Lyon OU

Lyon OU
Full name	Lyon Olympique Universitaire
Nickname(s)	Les Loups (The Wolves)
Founded	1896
Location	Lyon, France
Ground(s)	Stade de Gerland (Capacity: 35,000)
President	Yann Roubert
Coach(es)	Xavier Garbajosa
League(s)	Top 14
2021–22	9th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.lourugby.fr

Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season after winning the 2015–16 title of the second-level Pro D2. The club has bounced between the top two levels in recent years, having also been promoted in 2011 and 2014 and relegated in 2012 and 2015.

LOU Rugby against Stade Montois at the Vuillermet Stadium in Lyon, Pro D2 season 2004-2005

They were founded in 1896 and play in red and black. In 2011, the team left the Stade Vuillermet to the new Matmut Stadium. In 2017 the team moved to the Matmut Stadium de Gerland.

History

Le LOU, as it is traditionally known, is one of the oldest sports clubs in France and among the first outside Paris to have set up a rugby section. The club’s original name was Racing Club, the result of a merger of the Racing Club de Vaise and the Rugby Club de Lyon. It was renamed Racing et Cercles Réunis in 1902 after several other clubs joined it, then a few months later Lyon Olympique. Finally, in 1910, it became Lyon Olympique Universitaire. The red and black were adopted in 1902.

The club developed several sections (it now has 13), one of the most successful being the rugby union section, which is now known as LOU Rugby. The rugby club took part in three successive French championship finals (1931–33), losing the first one to Toulon (3-6) but winning the next two against Narbonne (9-3 and 10-3). It then played in lower amateur leagues until it was promoted back to the second professional division (Pro D2). In 2006-07, it had the second biggest budget of the championship and its ambition was to rejoin the Top 14 in the next two years, under the leadership of their coach Christian Lanta, who formerly led Racing Club de France, Italian club Treviso and Agen. However, they would not succeed in their promotion quest until 2011. Since then, they have been a proverbial "yo-yo team", having been either relegated or promoted four times in the six seasons since their 2011 promotion.

Honours

Challenge Cup:
- Champions: 2022
Champion de France:
- Champions: 1932, 1933
- Runners-up: 1931
Rugby Pro D2:
- Champions: 2011, 2014, 2016
Challenge Yves du Manoir:
- Champions: 1933
Fédérale 1:
- Champions: 2002
Deuxième Division:
- Champions: 1989, 1992

Juniors: 2012 Cadets: 1984,2017

Finals results

French championship

Date	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Venue	Spectators
10 May 1931	RC Toulon	Lyon OU	6-3	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	10,000
5 May 1932	Lyon OU	RC Narbonne	9-3	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	13,000
7 May 1933	Lyon OU	RC Narbonne	10-3	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	15,000

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1932	SU Agen	round robin	Lyon OU
1933	Lyon OU	round robin	SU Agen

European Challenge Cup Finals

Date	Winner	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Spectators
27 May 2022	Lyon	30–12	Toulon	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	51,431

Current standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toulouse	16	11	1	4	8	413	266	+147	54	Champions Cup & Top 14 finals
2	Stade Français	16	9	1	6	8	426	265	+161	46
3	La Rochelle	16	9	0	7	6	401	309	+92	42
4	Racing 92	16	9	1	6	4	443	414	+29	42
5	Bayonne	16	9	1	6	2	370	359	+11	40
6	Bordeaux Bègles	16	8	1	7	6	360	324	+36	40
7	Lyon	16	9	0	7	4	384	384	0	40	Challenge Cup
8	Montpellier	16	8	0	8	6	384	357	+27	38
9	Toulon	16	8	0	8	3	361	334	+27	35
10	Castres	16	7	1	8	2	321	376	−55	32
11	Clermont	16	6	1	9	5	345	407	−62	31
12	Pau	16	5	1	10	5	337	395	−58	27
13	Brive	16	5	0	11	5	267	435	−168	25	Relegation play-off
14	Perpignan	16	5	0	11	2	249	436	−187	22	Relegation to Rugby Pro D2

Updated to match(es) played on 29 January 2023. Source: Top 14
Rules for classification: 1) Competition points earned in head-to-head matches; 2) Points difference in head-to-head matches; 3) Try differential in head-to-head matches; 4) Points difference in all matches; 5) Try differential in all matches; 6) Points scored in all matches; 7) Tries scored in all matches; 8) Fewer matches forfeited; 9) Classification in the previous Top 14 season.

Current squad

The Lyon squad for the 2022–23 season is:[1]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player	Position	Union
Yanis Charcosset	Hooker	France
Liam Coltman	Hooker	New Zealand
Guillaume Marchand	Hooker	France
Demba Bamba	Prop	France
Vivien Devisme	Prop	France
Feao Fotuaika	Prop	Australia
Francisco Gómez Kodela	Prop	Argentina
Hamza Kaabeche	Prop	France
Jérôme Rey	Prop	France
Paulo Tafili	Prop	France
Sébastien Taofifénua	Prop	France
Killian Geraci	Lock	France
Joel Kpoku	Lock	England
Félix Lambey	Lock	France
Temo Mayanavanua	Lock	France
Romain Taofifénua	Lock	France
Arno Botha	Back row	South Africa
Dylan Cretin	Back row	France
Loann Goujon	Back row	France
Maxime Gouzou	Back row	France
Mickael Guillard	Back row	France
Beka Saghinadze	Back row	Georgia
Patrick Sobela	Back row	France
Jordan Taufua	Back row	Samoa
Theo William	Back row	France

Player	Position	Union
Baptiste Couilloud	Scrum-half	France
Jean-Marc Doussain	Scrum-half	France
Jonathan Pélissié	Scrum-half	France
Leo Berdeu	Fly-half	France
Fletcher Smith	Fly-half	New Zealand
Lima Sopoaga	Fly-half	New Zealand
Ethan Dumortier	Centre	France
Kyle Godwin	Centre	Australia
Josiah Maraku	Centre	New Zealand
Alfred Parisien	Centre	France
Thibault Regard	Centre	France
Xavier Mignot	Wing	France
Noa Nakaitaci	Wing	Fiji
Josua Tuisova	Wing	Fiji
Tavite Veredamu	Wing	France
Toby Arnold	Fullback	New Zealand
Davit Niniashvili	Fullback	Georgia

Espoirs squad

The Lyon OU Espoirs squad is:[2]