Sylvain Houles

Sylvain Houles (French pronunciation: [silvɛ̃ ul]; born 3 August 1981) is the head coach of Toulouse Olympique in the Championship and a French former professional rugby league footballer.

Sylvain Houles

Personal information
Born	(1981-08-03) 3 August 1981 (age 44) France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Wing, Centre, Loose forward
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1999 XIII Catalan 2000 Huddersfield Giants 7 1 0 0 4 2001–02 London Broncos 30 12 0 0 48 2003 Dewsbury Rams 6 3 0 0 12 2003–05 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 10 1 0 0 4 2007–08 Toulouse Olympique 17 1 0 0 4 2009–12 Toulouse Olympique 57 5 0 0 20 Total 127 23 0 0 92 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2001–07 France 2 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2013– Toulouse Olympique 234 157 3 74 67
Source: [1][2][3][4][5] As of 7 October 2025

Playing career

As a player, Houles was a French international who toured New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2001 and appeared in the Super League for the Huddersfield Giants, the London Broncos and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. He also played in the Championship for the Dewsbury Rams and Toulouse Olympique. His position of choice was initially on the wing or in the centre, but in his later career he played as a loose forward.

Coaching career

Houles combined playing with an assistant coach role in his later career. He was appointed assistant coach at Toulouse Olympique in May 2013, working alongside Gilles Dumas.^[6] He was named head coach in December 2013.^[7]

On 10 October 2021, Houles coached Toulouse to victory over Featherstone in the Million Pound Game which saw the club promoted to the Super League for the first time in their history.^[8]

Toulouse Olympique would go on to be relegated the following season from the Super League after finishing bottom of the table. Houles would later comment saying that the relegation had done "untold damage" to the club.^[9]

In the 2025 RFL Championship season, Houles guided Toulouse to a 2nd-placed finish and victory in the grand final against York.^[10]