Montpellier Hérault

History

Rugby reached Montpellier in 1895 at the city lycée, today's Lycée Joffre, and in 1907 the Stade Montpelliérain became the city's first civilian club. The present club was born in 1986, when the city pressed the Stade Montpelliérain and the Montpellier Université Club to merge into the Montpellier Rugby Club. After presidents Thierry Perez and Jean-Jacques Sauveterre arrived in 1998 it went straight back to the professional division, and in 2003 it won Pro D2 and reached the top flight, where it has stayed ever since, with a new name and the cistus flower on its blue-and-white shirt. It won the European Shield in 2004, moved into the new Stade Yves-du-Manoir, built for the 2007 World Cup, and played its first final in 2011, lost to Toulouse at the Stade de France. Under Mohed Altrad, president since 2011, it won the Challenge Cup in 2016 at Lyon's Parc OL and in 2021 against Leicester at Twickenham, and the French title in 2022, 29–10 against Castres. After surviving an access match at Grenoble in 2024, it beat Ulster at San Mamés in 2026 for a third Challenge Cup and reached the Top 14 final.

Sources: montpellier-rugby.com · top14.lnr.fr · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org (2) · en.wikipedia.org (3) · en.wikipedia.org (4) (opens in a new tab)