Bayonne

Aviron Bayonnais (more commonly known by rugby fans simply as Bayonne) is a French rugby team that currently plays in the Top 14, the top division of French rugby. The team has ties to the French Basque community. 

The club was founded in 1904 and was immediately successful. After all, it took less than a decade for the Bayonne rugby team to win the French Championship for the first time (1913).

The glory years for the Bayonne rugby side continued into the 1920s and 1930s, when the team enjoyed a great period of success. They reached the final of the French Championship in 1922 and 1923, but sadly they lost against Toulouse on both occasions.

The Bayonne rugby team then enjoyed greater levels of success in the 1930s. For example, in 1934, the team beat Biarritz 13-8 in the final of the French Championship in order to claim their second crown. Two years later, they also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir for the first time in the club's history. 

The club's momentum also continued into the 1940s. In this decade, they won the 1943 French Championship and finished as the tournament's runners-up the year after. 

Sadly, since the end of the Second World War, Bayonne have been unable to replicate their early successes. In fact, since 1945, the team has only appeared in the French Championship final once. This was in 1982 and the side unfortunately lost to SU Agen. However, the team did win the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1980.

Now, in the professional era of rugby, the Bayonne rugby team regularly bounces between the Top 14 (France's top rugby division) and the Pro D2 (France's second tier). They were crowned as Pro D2 champions in both 2019 and 2022. 

Will the glory years ever return to the Bayonne rugby team? Find out with RugbyPass.