Lyon OU
Full nameLyon Olympique Universitaire
Nickname(s)Le LOU
Founded1896 (1896)
LocationLyon, France
Ground(s)Stade de Gerland (Capacity: 25,000)
ChairmanGL Events
PresidentYann Roubert
Coach(es)Fabien Gengenbacher
Captain(s)Baptiste Couilloud
Jordan Taufua
League(s)Top 14
2022–233rd
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.lourugby.fr

Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby or LOU is a French professional rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season after winning the 2015–16 title of the second-level Pro D2. The club has bounced between the top two levels in recent years, having also been promoted in 2011 and 2014 and relegated in 2012 and 2015.

They were founded in 1896 and play in red and black. In 2011, the team left the Stade Vuillermet to the new Matmut Stadium. In 2017 the team moved to the Matmut Stadium de Gerland.

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.

LOU Rugby against Stade Montois at the Vuillermet Stadium in Lyon, Pro D2 season 2004-2005

The club developed several sections (it now has 13), one of 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 Toulon (3-6) but winning the next two against 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 Agen. However, they would not succeed in their promotion quest until 2011. Since then, they have been a proverbial "yo-yo team", having been either relegated or promoted four times in the six seasons since their 2011 promotion.

Honours

Juniors: 2012 Cadets: 1984,2017

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

European Challenge Cup Finals

Date Winner Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
27 May 2022 Lyon 30–12 Toulon Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 51,431

Current standings

2023–24 Top 14 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff. Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Stade Français650115998+611022
2Pau650115495+591122
3Racing6401166114+521119
4Castres6401166122+441119
5Toulouse6402153129+241018
6Clermont6402154132+221018
7Toulon6303145122+230115
8Bordeaux Bègles6303124125-10115
9Lyon6204144170–261012
10La Rochelle6204119112+70111
11Bayonne620485130–450110
12Oyonnax6204112169-57008
13Montpellier610594142–48008
14Perpignan6105115230–115004

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 2024–25 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 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Pink background (row 13) will be contest a play-off with the runners-up of the 2023–24 Rugby Pro D2 season for a place in the 2024–25 Top 14 season.
Red background (row 14) will be relegated to Rugby Pro D2. Updated: 2 September 2023

Current squad

The Lyon 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
Yanis Charcosset Hooker France France
Liam Coltman Hooker New Zealand New Zealand
Guillaume Marchand Hooker France France
Demba Bamba Prop France France
Vivien Devisme Prop France France
Feao Fotuaika Prop Tonga Tonga
Hamza Kaabéche Prop France France
Valentin Simutoga Prop France France
Paulo Tafili Prop France France
Sébastien Taofifénua Prop France France
Kilian Geraci Lock France France
Mickaël Guillard Lock France France
Joel Kpoku Lock England England
Félix Lambey Lock France France
Alban Roussel Lock France France
Romain Taofifenua Lock France France
Liam Allen Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Arno Botha Back row South Africa South Africa
Dylan Cretin Back row France France
Loann Goujon Back row France France
Maxime Gouzou Back row France France
Pierre-Samuel Pacheco Back row France France
Beka Saghinadze Back row Georgia (country) Georgia
Jordan Taufua Back row Samoa Samoa
Théo William Back row France France
Player Position Union
Baptiste Couilloud Scrum-half France France
Jean-Marc Doussain Scrum-half France France
Martin Page-Relo Scrum-half Italy Italy
Léo Berdeu Fly-half France France
Paddy Jackson Fly-half Ireland Ireland
Fletcher Smith Fly-half New Zealand New Zealand
Kyle Godwin Centre Australia Australia
Josiah Maraku Centre New Zealand New Zealand
Alfred Parisien Centre France France
Semi Radradra Centre Fiji Fiji
Thibaut Regard Centre France France
Ethan Dumortier Wing France France
Monty Ioane Wing Italy Italy
Xavier Mignot Wing France France
Vincent Rattez Wing France France
Thaakir Abrahams Fullback South Africa South Africa
Davit Niniashvili Fullback Georgia (country) Georgia

Espoirs squad

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

Player Position Union
Baptiste Narmand Hooker France France
Kimi Esse Prop France France
Fousseynou Cissokho Lock France France
Jarlath Gleeson Lock England England
Ugo Vignolles Lock France France
Louis-Antonin Agostini Back row France France
Martin Okuya Back row France France
Player Position Union
Paul Dumas Scrum-half France France
Liam Rimet Scrum-half France France
Romain Rigault Fly-half France France
Noa Pommelet Centre France France
Léo Promeneur Centre France France
Miracle Tangata Centre Australia Australia
Noa Jallet Wing France France
Sacha Courthaliac Fullback France France
Luka Khorbaladze Fullback Georgia (country) Georgia
Alexandre Tchaptchet Fullback France France

See also

References

  1. "Site officiel" (in French). LOU Rugby.fr. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. "Lyon squad for season 2023/2024". All Rugby. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
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