CA Brive

CA Brive
Full name	Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin
Nickname(s)	Les Coujous; Les Gaillards (The Strapping Lads); Les Noir et Blanc (The Black and Whites); Les Zèbres (The Zebras)
Founded	1910; 114 years ago
Location	Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
Ground(s)	Stade Amédée-Domenech (Capacity: 14,759)
President	Simon Gillham
Coach(es)	Pierre Henry-Broncan
Captain(s)	Saïd Hireche
Most appearances	Jean-Claude Roques (373)
Top scorer	Jean-François Thiot (1796)
Most tries	Jean-Pierre Puidebois (115)
League(s)	Pro D2
2023–24	6th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.cabrive-rugby.com

Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive (French pronunciation: [bʁiv]) or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department.

Brive is a historical member of French rugby union, being one of the clubs that spent the most seasons in the top French domestic competition. "Les Coujous" also won the Heineken Cup in 1997, defeating Leicester Tigers in the final in a 28-9 win.

Many great players, both French and foreign, played for the club currently headed by Simon Gillham, and the youth academy has a good reputation. Brive players who also on to play for France include: Amédée Domenech, nicknamed "Le Duc" ("The Duke") who played there in the 1950s and 60s, and gave his name to the stadium after his death in 2003; prolific flanker Olivier Magne, fly-halves Christophe Lamaison and Alain Penaud, number-eight Jean-Luc Joinel and hooker Michel Yachvili, the father of Dimitri Yachvili, also wore the black and white jersey.

Their home ground is the 14,759-capacity Stade Amédée-Domenech and the club colours are black and white.

History[edit]

The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on 12 October 1912.^{[clarification needed]} Before the Second World War, Brive changed from rugby union to rugby league but returned to union after the war.

It played regularly in the First Division, and established itself as the stronghold of rugby in Limousin but for many years its only title was a Second Division trophy won in 1957. Brive did not make it to the final of the First Division championship until 1965. On 23 May that year they met SU Agen at Stade de Gerland in Lyon only to lose 15–8. Brive next made it to the final in the 1972 season, where they faced AS Béziers on 21 May in Lyon again, and again the Black and White came out the losers, as Béziers won their second consecutive title (9–0). Brive met AS Béziers in the final again three season later, in 1975. By then, Béziers had become the unbeatable team of the decade, and they won their fifth title, this time by just one point (13–12), at Parc des Princes in Paris.

Brive experienced a resurgence in the middle of the 1990s, first in 1996, when they made their first finals appearance since the mid-1970s in Paris. Brive however went down 20–13 to Stade Toulousain. It was their fourth losing final. Only one club have lost more finals without winning one than them (US Dax, on five). That year however, they won the Challenge Yves du Manoir, defeating Pau 12–6. The following season, they made it to the final of the Heineken Cup where they faced the Leicester Tigers from England at Cardiff Arms Park. Brive finally won a final, defeating the Tigers 28–9.^[1] They are the only club to win the European Cup without ever winning their domestic championship.

On 22 February 1997, Brive, as European champions, were pitted against Auckland Blues who had recently won the Super 12. The French team were no competition to an extra powerful Kiwi side which won easily 47–11.^[2] In 1998 Brive again reached the final of the Heineken Cup, this time against Bath. They came close to capturing back-to-back titles, losing by just one point, 19–18 at Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.

Since then, however, the club has been in dire straits, as it was subjected to a punitive relegation to the second division in 2000 due to bad financial management. They bounced back two years later but have struggled ever since in the lower echelons of the league table, except in 2004 when they managed to qualify for the playoffs. In 2005, Brive went to the semi-finals of European Challenge Cup, but they lost to Pau. In 2009, after taking the sixth place of the Championship, the Black and White could participate in the Heineken Cup, but the competition was difficult for them, against the Europeans champions Leinster, Llanelli Scarlets and London Irish.

After difficulties and a relegation to the second division in 2012, Brive returned to the Top 14 the following year, after defeating Pau.^[3]

Honours[edit]

Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup
- Champions (1): 1997
- Runners-up (1): 1998

French championship Top 14
- Runners-up (4): 1965, 1972, 1975, 1996

Pro D2
- Champions (1): 1957
- Runners-up (2): 2013, 2019

Promotion play-offs Final/Top 14 Access Match
- Champions (2): 2012–13, 2018–19

Challenge Yves du Manoir:
- Champions (1): 1996
- Runners-up (2): 1963, 1974

Coupe de France:
- Runners-up (1): 2000

Finals results[edit]

Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup[edit]

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Stadium	Attendance
25 January 1997	Brive	28–9	Leicester Tigers	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41,664
31 January 1998	Bath	19–18	Brive	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	36,500

