Aviron Bayonnais (more commonly known by rugby fans as Bayonne) are the pride of the French Basque community.
The club was founded in 1904 and was immediately successful. It took under a decade for the Bayonne Rugby team to appear in the final of the French Championship. They won the national domestic championship for the first time in 1913 and they won the final edition of the Coupe de l'Espérance in 1919.
On this page, you’ll find all the latest news about the Bayonne Rugby team. You’ll also find the team’s most recent results and all of their upcoming fixtures.
Steffon Armitage dramatically decided the Basque derby, his shootout winner getting Biarritz promoted at the expense of rivals Bayonne.
Glasgow have reached a deal for Sam Johnson to extend his Scotstoun contract, but Huw Jones is now reportedly getting interest from France.
Aviron Bayonnais (more commonly known by rugby fans as Bayonne) are the pride of the French Basque community.
The club was founded in 1904 and was immediately successful. It took under a decade for the Bayonne Rugby team to appear in the final of the French Championship. They won the national domestic championship for the first time in 1913 and they won the final edition of the Coupe de l'Espérance in 1919.
On this page, you’ll find all the latest news about the Bayonne Rugby team. You’ll also find the team’s most recent results and all of their upcoming fixtures.
Challenge Cup Challenge Cup 
Challenge Cup | Round 1 | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP T | BP -7 | BP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-  Bristol | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 21 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Toulon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Cardiff Blues | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 16 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Edinburgh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 10 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Leicester Tigers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 20 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Gwent Dragons | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Bordeaux | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Worcester Warriors | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 14 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
-  Brive | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
-  Scarlets | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
-  Bayonne | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
-  London Irish | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 20 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
-  Zebre | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 59 | -38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Agen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 31 | -21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Stade Francais | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 27 | -16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Rugby Calvisano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 38 | -22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Castres | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 31 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Wasps | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 40 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Pau | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 41 | -21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-  Enisei-STM | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 57 | -43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Round 1 |
|---|
| - Bristol |
| - Toulon |
| - Cardiff Blues |
| - Edinburgh |
| - Leicester Tigers |
| - Gwent Dragons |
| - Bordeaux |
| - Worcester Warriors |
| - Brive |
| - Scarlets |
| - Bayonne |
| - London Irish |
| - Zebre |
| - Agen |
| - Stade Francais |
| - Rugby Calvisano |
| - Castres |
| - Wasps |
| - Pau |
| - Enisei-STM |
The glory years for the Bayonne Rugby side continued into the 1920s and 1930s, when the club enjoyed a great period of success. They reached the final of the French Championship in 1922 and 1923, but sadly they lost against Toulouse on both occasions in low-scoring matches.
However, the Bayonne Rugby side had greater success in the 1930s, when they won their second title. In 1934, the team beat Biarritz 13-8 in the final to claim the crown. Two years later, they also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir for the first time in the club’s history. The club’s momentum also continued into the 1940s. In this decade, they won the 1943 French Championship and finished as the tournament’s runners-up the year after.
Aretz Iguiniz Prop 
Ugo Boniface Prop 
Viliamu Afatia Prop 
Torsten Van Jaarsveld Hooker 
Census Johnston Prop 
Luc Mousset Prop 
Toma Taufa Prop 
Dion Evrard Oulai Lock 
Guillaume Ducat Lock 
Mariano Galarza Lock 
Armandt Koster Lock 
Arnaud Duputs Lock 
Edwin Maka Lock 
Adam Jaulhac Lock 
Antoine Battut Flanker 7 
Jean Monribot Number 8 
Yan Lestrade 
Mat Luamanu 
Benjamin Collet 
Filimo Taofifenua 
Guillaume Martocq 
Hansie Graaff 
Hugo Zabalza 
Ioane Iashagashvili 
Ismael Martin 
Jean-Baptiste de Clercq 
Latu Latunipulu 
Malietoa Hingano 
Mattin Bidegain 
Baptiste Heguy 
Maxime Delonca 
Maxime Lalanne 
Pello Ezpeleta 
Pieter Jan Van Lill 
Remy Baget 
Romain Barthelemy 
Swan Cormenier 
Thomas Dolhagaray 
Tiuke Mahoni 
Tom Darlet 
Vladimeri Chachanidze 
Bastien Bergounioux 
Aymeric Luc 
Arthur Duhau 
Andrei Gorin 
Aïtor Hourcade 
Maile Mamao Wing 
Michael Ruru Scrum half 
Manu Saubusse Scrum half 
Djibril Camara Wing 
Peyo Muscarditz Centre 
Alofa Alofa Centre 
Brandon Fajardo Wing 
Sean Robinson Fullback The post-war years have been unkind to the Bayonne Rugby team and successes have been limited. In fact, since the end of the Second World War, they’ve only appeared in the French Championship final once. This was in 1982 and the side unfortunately lost to SU Agen. However, the team did win the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1980.
Now, in the professional era of rugby, the Bayonne Rugby team regularly bounce between the Top 14 (France’s top rugby division) and the Pro D2 (France’s second tier). After winning both the Pro D2 division and the Euro Basque Rugby Challenge in 2019, the Bayonne Rugby team are playing in the Top 14.
Will the glory years ever return to the Bayonne Rugby team? Find out with RugbyPass.
