Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The France national rugby union team represents the French Rugby Federation in men's international rugby union matches. Colloquially known as Le XV de France, the team traditionally wears blue shirts with a Gallic rooster embroidered on the chest, white shorts and red socks in reference to the French national flag. Les Bleus mostly play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship along with England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. France have won the tournament on 26 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 10 times.
Edinburgh Rugby is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh plays the majority of its home games at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium.
Dimitri Yachvili Markarian is a French former rugby union footballer who played as a scrum-half for Biarritz and France. He played for France from 2002 to 2012, earning 61 caps and scoring 373 points. With them he played in the final of the 2011 World Cup losing to New Zealand and won two Grand Slams in 2004 and 2010. In club rugby, he won a European Cup in 2012 and played in two European Cup finals in 2006 and 2010 with Biarritz. With this club, he also won two French championship titles in 2005 and 2006. With his previous club, Gloucester, he was champion of England in 2002. After the end of his playing career, he became a rugby consultant, a career he began while still a player.
Frédéric Michalak is a former French rugby union footballer. His early career was spent playing for his hometown team, Toulouse, in the Top 14 and in the Heineken Cup. He moved to South Africa to play for the Sharks in the Super 14 after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but after just one year with the Sharks he moved back to Toulouse. He has also played over 70 tests for France to date, and is the country's leading Test point scorer, achieving that milestone in 2015. Michalak originally played scrum-half but has played mainly at fly-half. He has appeared in advertisements for companies such as Nike and Levi's.
Raphaël Ibañez is a retired French rugby union footballer. A hooker, he played for the France national team 98 times, and as captain 41 times. After a career in club rugby management, he became Team Manager for France in 2020.
Fabien Galthié is a French rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of the France national team.
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde is a former French rugby union player, playing either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half, and most recently defense coach for Montpellier in the Top 14.
Guy Novès is a former French rugby union player and most recently coach of the French national team. Born in Toulouse, Novès, who played on the wing, was capped seven times for his country, and played with Stade Toulousain from 1975 to 1987 and was a member of the team that won the Bouclier de Brennus in 1985 and 1986. He later coached the side in a tenure that lasted 22 years, when he won the French championship nine times and the Heineken Cup four times.
Cédric Heymans is a French former rugby union footballer who played mainly as a wing or a full-back for French Top 14 club Toulouse and the France national team.
Clément Poitrenaud is a former French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at fullback but he also plays at centre. He most recently played for South African side the Sharks in Super Rugby, having represented Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition between 2000 and 2016, and France between 2001 and 2012, including at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. He has since transitioned into a role of partner, father and coach.
Thierry Dusautoir is a French former rugby union player who last played for France at international level and Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition. He was called the "Dark Destroyer" during his career. Dusautoir was considered a strong ball carrier and possessed incredibly powerful and effective tackling. He was considered the best tackler in the world during his career.
Yannick Bru is a French rugby union coach and former player who played as a hooker. He is the head coach of Union Bordeaux Bègles in the Top 14. Bru was capped 18 times for the France national team.
Mario Ledesma Arocena is an Argentine rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played in Argentina's successful 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign and had a professional playing career in France spanning 10 years. Since retiring he has coached at the highest level in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and was most recently the head coach of the Argentine national team.
Leonardo Ghiraldini is a retired Italian international rugby union player. Ghiraldini's playing position is hooker.
Maxime Médard is a former French rugby union player who plays his club rugby for French club Stade Toulousain in Top 14 and France internationally. He can play as both a full-back and on the wing and is described by assistant national team coach Émile Ntamack as an "incredible talent" that, during the 2010–11 season, was finally "realizing his potential". Medard is a two-time winner of the Heineken Cup and, in 2008, won the Top 14 for the first time. Also referred to as 'The French Wolverine.'
Louis Picamoles is a former French professional rugby union player who most recently played for Bordeaux Bègles in the Top 14. Picamoles's usual position was at number eight.
The 2010 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Heineken Cup, the 15th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 22 May 2010 at Stade de France, Saint-Denis north of Paris. It was contested by Biarritz and Toulouse, both from France. Toulouse won the final by 21–19, and for a record fourth time in fifteen seasons of the competition.
The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Lyon and Bordeaux Bègles in place of the two relegated teams, La Rochelle and Bourgoin.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
