A historic team in French rugby could be on the verge of a return to the elite.

ASBH, the legendary club that has won eleven Boucliers de Brennus, is in first place in Pro D2 after 20 matchdays.

Nostalgic fans of « Grand Béziers » (which won ten Boucliers de Brennus between 1971 and 1984) are now dreaming of the Top 14, 19 years after leaving the French top flight (then known as the Top 16).

The team coached by Raoul Barrère, with the likes of Richard Astre, Alain Estève and Armand Vaquerin, was unstoppable. A dominant pack that crushed its opponents, and which went on to win the Brennus at the Parc des Princes, without ever achieving a consecutive treble in its history.

But the red-and-blue club has been on a rollercoaster ride ever since!

Relegated to Fédérale 1 in 2009, ASBH finally won the French third division title in 2011 to climb back into the Pro D2. This was a blessing for the club, which was then in danger of losing its training centre and its status as a professional club.

Saved from relegation the following season by being drafted in instead of Bourgoin-Jallieu for financial reasons by the DNACG, they since then have finished in the bottom half of Pro D2, even reaching the play-offs in 2018.

Then there was the case of Christophe Dominici, the former French international with 67 caps for France, who presented a takeover project with an Emirati conglomerate in the summer of 2020.

However, the bid was rejected. In the end, Béziers town council became the owner in the summer of 2021.

ASBH is therefore a municipal club with one of the most attractive squads in the league.

With their Portuguese colony (Francisco Fernandes, Samuel Marques and Raffele Storti), Pierre Caillet’s players have the best attack with 551 points scored, as well as the top try scorer, Costa Storti, with 16 tries.

A spectacular attack and a determination to play every ball to set the pace for 80 minutes. Samuel Marques, in fine international form since his superb World Cup campaign with Portugal, played a number of penalties in quick succession.

And this strategy could well pay off.

With ten games to go, the Hérault club are battling it out with Vannes and Aix-en-Provence, the two favourites to go top of the Top 14. But Béziers are determined to build on their fine season and do everything in their power to take the place of neighbours Montpellier in the Top 14…