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Castres Olympique

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Castres Olympique (French pronunciation: [kastʁ ɔlɛ̃pik], CAST-(r)) is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the Top 14, the top level of the French league system.

France Castres Olympique
Full nameCastres Olympique
Founded1906; 120 years ago (1906)
LocationCastres, France
GroundStade Pierre-Fabre (Capacity: 12,500)
PresidentPierre-Yves Revol
CoachXavier Sadourny
CaptainMathieu Babillot
LeagueTop 14
2024–256th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
castres-olympique.com

Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Stade Pierre-Fabre, which is one of the smallest in Top 14 with a capacity of 12,500. The team wear blue and white kits.

The team won five French top-division championships in 1949, 1950, 1993 (in a match decided by an irregular try accorded by the referee),[1] 2013, and 2018 as well as one Coupe de France in 1948.

History

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In 1898 several alumni of Castres' municipal college met in a city centre bar and decided to create a team allowing them to play their favourite sport, rugby union. For the first few years this team was part of a multisport club until 1906. Unhappy with the dominating position cycling had within the club, the members of the rugby section decided to leave and create a club of their own, solely dedicated to their sport. It was decided that this club would be named Castres Olympique and its colours would be changed from yellow and black to its current blue, white and grey.

The new club reached the top flight after only 15 years of existence and has remained there ever since, bar for a couple of years during the 80s when the club was in the then Section B of the 1st division. The club has never left the 1st division since 1921.

For a while Castres Olympique would experience mixed fortunes until 1948 when they reached and won their first Coupe de France. The prestigious championship would follow a year later, and again in 1950.

From the 1960s the club would experience a stream of mediocre seasons and steady decline until Pierre Fabre, the founder of a local pharmaceutical company, decided to take over the club and restore it to its former relative glory in 1988.

In 1993, Castres played the final of the 1993 French Rugby Union Championship against Grenoble, a team who was nicknamed "the mammoths", because of its incredibly physical forward pack, coached by the former French national team manager Jacques Fouroux. Castres won its third national title 14–11, in a controversial match. Indeed, a try of Olivier Brouzet is denied to Grenoble[2] and the decisive try by Gary Whetton was awarded by the referee, Daniel Salles, when in fact the defender Franck Hueber from Grenoble touched down the ball first in his try zone. This error gave the title to Castres.[3] Salles admitted the error 13 years later.[4][5]

Jacques Fouroux, being already suspicious before the match of the referee, saw in this outcome a conspiracy of his enemies from inside the rugby union French Federation.[6][7]

The club reached the final again in 1995 losing 31–16 to Stade Toulousain.

Castres won the 2012–13 French Rugby Union Championship beating Toulon 19–14 in the final.[8]

The team's owner, Pierre Fabre, the founder of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, died on 20 July 2013.[9] Castres home stadium, previously known as Stade Pierre-Antoine, was renamed in his memory during ceremonies in conjunction with Castres match with Montpellier on 9 September 2017.[10]

Castres won the 2017–18 French Rugby Union Championship beating Montpellier 29–13 in the final.

After finishing first in the 2021-2022 Top 14, Castres played a semi-final against the Stade Toulousain of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, beating them 24–18. The final is a rematch of 2018, but this time, Montpellier win 29–10.

Honours

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Finals results

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French championship

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
22 May 1949 Castres Olympique 14–3 Stade Montois Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse 23,000
16 April 1950 Castres Olympique 11–8 Racing Club de France Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse 25,000
5 June 1993 Castres Olympique 14–11 FC Grenoble Parc des Princes, Paris 48,000
6 May 1995 Stade Toulousain 31–16 Castres Olympique Parc des Princes, Paris 48,615
1 June 2013 Castres Olympique 19–14 RC Toulon Stade de France, Saint-Denis 80,033
31 May 2014 RC Toulon 18–10 Castres Olympique Stade de France, Saint-Denis 80,174
2 June 2018 Castres Olympique 29–13 Montpellier Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,441
24 June 2022 Montpellier 29–10 Castres Olympique Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,245

