RC Toulon

Full name	Rugby Club Toulonnais
Nickname(s)	Le RCT Les Rouge et Noir (The Red and Blacks)
Founded	1908 (1908)
Location	Toulon, France
Ground(s)	Stade Mayol (Capacity: 17,500)
Chairman	Bernard Lemaître
Coach(es)	Pierre Mignoni
Captain(s)	Charles Ollivon Baptiste Serin
Top scorer	Jonny Wilkinson (1,884)
League(s)	Top 14
2022–23	7th
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.rctoulon.com

Rugby Club Toulonnais (French pronunciation: [ʁyɡbi klœb tulɔnɛ]), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its home games at the 17,500-capacity Stade Mayol.

Founded in 1908, Toulon is one of the most important and widely supported rugby clubs in France. Domestically, the club has won a total of four league titles, two Pro D2 titles and two Challenge Yves du Manoir. In international competitions, Toulon is the only one to have won the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup three times in a row, and succeeded in winning the league/European cup double in 2014 too. Toulon has also won the EPCR Challenge Cup in 2023 after reaching the final on four occasions. The club established itself as a major force in domestic and European rugby in the 2010s when Jonny Wilkinson, Mathieu Bastareaud, Bakkies Botha, Matt Giteau and other rugby stars played at Mayol under Bernard Laporte's management.

A club renowned for its fans fervour and its stadium atmosphere, Toulon has rivalries with Toulouse and Clermont and has traditionally worn a red and black home kit since its inception. The club's crest features a sprig of lily of the valley, symbol of the club's benefactor and Belle Époque singer Félix Mayol who used to wear one on his jacket. A few times per season, important matches against major teams are played at the 67,394-capacity Stade Vélodrome located in Marseille 50 kilometres (31 mi) away.

History

Rugby Club Toulonnais was founded on 3 June 1908 as a merger of Étoile Sportive Varoise and members of the Stade Varois, a club based in nearby La Seyne-sur-Mer. It took the club 23 years to reach the top of French rugby, when they won the 1931 championship against Lyon Olympique Universitaire (6–3, 2 tries to 1). The players were greeted by 30,000 people when they returned from Bordeaux, where the final had been held.

Toulon remained one of the top French clubs, but they lost four finals scattered over 35 years (1948, 1968, 1971 and 1985). The 1985 extra-time defeat by Stade Toulousain left them with many regrets, and playing a spectacular final (36–22) did nothing to alleviate the pain of losing. The Red and Black waited only two more years to finally lay their hands on the Bouclier de Brennus, as they defeated Racing at the Parc des Princes. The third title came in 1992, against Biarritz Olympique, in Serge Blanco's last match and last chance to win the title.

For eight years, Toulon were not particularly successful and were in heavy financial trouble (a 10 million franc deficit) forced the Ligue Nationale de Rugby to demote them to the Second Division in July 2000. The club missed an immediate return the next year, going down in the final to Montauban, as only one club was promoted that year. It took them five more years to do so as Toulon went on to win the Pro D2 title. But despite immense popular support (gates averaged more than 12,000), and much enthusiasm, they managed to win only three games out of 26 and were relegated after only a season.

Emblem

On the day of his arrival in Paris, on 1 May 1895, just before his first concert, Félix Mayol was met by a female friend at the station, who gave him some lily-of-the-valley, a flower people traditionally exchange on 1 May in France. He pinned it on his lapel, his concert was a success and Mayol, who was superstitious, made the lily-of-the-valley his personal emblem. It was taken up by the rugby club in 1921.

Stadium

In 1920, its stadium was inaugurated. It is named after Félix Mayol, a very popular concert hall singer from Toulon who had succeeded in Paris in the early 20th century. Shortly after World War I, he purchased what would be the stadium site and donated it to the club. It is one of the few French stadiums to be almost completely surrounded by the city and overlooks the Toulon bay and military harbour in the Mediterranean.

