CA Brive - Wikiwand

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.

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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.

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History

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The club was created on 15 March 1910. 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]

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Honours

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
French Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2000

Finals results

Heineken Cup / European Rugby Champions Cup

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Spectators
25 January 1997	CA Brive	28–9	Leicester Tigers	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41,664
31 January 1998	Bath	19–18	CA Brive	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	36,500

French championship

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Spectators
23 May 1965	SU Agen	15–8	CA Brive	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	28,758
21 May 1972	AS Béziers	9–0	CA Brive	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31,161
18 May 1975	AS Béziers	13–12	CA Brive	Parc des Princes, Paris	39,991
1 June 1996	Stade Toulousain	20–13	CA Brive	Parc des Princes, Paris	48,162

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Spectators
8 June 1963	SU Agen	11–0	CA Brive	N/A
18 May 1974	RC Narbonne	19–10	CA Brive	15,000
27 January 1996	CA Brive	12–6	Section Paloise	13,000

French Cup

Date	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Spectators
1 June 2000	Biarritz Olympique	24–13	CA Brive	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	17,500

Current standings

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2024–25 Pro D2 Table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Grenoble	30	21	0	9	987	677	+310	11	3	98	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Brive	30	20	0	10	764	615	+149	10	4	94
3	Colomiers	30	18	1	11	926	778	+148	7	5	86	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Provence	30	17	1	12	818	722	+96	7	5	82
5	Soyaux Angoulême	30	17	2	11	761	727	+34	6	2	80
6	Montauban	30	17	0	13	781	762	+19	4	5	77
7	Béziers	30	16	0	14	769	695	+74	7	6	77
8	Valence Romans	30	13	0	17	840	782	+58	4	8	64
9	Biarritz	30	14	0	16	718	757	−39	4	5	64
10	Nevers	30	14	0	16	706	857	−151	3	3	62
11	Dax	30	13	1	16	634	745	−111	3	4	61
12	Oyonnax	30	12	1	17	749	716	+33	6	5	61
13	Mont-de-Marsan	30	13	0	17	768	838	−70	3	5	60
14	Agen	30	12	0	18	699	727	−28	3	8	59
15	Aurillac	30	13	0	17	700	873	−173	2	3	57	Relegation play-off
16	Nice	30	7	0	23	592	941	−349	1	6	35	Relegation to Nationale

Updated to match(es) played on 16 May 2025. Source:

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Current squad

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The Brive squad for the 2024–25 season is:^[4]^[5]

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

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Espoirs squad

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

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Notable former players

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The following are players who have represented their country, players who have won a title with the club, players who have played a sufficient number of games to go down in the club history or players who came from the academy and have made a significant career in another team: