Section Paloise
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| Full name | Section Paloise Béarn Pyrénées |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1902 |
| Location | Pau, France |
| Ground(s) | Stade du Hameau (Capacity: 13,819) |
| President | Bernard Pontneau |
| Coach(es) | Simon Mannix |
| League(s) | Top 14 |
| 2015–16 | 11th |
| Official website | |
| www |
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Section Paloise, in full Section Paloise Béarn Pyrénées, is a French rugby union club from Pau in Pyrénées-Atlantiques competing in Top 14, the highest level of the French league system. They most recently earned promotion by winning the championship of the second-level Rugby Pro D2 in 2015, nine years after having been relegated from the top flight.
They were founded in 1902 as Section Paloise de la Ligue Girondine before adopting their current name in 1905. Section Paloise first joined the French first division in 1911, and were crowned champions for the first time in 1928. "La Section" have won the French Championship on three occasions, the last being in 1964. They have, however, reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup and Top 14 as recently as 1998 and 2000, respectively. Section Paloise also added to their trophy case in 2000, winning the European Challenge Cup. At the end of the 2004–05 season, "La Section" survived a play-off game with Aurillac to remain in the Top 14. However, they were relegated the following season, and would remain in Pro D2 until earning promotion for the 2015–16 season. The club colors are green and white and their home ground is the Stade du Hameau (capacity 13,819). They are sponsored by French petroleum company Total.
Recent France internationals Imanol Harinordoquy, Damien Traille, and Lionel Beauxis began their professional club careers with Section Paloise.
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
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