Charity cross-code matches

The club has played in cross-code charity matches with a half each of rugby union and football. On July 18, 2013, they played Olympique de Marseille in the first ever match of the kind at the Stade Mayol to benefit a local charity with Marc Lièvremont and Eric Cantona as the referees in either half, with Olympique de Marseille winning 36–35.^[8][9]

Two years later, the club played another such match to benefit a local children's charity at the Stade Mayol against France 98, the charity association team composed of France's 1998 FIFA World Cup winners, and won 33–26. Bernard Laporte served as one of the referees.^[10]

Honours

• Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup
  • Champions (3): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
• European Challenge Cup
  • Champions (1): 2022–23
  • Runners-up (4): 2009–10, 2011–12, 2019–20, 2021–22
• Top 14
  • Champions (4): 1930–31, 1986–87, 1991–92, 2013–14
  • Runners-up (9): 1947–48, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1984–85, 1988–89, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17
• Challenge Yves du Manoir
  • Champions (2): 1934, 1970
  • Runners-up (3): 1939, 1954, 1983
• Rugby Pro D2
  • Champions (2): 2004–05, 2007–08
  • Runners-up (1): 2000–01

Finals results

Current standings

Current squad

The Toulon squad for the 2023–24 season is:^{[11] [12][lower-alpha 1]}

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

Player Position Union Teddy Baubigny Hooker France Yanis Boulassel Hooker France Anthony Étrillard Hooker France Jack Singleton [lower-alpha 1] Hooker England Christopher Tolofua Hooker France Kieran Brookes Prop England Bruce Devaux Prop France Beka Gigashvili Prop Georgia Jean-Baptiste Gros Prop France Dany Priso Prop France Emerick Setiano Prop France Brian Alainu'uese Lock Samoa Matthias Halagahu Lock France Swan Rebbadj Lock France David Ribbans Lock England Adrien Warion Lock France Esteban Abadie Back row France Jules Coulon Back row France Facundo Isa Back row Argentina Matteo Le Corvec Back row France Charles Ollivon Back row France Cornell du Preez Back row Scotland Selevasio Tolofua Back row France Yannick Youyoutte Back row France

Player Position Union Jules Danglot Scrum-half France Vasil Lobzhanidze Scrum-half Georgia Baptiste Serin Scrum-half France Ben White Scrum-half Scotland Dan Biggar Fly-half Wales Enzo Hervé Fly-half France Mathieu Smaili Fly-half France Waisea Nayacalevu Centre Fiji Duncan Paia'aua Centre Samoa Maëlan Rabut Centre France Rayan Rebbadj Centre France Jérémy Sinzelle Centre France Setariki Tuicuvu Centre Fiji Gaël Dréan Wing France Leicester Fainga'anuku Wing New Zealand Gabin Villière Wing France Jiuta Wainiqolo Wing Fiji Melvyn Jaminet Fullback France Aymeric Luc Fullback France

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 Pierre Damond Hooker France Leo Ametlla Prop France Lohann Gil Prop France Samuel Jean-Christophe Prop France Davit Mcheddlidze Prop Georgia Owen Sorhaindo Prop France Mateo Tornel-Rodriguez Prop France Yanis Trabelsi Prop France Thomas Adelaide Lock France Julien Godel Lock France Corentin Mezou Lock France Fabio Zingone Lock France Logan Dubois Back row France Marc Essoh Back row France Joe Quere Karaba Back row France Edouard Sabotin-Desclaud Back row France

Player Position Union Wendemi Viellard Scrum-half France Nathan Azais Fly-half France Thibaut Andral Centre France Oliver Cowie Centre France Louis Morland Centre France Karsen Talalua Centre France Esteban Morvan Wing France Ulysse Justand-Mercier Wing France Alberto Carmona Fullback Spain Marius Domon Fullback France Barnabe Mechentel Fullback France

Notable former players

This is a list of former players in alphabetical order showing nationality and the period played for the club.

See also

• List of rugby union clubs in France
• Rugby union in France

References

External links

• (in French) RC Toulonnais Official website