Bayonne

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.

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. 

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.