European Rugby Challenge Cup

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
26 January 1997 France Bourgoin 18–9 France Castres Olympique Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers 10,000
28 May 2000 France Section Paloise 34–21 France Castres Olympique Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse 6,000

European Shield

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Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Spectators
25 May 2003 France Castres Olympique 40–12 Wales Caerphilly Madejski Stadium, Reading 4,000

Current standings

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2025–26 Top 14 Table
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Toulouse 26 18 0 8 981 617 +364 134 73 13 3 86[a] Qualification for playoff semi-finals and European Rugby Champions Cup
2 Montpellier 26 17 1 8 824 587 +237 101 69 8 4 82
3 Stade Français 26 15 1 10 869 664 +205 113 83 11 6 79 Qualification for playoff semi-final qualifiers and European Rugby Champions Cup
4 Pau 26 17 0 9 817 665 +152 98 82 7 3 78
5 Racing 92 26 16 1 9 828 723 +105 101 91 6 2 74
6 La Rochelle 26 15 0 11 824 634 +190 106 73 8 4 72
7 Clermont 26 15 0 11 812 708 +104 103 87 8 3 71 Qualification for European Rugby Champions Cup
8 Bordeaux Bègles 26 14 0 12 822 719 +103 113 90 8 6 70
9 Toulon 26 12 1 13 714 820 −106 96 103 8 1 59 Qualification for European Rugby Challenge Cup
10 Castres 26 11 0 15 660 751 −91 81 96 3 8 55
11 Lyon 26 11 1 14 734 774 −40 92 101 3 3 52
12 Bayonne 26 11 0 15 747 869 −122 94 113 4 3 51
13 Perpignan 26 6 0 20 550 797 −247 64 99 1 4 29 Qualification for relegation play-off
14 Montauban 26 1 1 24 495 1349 −854 61 197 0 1 7 Relegation to Pro D2
Updated to match(es) played on 17 May 2026. Source: Top 14
Notes:
  1. ↑ Toulouse received a two-point deduction due to irregularities around the transfer of their former player Melvyn Jaminet[11]

Current squad

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The Castres squad for the 2025–26 season is:[12][13]

Castres Olympique 2025–26 Top 14 squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Back row

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wings

Fullbacks

(c) denotes the team captain.
Bold denotes internationally capped players.
Source: [12]

Espoirs squad

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Notable former players

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Gerry Thornley: Grenoble's Jackman fast becoming one of top Irish coaches". irishtimes. April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Combien de fois Bayonne s'est imposé dans la capitale ?". www.rugbyrama.fr. Midi olympique. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "MICHEL RINGEVAL (PART 2): " AU BOUT D'UN QUART D'HEURE, J'AI COMPRIS QU'ON NE GAGNERAIT PAS"". lesportdauphinois.com. November 19, 2016. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Daniel Salles à propos de Castres-Grenoble en 1993 : " Je me suis trompé "". sudouest. 1 June 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Parc des Princes, Paris, 5 Juin 1993". LNR. 28 December 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Salviac, Pierre (9 September 2015). Merci pour ces moments: 50 ans de grands reportages. Hachette Book. ISBN 9791093463247. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Top 14: Toulon-Castres, souviens-toi, il y a vingt ans..." www.lepoint.fr. June 1, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Castres et " la magie du rugby "". www.republicain-lorrain.fr. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Pierre Fabre, founder of pharmaceutical giant, dies". Agence France Presse. France 24. 2013-07-20. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  10. ↑ "Castres : ce sera le Stade Pierre-Fabre" [Castres: it will be Stade Pierre-Fabre]. La Dépêche. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Toulouse rocked by points deduction over Melvyn Jaminet transfer saga". Planet Rugby. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 "Effectif". Castres Olympique. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Castres squad for season 2025/2026". All Rugby. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
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