Rugby Club CERN - Meyrin - St Genis (RC CMSG) are a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

Swiss

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club situated on the French–Swiss border, northwest of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. The club plays in the Swiss first division where it is one of the most successful teams in the country's history, behind Hermance RRC.

Club history

RC CMSG was formed as ''Rugby Club du CERN'' (Rugby Club of CERN) in 1965, making it the oldest club currently playing in Switzerland. The earliest recorded match in Switzerland was in 1869 and if they were still in existence, Lausanne RFC could have claimed to be as old as

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

. The club was originally formed by staff of

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

(European Organization for Nuclear Research) in around 1960, playing against other companies and organizations in the Geneva area. In 1970, RC CERN organised a memorial competition, ''Challenge Laurent Membrez'', in honor of Laurent Membrez, the founder of Albaladejo Rugby Club. This led to the creation of the

Swiss Rugby Federation The Swiss Rugby Federation (french: Fédération Suisse de Rugby it, Federazione Svizzera di Rugby german: Schweizerischer Rugby Verband)) is the governing body for rugby union in Switzerland. It currently runs the League A, League B, League ...

in 1972 with the then president of RC CERN, André Cordaillat, becoming the federation's first president. In 1984, the club moved to its present ground just across the border in

Saint-Genis-Pouilly Saint-Genis-Pouilly (; frp, Sant-Genés-Polyi) is a commune in the Ain department within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It is located in the Pays de Gex, at the foot of the Jura Mountains. Bordering the Swiss frontier, ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

; despite being officially renamed to ''Rugby Club CERN - St Genis'', it was still referred to as RC CERN. Then in 2003 the club merged with the successful ''Ecole de rugby Meyrin'' (Meyrin Rugby School), creating the present Rugby Club CERN - Meyrin - St Genis with two stadiums, one in France and one in Switzerland. In 2005, the Wildcats, RC CMSG's women's rugby team, were created, adding to the growth of women's rugby in Switzerland. After the creation of the Swiss Federation, the club enjoyed considerable success, winning both the Swiss Championship and Swiss Cup repeatedly. In the early 1990s, the fortunes of the club started to change and their successes became less frequent, with the club eventually being relegated to the second division in 1994. The club regained promotion a couple of years later but were only to remain in the first division for a further two years. After a dispute between players, coaches and management, the president removed the club from all competitions. In the autumn of 2000, a new management took control of the club, bringing in ex- England B, Ireland A,

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

second row, John Etheridge, as coach. The club then won the third and second divisions in consecutive years, but were unable to stay in the first division, and after the second relegation from the first division, Etheridge left the club. In 2007, RC CMSG appointed

Claude Ezoua Claude-Aimé Ezoua (born 2 October 1956) is a French-born Ivorian rugby union coach and a former player. He was called to be Ivory Coast head coach and achieved a surprise qualification for the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The Ivorians played rather poor ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

, who notably took the Ivory Coast rugby team to the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

. The club then achieved promotion back to the first division in the 2008–2009 season, losing only one game in the whole season, with the club managing to stay in the first division during the 2009–2010 season for the first time in 15 years. RC CMSG slowly climbed to the top of table, each season finishing higher than the previous, and making the league knock-out stages for three consecutive seasons. In 2014 CERN re-enforced the coaching setup with the ex-Romanian national squad captain Ioan Doja who represented his country at the World Cup, also playing teams such as for

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Ha ...

. The January 2015 General Assembly voted in new club president Grégory Bertrand, long time member of the club. Due to a number of players leaving the club, the management asked the Swiss Federation for the club to be relegated to the second division for the 2015/2016 season after 6 years in the first division. The 2015/2016 season saw CERN undefeated at home and following the league play off matches they were promoted back to the first division after only one season in the second division.

Club history

Club honours

Current 1st team Squad

Presidents

Coaches

Men

Women (Wildcats)

See also

References