olympique	CA Brive	24-13	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Heineken Cup

Date	Winner	Runner-Up	Score	Stadium	Spectators
25 January 1997	CA Brive	Leicester Tigers	28–9	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41.664
31 January 1998	Bath Rugby	CA Brive	19–18	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	36.500

Current standings

2013–14 Top 14 Table

Club

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Points For

Points Against

Points Difference

Tries For

Tries Against

Try Bonus

Losing Bonus

Points

Toulon (CH)

660

466

+194

Montpellier (SF)

670

525

+145

Clermont Auvergne (QF)

659

500

+159

Toulouse (QF)

548

442

+106

69^{[n 1]}

Racing Métro (SF)

459

448

+11

Castres Olympique (RU)

567

488

+79

Stade Français

529

496

+33

Bordeaux Bègles

629

573

+56

Brive

473

476

-3

Bayonne

424

549

-125

Grenoble

465

625

-160

Oyonnax

456

562

-106

51^{[n 2]}

Perpignan (R)

486

593

-107

Biarritz Olympique (R)

374

656

-282

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 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup. Yellow background (rows 3 and 4) receive home quarter-final play-off places, and receive berths in the Champions Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) receive away quarter-final play-off places, and will also receive Champions Cup berths. Orange background (row 7) indicates team that advances to a play-off against the seventh-place team from the English Premiership for a place in the Champions Cup. Red background (row 13 and 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Updated 31 May 2014 Source: ESPN Scrum

↑
Toulouse won the head-to-head matches with Racing Métro 5 – 4 on match points so rank higher.
↑
Oyonnax and Perpignan each gained 4 match points from their head-to-head games; Oyonnax won 34 – 31 on aggregate points so rank higher.

Current squad

For player movements leading up to the 2015–16 season, see List of 2015–16 Top 14 transfers#Brive.

2014–15 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
Louis Acosta	Hooker	France
Thomas Acquier	Hooker	France
Francois Da Ros	Hooker	France
Guillaume Ribas	Hooker	France
Karlen Asieshvili	Prop	Georgia
Pat Barnard	Prop	South Africa
Kevin Buys	Prop	South Africa
Johan Coetzee	Prop	South Africa
Damien Jourdain	Prop	France
Damien Lavergne	Prop	France
Goderdzi Shvelidze	Prop	Georgia
Yusuf Tuncer	Prop	France
Russlan Boukerou	Lock	France
Olivier Caisso	Lock	France
Victor Lebas	Lock	France
Peet Marais	Lock	South Africa
Arnaud Méla	Lock	France
Simon Pinet	Lock	France
Tjiuee Uanivi	Lock	Namibia
Saïd Hireche	Flanker	France
Sisa Koyamaibole	Flanker	Fiji
Fabian Laurent	Flanker	France
Poutasi Luafutu	Flanker	Australia
Lucas Lyons	Flanker	France
Fabian Sanconnia	Flanker	France
Dominiko Waqaniburotu	Flanker	Fiji
Hughes Briatte	Number 8	France
Petrus Hauman	Number 8	South Africa
Kieran Murphy	Number 8	Wales

Player	Position	Union
Nicolas Bézy	Scrum-half	France
Damien Neveu	Scrum-half	France
Jean-Baptiste Péjoine	Scrum-half	France
Thomas Laranjeira	Fly-half	France
Anderson Neisen	Fly-half	France
Roman Sola	Fly-half	France
Paul Ah Him	Centre	Samoa
Andrew Ma'ilei	Centre	Tonga
Arnaud Mignardi	Centre	France
Guillaume Namy	Centre	France
Thomas Sanchou	Centre	France
Atila Septar	Centre	France
Riaan Swoepoel	Centre	South Africa
Baptiste Delage	Wing	France
Sevania Galala	Wing	Fiji
Benito Masilevu	Wing	Fiji
Malakai Bakaniceva Radikedike	Wing	Fiji
Venione Vortemaya	Wing	Fiji
Gaëtan Germain	Fullback	France
Alfie Mafi	Fullback	Australia

Notable former players

References

↑ Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0 7472 7732 X.
↑ Pope, Bruce (23 February 1997). "Brive out with the washing". The Independent (London: INM). ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
↑ Imakhoukhene, Hamid (19 May 2013). "Brive ne l'a pas volée". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2014.

External links

(French) CA Brive Official website
Unofficial fan's site
CA Brive profile on Rugby15

Top 14

2014–15 Teams	Bayonne Bordeaux Brive Castres Clermont Grenoble La Rochelle Lyon Montpellier Oyonnax Racing Métro Stade Français Toulon Toulouse

The origins	1892 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19

Between the wars	1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39

During the second world war	1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45

After the second world war	1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–80	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–95	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95

Professional era and Top 16	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05

Top 14	2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Trophy	Bouclier de Brennus

European Rugby Challenge Cup

European Professional Club Rugby

2014–15 Teams	Bayonne Bordeaux Bègles Brive Cardiff Blues București Wolves Connacht Edinburgh Exeter Chiefs Gloucester Grenoble La Rochelle London Irish London Welsh Lyon Newcastle Falcons Newport Gwent Dragons Oyonnax Rovigo Delta Stade Français Zebre

Seasons	2014–15

Pool stages	2014–15

Finals	2015

Champions Cup play-off	2014–15 2015–16

Qualifying Competition	European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition

Rugby union in France

Governing body

Fédération Française de Rugby

National teams

Men's	France A 7s France amateur U-20 U-18

Women's	Women's 7's

Competitions

International	World Cup Six Nations Rugby World Cup Sevens Sevens World Series Sevens Grand Prix Series

Professional Club	European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup National Rugby League (France) Top 14 Pro D2 Fédérale 1 Fédérale 2 Fédérale 3 Challenge Yves du Manoir