Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club founded in 1933 and based in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

, France's elite division of rugby. The club is a result of a merger between US Perpignan and Arlequins Perpignanais in 1933. US Perpignan was also born from a union of merging clubs AS Perpignan (founded in 1902) and Stade Olympien Perpignanais, which took place in 1919. Its home ground is the 14,593-capacity

Stade Aimé Giral Stade Aimé Giral is a multi-purpose stadium in Perpignan, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of USA Perpignan. History The stadium also hosted the majority of Catalans Dragons home matches in th ...

but important fixtures may occasionally be taken to

Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium formerly known as the Estadi de Montjuïc and Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc and also known in English language, English as the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, is a stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Originally built ...

, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. The club's colours are

sky blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

, scarlet and

golden yellow Gold, also called golden, is a color tone resembling the gold chemical element. The web color ''gold'' is sometimes referred to as ''golden'' to distinguish it from the color ''metallic gold''. The use of ''gold'' as a color term in tradi ...

, which derived from the Catalan Senyera and gives Perpignan its nickname ''Les Sang et Or'' ( French for "The Blood and Golds").

History

Early years

One of the two merging clubs was established in 1902 as AS Perpignan. It would be in 1914 that the club would go on to make its first ever final appearance. On 3 May, Perpignan defeated Stadoceste Tarbais 8–7 at Stade des Ponts Jumeaux in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in front of 15,000 people. 19-year-old fly-half Aimé Giral converted a late try and went on to become captain. 14 months after their victory, Aimé Giral died alongside seven other members of the team at the outbreak of WW1 and, to honour their sacrifice, it was decided to colour USAP jersey like a Poilu uniform and to name the stadium after Giral. Four years after the championship in 1914, the club was renamed as US Perpignan after a merging with Stade Olympien Perpignanais. Under the new club name, US Perpignan made it to the final of the French championship three seasons after the change. On 17 April 1921, Perpignan defeated

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () (), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulouse is the most successfu ...

5–0 at Parc des Sports de Sauclières in

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

and thus claiming their second championship. Three seasons later, the finalists of 1921 would meet again in the final of 1924, though this time Toulouse won the game 3–0 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. The success continued throughout the 1920s, and following the final defeat of the 1924 season, US Perpignan were able to make it to the final of the 1925 season. They faced US Carcassonne in

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, and defeated them 5–0 to win the 1925 Championship. For the third season in a row, US Perpignan made it to the final. The opponents were Stade Toulousain once again, the two sides had each defeated each other once in a final in recent years. Toulouse won 11–0 in Bordeaux. After their prominence in the mid-1920s, Perpignan's final appearance in 1926 was their last for nearly a decade. Perpignan rugby catalan flags

Perpignan's next final appearance came in 1935 against

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

at Stade des Ponts Jumeaux in Toulouse on 12 May, with Biarritz winning 3–0. That season they also won the

Challenge Yves du Manoir The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir. History The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on ...

. Three seasons later Perpignan were again involved in the Championship final against Biarritz. The final was played on 8 May, and this time, Perpignan defeated Biarritz, winning 11–6 to claim their first Championship since 1921. They were also runners-up of the Challenge Yves-du-Manoir that same season as well. The success continued throughout the late 1930s, with Perpignan again being runners-up of the

in 1936. It was also the 1936 season that Biarritz and Perpignan would face off in the Championship. Both of Perpignan's last two final appearances were against Biarritz, and both Perpignan and Biarritz had won one each against each other. The final took place on 30 April, and Biarritz turned out to be victorious, defeating Perpignan 6–0. Two years later, Perpignan were in the final of the

, but became runners-up. Their next final appearance would not be until the season of 1944. Perpignan played

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais (AB, ), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'' in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the National Rugby League (France), French league system. ...

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 26 March to decide who would be the champions of France. Perpignan won, defeating Aviron Bayonnais 20–5, claiming their first Championship since 1938. Perpignan would have to wait another eight years until they would make it to the final again. In the 1952 season, Perpignan met

FC Lourdes FC Lourdais is a French rugby union club from Lourdes currently competing in the French league system. Formed in 1911, they have won the French league eight times and the French cup six times. They play in the Stade Antoine-Beguere and tradition ...

in the final at Stadium Municipal in Toulouse, where they went down to FC Lourdes 20–11. However, both sides would meet in another final three years later to decide the 1955 Championship. This time Perpignan emerged victorious, defeating FC Lourdes 11–6 in Bordeaux. Perpignan also won the

during the 1955 season, and were runners-us the following year as well. Perpignan Rugby

Perpignan won the

in 1965, but made their first final appearance 20 years after 1955, to decide the 1977 season Championship. They met AS Béziers in the final, who defeated Perpignan 12–4 at

