RC Toulon

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 his 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.

Toulon signs star players

A new president, Mourad Boudjellal, a Toulonnais who made his fortune in the comic strip business, promised to build a huge team. He said: "I invented the Top 15, with a team that could be competitive in the Top 14". He signed a high number of first-class players, some of them well above 30, like Jean-Jacques Crenca, Yann Delaigue, Gonzalo Quesada and Dan Luger. He created buzz around the team as he managed to sign former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, who arrived in Toulon right after the end of the Air New Zealand Cup on 26 October 2006. The contract was rumoured to be around €300,000 (£200,000), which Boudjellal claimed to pay from his own pocket, for only eight to ten matches. In a 2010 interview, Boudjellal would say about his decision to pursue Umaga, "It was incredible, because we were in the second division and I was speaking with the best player in the world. But he said yes and came to play with Toulon."

Boudjellal continued to sign high-profile veteran players, including captain and former all-time international caps leader George Gregan, reportedly paid €400,000 out of Boudjellal's pocket, All Blacks' former all-time scoring leader Andrew Mehrtens, and Jonny Wilkinson.

Back in Pro D2 for the 2006–07 season, Toulon finish fourth in the league, putting them in the promotion playoffs for a place in the Top 14, but they lost in the promotion semi-finals 21–17 at La Rochelle. The following season Toulon headed the table from early on, never dropping from the top spot on their way to clinching promotion with two rounds to spare. The 2008–09 season proved to be one of consolidation. Umaga had been handed the coaching reins, but as Boudjellal would later say, "The first season in the Top 14 was very difficult and I learned that Tana Umaga was not yet ready to give up playing – and that he's not a manager." The team managed to survive that season, using a late-season surge to avoid a relegation scare. Toulon had a much more successful 2009–10 campaign, with Wilkinson leading the charge. He would be named the top fly-half of the year in France by leading rugby publication Midi Olympique, and would also be recalled to the England national team. Domestically, Toulon finished second on the league table, losing out to Perpignan for the top spot on a tiebreaker. This finish gave them a spot in the 2010–11 Heineken Cup, and also a first-round bye in that season's Top 14 playoffs. Toulon's domestic campaign ended in the semi-finals with a 35–29 extra-time loss to eventual champion Clermont in Saint-Étienne.

Toulon's 2009–10 Challenge Cup campaign proved more successful. They finished top of their pool and advanced to the knockout stage, crushing Scarlets 38–12 in the quarterfinals and surviving a hard-fought match against Connacht 19–12. Toulon got their preferred final venue of the Vélodrome on 23 May, where they lost to the Cardiff Blues 28–21, missing out on silverware for the season.

In May 2013 Toulon won the 2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne.

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

Main article: Stade Mayol

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 18 July 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.

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.

Honours

• Heineken Cup / European Rugby Champions Cup
  • Champions (3): 2013, 2014, 2015
• European Rugby Challenge Cup
  • Champions (1): 2023
  • Runners-up (4): 2010, 2012, 2020, 2022
• French championship Top 14
  • Champions (4): 1931, 1987, 1992, 2014
  • Runners-up (9): 1948, 1968, 1971, 1985, 1989, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017
• Challenge Yves du Manoir
  • Champions (2): 1934, 1970
  • Runners-up (3): 1939, 1954, 1983
• Pro D2
  • Champions (2): 2005, 2008
  • Runners-up (1): 2001

Finals results

Heineken Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup

European Rugby Challenge Cup

French championship

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Current standings

Current squad

The Toulon squad for the 2025–26 season is:

Espoirs squad

Notable former players

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

French

• Marc Andreu (2002–2009)
• Mathieu Bastareaud (2011–2019)
• Benjamin Bastères (2001–2011, 2022–2023)
• Jean Berti
• Christian Califano (1990–1991)
• Christian Carrère
• Éric Champ (1979–1996)
• Jean-Jacques Crenca (2006–2007)
• Yann Delaigue (1988–1997, 2006–2007)
• Christophe Dominici (1993–1997)
• Jérôme Gallion (1975–1989)
• André Herrero
• Aubin Hueber (1991–2000, 2003–2006)
• Jean-Teiva Jacquelain "Academy" (2015–2017)
• Benjamin Lapeyre (2010–2013)
• Jo Maso (1962–1964)
• Eric Melville
• Jacques Merquey
• Pierre Mignoni (1996–2000, 2009–2011)
• Olivier Missoup (2008–2012)
• Marc de Rougemont (1991–1998)
• Jean-Baptiste Rué (2006–2007)
• Thomas Sourice (2000–2012)
• Jean-François Tordo

