Stadium: the oval passion

The municipal Stadium, home ground for the city’s football club, is transformed into a rugby arena when Stade Toulousain play major matches.

What other city in France is so closely associated with rugby? None, as one would suspect. Its geographical position and thriving economy, thanks notably to its aeronautics hub, make Toulouse the flagship of the South West and stronghold of rugby. The city can boast one of the monuments of French rugby: the Stade Toulousain. France’s record-winning club, with 16 championship shields carried home in triumph. It also has the biggest following. The Ernest-Wallon stadium (capacity 20,000) is their usual stamping ground but they turn to the Stadium when home support is overflowing.

Mini Wembley

The arena was opened in 1949 as a bull ring but soon became the home of Toulouse Football Club, who took on a new status when they won the French cup final in 1957. Since then the Téfécé Violets have not left a stadium extended in 1984 when it won the nickname of mini Wembley. Fourteen years later the Stadium was again renovated for the 1998 World Cup soccer finals with its capacity raised to 37,000 and all-round visibility improved to a maximum. An explosion at a nearby petro-chemical site in September 2001 forced the ground to be closed for a year while repairs were carried out.

Rugby in its own backyard

Rugby has always been at home at the Stadium. The French XV played there for the first time in 1956 with an international against Czechoslovakia (28-3). But rugby’s outstanding memory in the city remains France’s two Test victories over New Zealand, first in 1977 (18-13) and then in 1995 (22-15). The Stadium also hosted France’s match with Fiji in the 1999 Rugby World Cup which they won 28-19. As for the club championship, a dozen finals have been played there, the last in 1973 saw Tarbes triumph over Dax. On top of that Stade Toulousain’s European campaigns have often swept through a Stadium bubbling over in triumph. In 2003, Frederic Michalak put his team in the ERC final by scoring a last-minute try converted by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde to deny Munster 13-12. A month later Toulouse won the Cup for the second time before notching up a treble two years later. The Stadium asks for more.

Useful information

Address
1 allée Gabriel Biénés
31 400 Toulouse

Access
By plane: Aéroport de Toulouse-Blagnac (10 km from city centre)
By train: Gare Toulouse-Matabiau
By car: Autoroute A64
By bus: Lignes 1 et 12, Pont Saint-Michel stop, Ligne 92, Daste stop

Key figures
Capacity: 35,700
Lighting: 2,066 lux