. Perpignan won the

in 1994,

Professional era

They would next appear in the final in 1998, where they went down to

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

34–7 in Paris in front of 78,000 people. In 2002, the club entered into a partnership with the University of Barcelona Rugby Union Club, hence renaming them USAP

, which compete in the División de Honor, the national Championship in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Perpignan made it to the 2004 final, where they met Stade Français, who defeated them in the 1998 final. Stade Français won again, 38–20 at

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in front of 79,722 people. In European competition, Perpignan reached the final stage in 2003 (losing 21–17 to Toulouse in Dublin

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

) after losing a 1999 semi-final in Toulouse Stadium against Colomiers. They were beaten in the quarter-finals in Lansdowne Road again in 2006 by eventual winners

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. They signed

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

fly-half

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a New Zealand retired rugby union player. Carter played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, a ...

, widely regarded as one of the world's best players, on a six-month deal starting from December 2008. Carter's stint at Perpignan, however, ended prematurely when he tore an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

. Their season ended by progressing into the Top 14 semi-final with a 25–21 win over

and eventually winning it with a fantastic 22–13 win over

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French professional rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two t ...

in the final. In 2010, they advanced to the final again against Clermont, but they saw ''Les Jaunards'' end decades of frustration by winning their first championship final in 11 tries. In 2011 they signed a twinning agreement with FC Barcelona of Spain, which proposes USAP to be promoted through FC Barcelona.

Club honours

* French championship Top 14 **Champions (4):

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

**''Runners-up (7):

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

'' *

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...

**''Runners-up (1):

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

'' *

**Champions (3): 1935, 1955, 1994 **''Runners-up (5): 1936, 1937, 1938, 1956, 1965'' *

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

**Champions (2):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Finals results

French championship

Heineken Cup / European Rugby Champions Cup

Challenge Yves du Manoir

Current standings

Current squad

The Perpignan squad for the 2024–25 season is:

Espoirs squad

Notable former players

* Federico Martín Aramburú * Bautista Delguy *

Rimas Álvarez Kairelis Rimas Álvarez Kairelis (born 22 July 1974 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires) is an Argentina, Argentine rugby union rugby player. He currently plays for USA Perpignan, Perpignan in the Top 14 in France. He has represented Argentin ...

* Alejandro Allub * José Orengo * Sebastian Bozzi * Ryan Cross *

Daniel Herbert Daniel Herbert (born 6 February 1974) is an Australian rugby union administrator and former player who was appointed as the chair of Rugby Australia in November 2023. As a player, he played as a centre and won 67 caps for the Australia national ...

* Justin Purll * Manny Edmonds * Robins Tchale-Watchou * Mike James *

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

* Alex Brown * Perry Freshwater * Richard Haughton *

Dan Luger Daniel Darko Luger MBE (born 11 January 1975) is a former English rugby union international who was a member of the squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Rugby career Club career Dan Luger was born in Chiswick and is the son of a Croa ...

* Luke Narraway * Tim Stimpson * Tevita Cavubati * Samueli Naulu * Alipate Ratini * Eroni Sau * Ben Volavola * Watisoni Votu * Christophe André *

Puig Aubert Puig Aubert (born Robert Aubert Puig, 24 March 1925 – 3 June 1994), is often considered the best French rugby league footballer of all time. Over a 16-year professional career he would play for AS Carcassonne, Carcassonne, XIII Catalan, Celtic ...

* Franck Azéma * Mathieu Barrau * Armand Batlle * Noël Brazès * Pascal Bomati * Benoît Bourrust *

Élie Brousse Élie Brousse (28 August 1921 – 2 July 2019) was a French rugby league player for Roanne, Marseille and Lyon Villeurbanne in the French rugby league championship competition. His position of choice was as a . Brousse featured in the 1951 F ...

* Gilbert Brutus * Benoît Cabello * Jacques Cabero * Didier Camberabero * Daniel Camiade * Julien Candelon * Florian Cazenave * Frédéric Cermeno * Damien Chouly * Georges Coste *

Joseph Crespo Joseph Crespo known as Monsieur Jo ( Elne, 1 January 1925 – Mably, 7 May 2004) is a French rugby union and rugby league player who play as a centre or scrum-half. Born in Perpignan, Joseph Crespo discovered the rugby union within the neighbo ...

* Marc Dal Maso * Vincent Debaty * Joseph Desclaux * Sébastien Descons * Nans Ducuing * Sylvain Dupuy * Nicolas Durand * Jérôme Fillol * Julien Fritz * Jean Galia * Charles Geli * Aimé Giral * Bernard Goutta * Raoul Got * Paul Goze *

Jean-Philippe Grandclaude Jean-Philippe Grandclaude (born 4 August 1982 in Fréjus, Var (department), Var) is a French rugby union footballer who plays for USA Perpignan. He mainly plays at Centre (rugby union), centre. His professional career started with AS Béziers H� ...

