The Saint-Gaudens Bears are a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club based in the town of Saint-Gaudens, in the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

region of south-western France. They play in the

Elite One Championship Elite 1 is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions worl ...

. The club was formed in 1958. They have won the

French rugby league championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

on four occasions and lifted the

Lord Derby Cup The French Rugby League Cup (french: Coupe de France de Rugby à XIII), also called Lord Derby Cup (french: Coupe Lord Derby) after its championship trophy, is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France. The ...

three times. Their home ground is the

Stade Jules Ribet The Stade Jules Ribet is a rugby stadium in Saint-Gaudens in France. It is the current home ground of Elite One Championship side Saint-Gaudens Bears. The current capacity is 5,000 with 2,000 seated. History Rugby has been played on the site ...

History

The club was founded in 1958 as Racing Club Saint-Gaudinois Comminges XIII. It was during the 1960s and early 1970s that they enjoyed their best spell. Having been runners up in the league on four occasions 1963, 66, 67 and 69 they finally won it in 1970 when they beat the favourites

XIII Catalan XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with n ...

33–10. Two more runners up spots in 1971 and 72 showed that they were consistent if not successful. In 1973 they lifted the cup in their first appearance in the final, beating

AS Carcassonne Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Elite One Championship and a ...

on their own ground 22–8. The following season brought more silverware when they won the title again. There then followed a lean period, in fact it would be 27 years before any more success occurred but in that season of 1990-91 they registered a league and cup double. In the cup they beat

Pia XIII The Baroudeurs de Pia XIII, later known as the Pia Donkeys, are a French Rugby league team based in Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The ''Baroudeurs'' play in the Elite Two Championship during their existence they ...

30-4 and the league was won thanks to a 10–8 win against

US Villeneuve Villeneuve XIII RLLG originally called Sports Athletic Villeneuvois XIII are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the region of Aquitaine in southern France. Formed in 1934, the first French rugby league club, the ...

. They retained the cup the following season beating

RC Carpentras RC Carpentras XIII are a semi-professional rugby league club based in the city of Carpentras, Vaucluse in the south of France. Formed in 1938, they play in the Elite Two Championship in France, which is the 2nd tier. Their home ground is the St ...

22–10 in the final. The league title was won again in 2004 a year after finishing runner up. The 2004 final in Perpignan was won against Union Treiziste Catalane 14–10. A steady decline began after this and the club finished bottom of the league in both 2009 and 2010 escaping relegation but in 2011 the club was relegated to the

Elite Two Championship Elite 2 (formerly the Elite Two Championship) is the second tier semi-professional rugby league competition in France below Elite 1, but above the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The clubs play each other home ...

After five seasons in the 2nd tier they were promoted back to the top division when the league was increased.

Stadium

The club have always played at the

. Rugby had been played at the venue since 1898, it currently has a main stand that seats 2,000 with a total capacity of 5,000. On 23 November 2011 the ground hosted an under 19 game between France and the touring Australians the visitors winning 40-12

Current squad

Squad for 2021-22 Season

Honours

* French Rugby League Championship (4): 1969–70, 1973–74, 1990–91, 2003-4 * Lord Derby Cup (3): 1973, 1991, 1992

References

French rugby league teams Sport in Haute-Garonne 1958 establishments in France Rugby clubs established in 1958 {{Rugbyleague-team-stub