French championship[edit]

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Stadium	Attendance
23 May 1965	Agen	15–8	Brive	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	28,758
21 May 1972	Béziers	9–0	Brive	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31,161
18 May 1975	Béziers	13–12	Brive	Parc des Princes, Paris	39,991
1 June 1996	Toulouse	20–13	Brive	Parc des Princes, Paris	48,162

Challenge Yves du Manoir[edit]

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Stadium	Attendance
8 June 1963	Agen	Brive	11–0	Parc des Princes, Paris	N/A
18 May 1974	Narbonne	Brive	19–10	Stade Yves du Manoir, Colombes	15,000
27 January 1996	Brive	Pau	12–6	Stade Charléty, Paris	13,000

Coupe de France[edit]

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Stadium	Attendance
1 June 2000	Biarritz	Brive	24–13	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	17,500

Current standings[edit]

2023–24 Pro D2 Table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Provence	30	20	2	8	803	632	+171	8	3	95	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Vannes	30	17	2	11	777	508	+269	10	7	89	Semi-final promotion playoff place
3	Béziers	30	17	1	12	789	715	+74	6	4	80	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Grenoble	30	19	0	11	826	694	+132	8	3	79^[a]
5	Dax	30	17	1	12	626	683	−57	5	2	77
6	Brive	30	16	1	13	689	583	+106	8	2	76
7	Nevers	30	15	0	15	682	610	+72	6	9	75
8	Mont-de-Marsan	30	15	1	14	766	641	+125	5	7	74
9	Aurillac	30	14	1	15	593	764	−171	3	3	64
10	Colomiers	30	13	1	16	661	657	+4	4	6	64
11	Valence Romans	30	13	0	17	623	640	−17	5	5	62
12	Soyaux Angoulême	30	13	2	15	563	616	−53	0	6	62
13	Agen	30	13	1	16	597	732	−135	2	5	61
14	Biarritz	30	11	0	19	618	811	−193	4	5	53
15	Montauban	30	11	0	19	577	755	−178	2	5	51	Relegation play-off
16	Rouen	30	9	1	20	604	753	−149	5	5	48	Relegation to Nationale

Updated to match(es) played on 12 January 2024. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
Points difference in head-to-head matches
Try differential in head-to-head matches
Points difference in all matches
Try differential in all matches
Points scored in all matches
Tries scored in all matches
Fewer matches forfeited
Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Notes:

^ Following the decisions rendered by the Appeal Commission on July 6, 2023 and December 14, 2023 by the Disciplinary Council, a withdrawal of 12 points applies for FC Grenoble Rugby.The total sanction was reduced on appeal on 31 January 2024, recovering four points in the ranking.

Current squad[edit]

The Brive squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[4]^[5]

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

Player	Position	Union
Benjamin Boudou	Hooker	France
Lucas Da Silva	Hooker	France
Issam Hamel	Hooker	Algeria
Adrien Pélissié	Hooker	France
Vakh Abdaladze	Prop	Georgia
Daniel Brennan	Prop	France
Francisco Coria Marchetti	Prop	Argentina
Nathan Fraissenon	Prop	France
Hugo Reilhes	Prop	France
Wesley Tapueluelu	Prop	Tonga
Marcel van der Merwe	Prop	South Africa
Julien Delannoy	Lock	France
Tevita Ratuva	Lock	Fiji
Oskar Rixen	Lock	Germany
Sitaleki Timani	Lock	Tonga
Renger van Eerten	Lock	Netherlands
Sasha Gué	Back row	France
Saïd Hireche	Back row	Algeria
Retief Marais	Back row	South Africa
Ross Moriarty	Back row	Wales
Taniela Sadrugu	Back row	Fiji
Asier Usarraga	Back row	Spain
Matthieu Voisin	Back row	France
Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco	Back row	New Zealand

Player	Position	Union
Julien Blanc	Scrum-half	France
Leo Carbonneau	Scrum-half	France
Jackson Garden-Bachop	Fly-half	New Zealand
Stuart Olding	Fly-half	Ireland
Sammy Arnold	Centre	Ireland
Guillaume Galletier	Centre	France
Sam Johnson	Centre	Scotland
Nico Lee	Centre	South Africa
Paul Walisoliso	Centre	Fiji
Arthur Bonneval	Wing	France
Mathieu Brignonen	Wing	France
Wesley Douglas	Wing	England
Asaeli Tuivuaka	Wing	Fiji
Aaron Grandidier	Fullback	France
Thomas Laranjeira	Fullback	France

Espoirs squad[edit]