International

• ARG Felipe Contepomi
• ARG Matias Cortese
• ARG Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe
• ARG Juan Martín Hernández
• ARG Facundo Isa
• ARG Esteban Lozada
• ARG Gonzalo Quesada
• ARG Nicolás Sánchez
• ARG Leonardo Senatore
• AUS Fotu Auelua
• AUS Quade Cooper
• AUS Rocky Elsom
• AUS Matt Giteau
• AUS George Gregan
• AUS Matt Henjak
• AUS Noah Lolesio
• AUS Salesi Ma'afu
• AUS Drew Mitchell
• AUS James O'Connor
• AUS Luke Rooney
• AUS George Smith
• AUS Jone Tawake
• AUS Lachlan Turner
• CZE Martin Jágr
• ENG Delon Armitage
• ENG Steffon Armitage
• ENG Chris Ashton
• ENG Kris Chesney
• ENG Joe El-Abd
• ENG Nick Kennedy
• ENG Dan Luger
• ENG Tom May
• ENG Paul Sackey
• ENG Dean Schofield
• ENG Simon Shaw
• ENG Matt Stevens
• ENG Andrew Sheridan
• ENG Jonny Wilkinson
• ENG David Ribbans
• FIJ Sireli Bobo
• FIJ Sisa Koyamaibole
• FIJ Gabiriele Lovobalavu
• FIJ Semi Radradra
• FIJ Manasa Saulo
• FIJ Josua Tuisova
• GEO Levan Chilachava
• GEO Mamuka Gorgodze
• GEO Davit Kubriashvili
• GEO Konstantin Mikautadze
• GEO Ilia Zedginidze
• GEO Gia Labadze
• GEO Akvsenti Giorgadze
• GER Damien Tussac
• IRE Rob Henderson
• IRE Paul O'Connell
• ITA Martin Castrogiovanni
• ITA Santiago Dellapè
• ITA Ramiro Pez
• JPN Ayumu Goromaru
• JPN Christian Loamanu
• NZL Jerry Collins
• NZL Malakai Fekitoa
• NZL Alby Mathewson
• NZL Carl Hayman
• NZL Chris Masoe
• NZL Leicester Fainga'anuku
• NZL Ihaia West
• NZL Andrew Mehrtens
• NZL Liam Messam
• NZL Ma'a Nonu
• NZL Anton Oliver
• NZL Julian Savea
• NZL Saimone Taumoepeau
• NZL Tana Umaga
• NZL Ali Williams
• NZL Sonny Bill Williams
• NZL Rudi Wulf
• RSA Bakkies Botha
• RSA Michael Claassens
• RSA Eben Etzebeth
• RSA Bryan Habana
• RSA Cheslin Kolbe
• RSA Juandré Kruger
• RSA Victor Matfield
• RSA JP Pietersen
• RSA André Pretorius
• RSA Danie Rossouw
• RSA Lawrence Sephaka
• RSA Juan Smith
• RSA Marcel van der Merwe
• RSA Joe van Niekerk
• RSA Duane Vermeulen
• RSA Lorne Ward
• ROU Radu Demian
• ROU Alin Petrache
• SAM Alafoti Fa'osiliva
• SAM Tusi Pisi
• SAM Junior Polu
• SAM David Smith
• SCO Philip Fitzgerald
• SCO Rory Lamont
• TAH Makalea Foliaki(Academy)
• TAH Jean-Teiva Jacquelain(Academy)
• TON Mafileo Kefu
• USA Samu Manoa
• WAL Leigh Halfpenny
• WAL Alun Wyn Jones
• WAL Gavin Henson
• WAL Gethin Jenkins
• WAL Dan Biggar
• WAL Jamie Robinson

Notes

References

References

1. "Umaga, l'incroyable transfert". rugbyhebdo.fr.
2. Jenkins, Graham. (11 August 2010). "Toulon still dreaming big". ESPNScrum.
3. (22 March 2007). "Gregan puts pen to paper with Toulon". Planet-Rugby.com.
4. (23 May 2007). "Mehrtens agrees to Toulon switch". BBC.
5. (24 May 2007). "Rugby: Mehrtens signs for Toulon". The New Zealand Herald.
6. Jenkins, Graham. (5 August 2010). "Wilkinson hints at Toulon stay". ESPNScrum.
7. (18 March 2013). "Toulon claim Heineken Cup glory". ESPN.
8. (18 July 2013). "Marseille play Toulon in unusual half football half rugby charity match". Yahoo.
9. BeIN Sports. (21 July 2013). "Match Caritatif Foot/Rugby RC Toulon - Olympique de Marseille [Match Entier]".
10. (30 July 2015). "Zinedine Zidane scores immense try in strange football/rugby hybrid match". ESPN.
11. (5 March 2025). "Effectif – RCT – Rugby Club Toulonnais". RC Toulon.
12. (5 March 2025). "Toulon squad for season 2024/2025". All Rugby.