Montpellier

The Montpellier Rugby team is officially known as Montpellier Hérault Rugby. They're the pride of the city of Montpellier and they're named after the Hérault River, which runs past the city. The Montpellier Rugby side is one of France's elite rugby union teams. They play in the Top 14, which is France's top division, and they also represent France in European competitions.

Read on to learn even more about Montpellier Rugby. On this page, you'll find the latest news about the Montpellier Rugby team and you'll even be able to see the side's latest results and fixtures.

Although the Montpellier Rugby side is incredibly successful, the club is actually relatively young. The Montpellier Rugby Club was only formed in 1986, when the Stade Montpelliérain and MUC Rugby sides merged.

It didn't take long for the newly-formed Montpellier Rugby side to become successful. In 1993, only seven years after forming, the Montpellier Rugby team won the Challenge de l'Espérance. Only a decade later, in 2003, the side became the champions of France's second division, the Pro D2. Then, in the side's first year in the top flight, they won the European Shield, which was a third-tier competition in Europe at the time. 

Although the side was almost relegated from the Top 14 in 2007, the Montpellier Rugby team's fortunes have been transformed since. For example, during the very next season, Fulgence Ouedraogo became the first Montpellier player to play on the French national rugby union team. Then, in 2010-11, the side finished in the play-off places of the Top 14 for the first time. As underdogs, they even reached the final of the competition after beating Castres and Racing Métro. Since then, the team have been a near-constant fixture in the year-end play-offs. However, although the Montpellier Rugby side have reached the final on two occasions, they've never been crowned as the champions of France in the professional era.

That said, the side have also been highly successful while representing France in European competitions. As well as winning the European Shield in 2004, they also won the European Rugby Challenge Cup in 2016. Now, the club regularly represent France in the European Rugby Champions Cup, although they're yet to advance beyond the first knockout round.
Due to the team's success in recent years, a number of international-calibre players currently represent the Montpellier Rugby team. They include South African hooker Bismarck du Plessis, France lock Paul Willemse and Georgia prop Mikheil Nariashvili.