* Guilhem Guirado * Sofiane Guitoune * Raphaël Ibañez * Jean-Francois Imbernon * Melvyn Jaminet * David Janin * Jacques Jorda *

Thierry Lacroix Thierry Lacroix (born 2 March 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut in Strasbourg at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989, coming ...

* Mickaël Ladhuie * Julien Laharrague * Nicolas Laharrague * Gregory Le Corvec * Marc Lièvremont * Matthieu Lièvremont * Thomas Lièvremont *

Camille Lopez Camille Lopez (born 3 April 1989) is a French rugby union player. He plays as a fly half (rugby union), fly-half for Aviron Bayonnais, Bayonne. Club career In 2009 it was announced that Lopez would leave SA Mauléon and join Bordeaux, he becam ...

* Ludovic Loustau * Brice Mach * Lionel Mallier * David Marty * Nicolas Mas * Jo Maso * Sami Mavinga * Maxime Mermoz *

Joffrey Michel Joffrey Michel (born 4 March 1987 in Arles) is a French rugby union player. His position is fullback or wing and he currently plays for Montpellier in the Top 14. Honours * USA Perpignan ** Top 14 (2009 2009 was designated as the I ...

* Romain Millo-Chluski * Olivier Olibeau * Vincent Planté * Christophe Porcu * Jerome Porical *

Laurent Sempéré Laurent Sempéré (born 9 July 1985) is a French rugby union coach and former player, he is currently the forwards coach of the France national team. His position was Hooker. He began his career with USA Perpignan before moving to Racing Métr ...

* Jérôme Schuster * Farid Sid * Jean-Marc Souverbie * Romain Taofifénua * Sébastien Taofifénua * Jérôme Thion * Sébastien Vahaamahina * Yohann Vivalda * Quentin Walcker * Dimitri Basilaia * Giorgi Jgenti * Davit Kubriashvili * Mick O'Driscoll *

Paddy Jackson David Patrick Lindsay James "Paddy" Jackson (born 5 January 1992) is a professional rugby union player from Northern Ireland who plays for Lyon OU; in the Top 14, in France. He primarily plays at fly-half and previously played for Irish provin ...

* Tommaso Allan * Tommaso Benvenuti * Ramiro Pez *

* Scott Robertson * Eric Sione *

Răzvan Mavrodin Răzvan Mavrodin (born 29 September 1973 in Bucharest) is a Romanian former rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a hooker. Career Mavrodin played in France for Racing Club (1999/00), USA Perpignan (2000/01), Tarbes Pyrénées ...

* Marius Țincu * Ovidiu Tonița * Johan van Heerden * Rudi Coetzee * Gavin Hume * Steve Meyer * Wandile Mjekevu *

Percy Montgomery Percival Colin Montgomery (born 15 March 1974) is a Namibian-born South African former professional rugby union player. When he ended his international career in August 2008, he held the all-time records for both cap (sport), caps and points fo ...

* Gert Muller * Jacques-Louis Potgieter * Kirill Kulemin *

Manu Leiataua Manu Leiataua (born 26 December 1986) is a rugby union hooker who plays for USA Perpignan, Perpignan and Samoa national rugby union team, Samoa. Leiataua made his debut for Samoa in 2013 and was part of the squad at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Re ...

* Henry Tuilagi * Chris Cusiter * Nathan Hines * Alasdair Strokosch *

Raphaël Bastide Rafael Bastide Gutierrez also known as Raphaël Bastide (born 24 November 1977, in Bilbao)R ...

* Mathieu Bélie *

David Mélé David Mélé (born 22 October 1985) is a rugby union coach most recently for Leicester Tigers. He was previously a professional player for Perpignan in two spells; Leicester, Toulouse and Grenoble; and represented internationally. His primary po ...

* Lifeimi Mafi *

Tevita Mailau Tevita Mailau (born 25 April 1985 in Sydney, Australia) is a rugby union player who plays for Stade Montois in the Top 14 and Tonga internationally. He previously played for the Blues (Super Rugby), Auckland Blues in Super Rugby and Auckland Rug ...

Sione Piukala Sione Piukala (born 8 June 1985) is a rugby union centre who plays for Perpignan and Tonga. Piukala made his debut for Tonga in 2008 and was part of the Tonga squad at the 2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rug ...

* Kisi Pulu * Sona Taumalolo * Viliami Vaki * William Leon Jefferson * Richard Parks * James Hook * Luke Charteris