CA Brive

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.

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.

History

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. 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. 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.

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	France CA Brive	28–9	England Leicester Tigers	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41,664
31 January 1998	England Bath	19–18	France 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

2025–26 Pro D2 Table
Pos	Teamvte	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Vannes	30	24	1	5	1092	543	+549	15	3	116	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Colomiers	30	21	0	9	847	522	+325	8	3	95
3	Provence	30	19	0	11	905	726	+179	9	7	92	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Oyonnax	30	17	0	13	953	659	+294	9	9	86
5	Valence Romans	30	19	0	11	803	760	+43	4	4	84
6	Brive	30	17	1	12	906	642	+264	11	2	83
7	Agen	30	15	0	15	796	750	+46	9	3	72
8	Grenoble	30	14	0	16	739	829	−90	2	4	62
9	Soyaux Angoulême	30	13	0	17	576	770	−194	2	5	59
10	Biarritz	30	12	1	17	762	879	−117	8	1	54
11	Dax	30	14	0	16	706	742	−36	6	7	55
12	Béziers	30	12	0	18	657	804	−147	4	4	56
13	Nevers	30	11	1	18	760	1024	−264	4	3	53
14	Aurillac	30	11	0	19	718	908	−190	2	7	53
15	Mont-de-Marsan	30	11	1	18	701	950	−249	3	2	51	Relegation play-off
16	Carcassonne	30	7	1	22	572	985	−413	0	5	35	Relegation to Nationale

Current squad

The Brive squad for the 2025–26 season is:

Brive 2025–26 Pro D2 squad
Props Georgia national rugby union team Vakh Abdaladze France national rugby union team Zaccharie Affane France national rugby union team Simon-Pierre Chauvac Argentina national rugby union team Francisco Coria Marchetti France national rugby union team Nathan Fraissenon France national rugby union team Henzo Kiteau South Africa national rugby union team Marcel van der Merwe France national rugby union team Hugo Reilhes Hookers France national rugby union team Benjamin Boudou France national rugby union team Yanis Charcosset Portugal national rugby union team Lucas Da Silva Locks South Africa national rugby union team Irné Herbst Georgia national rugby union team Konstantin Mikautadze France national rugby union team Alexandre Ricard South Africa national rugby union team Hendré Stassen Spain national rugby union team Asier Usarraga	Back row France national rugby union team Anthony Coletta France national rugby union team Sasha Gue England national rugby union team Courtney Lawes South Africa national rugby union team Retief Marais France national rugby union team Samuel Maximin France national rugby union team Yann Peysson Fiji national rugby union team Taniela Sadrugu South Africa national rugby union team Henco Venter Scrum-halves Ireland national rugby union team John Cooney France national rugby union team Mathis Galthié France national rugby union team Maxime Sidobre Fly-halves South Africa national rugby union team Curwin Bosch England national rugby union team Jamie Shillcock Algeria national rugby union team Hugo Verdu	Centres France national rugby union team Kévin Fabien Ireland national rugby union team Stuart Olding France national rugby union team Paul Pimienta Australia national rugby union team Ben Tapuai Wings Fiji national rugby union team Eto Bainivalu France national rugby union team Geoffrey Cros France national rugby union team Erwan Dridi Fiji national rugby union team Asaeli Tuivuaka Fullbacks France national rugby union team Nic Krone France national rugby union team Julien Tisseron France national rugby union team Thomas Zenon
(c) denotes the team captain. (vc) denotes vice-captain. Bold denotes internationally capped players. ST denotes a short-term signing.Source:

Brive 2025–26 Espoirs squad
Props France national rugby union team Simote Moala France national rugby union team Pierre-Chanelafili Hookers France national rugby union team Quentin Algay Italy national rugby union team Valerio Siciliano France national rugby union team Giovanny Tafili Locks Netherlands national rugby union team Teun Karst South Africa national rugby union team Nathan Claassen France national rugby union team Matteo Faintrenie England national rugby union team Luke Griffiths	Back row France national rugby union team David Geneste England national rugby union team Ollie Hull France national rugby union team Tana Keletaona France national rugby union team Issa Mendy France national rugby union team Geoffrey Malaterre France national rugby union team Thomas Seguy Scrum-halves France national rugby union team Noe Bros France national rugby union team Matheo Guyon France national rugby union team Mattin Laurent Fly-halves France national rugby union team Leny Broncan France national rugby union team Luke Keletanna	Centres France national rugby union team Bastien Masse France national rugby union team Victor Rayneur Georgia national rugby union team Georges Shvelidze Wings France national rugby union team Manuhere Avaeoru France national rugby union team Maxence Bisaotto France national rugby union team Benjamin Lefranc France national rugby union team Baptiste Peyramard Fullbacks England national rugby union team Lewis Noon France national rugby union team Noe Sage-Aymard
(c) denotes the team captain. (vc) denotes vice-captain. Bold denotes internationally capped players. ST denotes a short-term signing.Source:

Notable former players

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: