CA BRIVE

'Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin' are a French rugby union team founded in 1904 and based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the ''département'' of Corrèze of the Limousin ''région'' . They wear black and white and play in the Parc Municipal des Sports (capacity 15,000).

Contents

History

Former greats

Finals results

French championship

Heineken Cup

Current squad

Current internationals

Notable Former Players

External link

History

The club was established on Oct.12, 1912. It played regularly in the First Division, and established itself as the stronghold of rugby in Limousin but for ages 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 May 23 that year they met SU Agen at Stade de Gerland in Lyon only to lose (8-15). Brive next made it to the final in the 1972 season, where they faced AS Béziers on May 21 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 the 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 to 13 to Stade Toulousain. It was their fourth losing final. Only two other clubs have lost more finals without winning one than them (ASM Clermont Auvergne 7, US Dax 5). That year however, they won the famed 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 points to nine. So far, they are one of only two clubs to win the European Cup without ever winning the domestic championship, the other one being Northampton Saints.
On Feb 22, 1997, Brive, as European champions, were pitted against Auckland Blues who had recently won the Super 12. The French were no competition to an extra powerful Kiwi side who won easily 47-11 [1].
In 1998 they were again finalists of the Heineken Cup. Brive came close to capturing back-to-back titles, but lost to English club Bath Rugby by just one point, 18 to 19 at Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.
Since then, the club has been in dire straits, as it was relegated to the second division in 2000. They bounced back in 2003 and have struggled ever since in the lower echelons of the league table, except in 2004 when they managed to qualify for the playoffs.

Former greats

Brive have bred some 30 players who went on to play for France. Among them, Amédée Domenech, nicknamed "Le Duc"" ("the Duke") who played there in the 50s and 60s, and gave his name to the stadium shortly after his death in 2003. London Irish Olivier Magne, flyhalf Christophe Lamaison, n°8 Jean-Luc Joinel and hooker Michel Yachvili, the father of Dimitri Yachvili also donned the CAB jersey. Puma flyhalf Lisandro Arbizu also played for them. Only one french international is currently playing for Brive, centre Ludovic Valbon. But the club has become hom to many pacific islanders including Fjian's Filimoni Bolavucu and Norman Ligari, the Samoa and Gloucester legend Terry Fanoula and Tongan Sufanga Hufanga. They recently signed Welsh International, Barry Davies from the Llanelli Scarlets.

Finals results

French championship

'Date'	'Season'	'Winner'	'Score'	'Runner-up'	'Spectators'
23 May 1965	'SU Agen'	CA Brive	15-8	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	28.758
21 May 1972	'AS Béziers'	CA Brive	9-0	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31.161
18 May 1975	'AS Béziers'	CA Brive	13-12	Parc des Princes, Paris	39.991
1 June 1996	'Stade Toulousain'	CA Brive	20-13	Parc des Princes, Paris	48.162

Heineken Cup

'Date'	'Season'	'Winner'	'Score'	'Runner-up'	'Spectators'
25 January 1997	'CA Brive'	Leicester Tigers	28-9	Arms Park, Cardiff	41.664
31 January 1998	Bath Rugby	'CA Brive'	19-18	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	36.500

Current squad

★ Pertrisor Toderasc

★ Jawad Djoudi

★ Pierre Capdevielle

★ Johan Van Zyl

★ Charl Van Rensburg

★ Lionel Mallier

★ Jérôme Bonvoisin

★ Simon Azoulai

★ Tim Clark

★ Maxime Petitjean

★ Yves Donguy

★ Cédric Leite

★ Ludovic Valbon

★ Farid Sid

★ Yohan Dalla Riva

★ Norman Ligairi

★ Filimoni Bolavucu

★ Terry Fanoula

★ Lucas Oquera

★ Barry Davies

Current internationals

★ Damien Chouly

★ Ludovic Valbon

Notable Former Players

★ Christophe Lamaison

★ Olivier Magne

★ Alain Penaud

★ Gregor Townsend

★ Sébastien Viars

★ Elvis Vermeulen

External link

★ Official site

★ Unofficial fan's site

★ CA Brive profile on Rugby15