Twelve and a half thousand seats at La Rabine, thirty thousand at Roazhon Park, thirty-eight thousand at La Beaujoire. For their return to the Top 14, RC Vannes do not want to stage their two biggest fixtures of the season at their usual ground.
Rennes in September, Nantes in November
The first move was revealed by Ouest-France: the visit of Stade Toulousain, the prime-time opener on Saturday 19 September at 9pm, should be played at Roazhon Park. Midi Olympique added the second part, with Union Bordeaux-Bègles heading to La Beaujoire.
The fixture list confirms both slots. The reigning French champions travel to Brittany in Round 3, on 19 September. UBB follow in Round 9, on the weekend of 7 and 8 November. Neither relocation has been made official yet: Rennes looks settled, while Nantes is still under study.
“Nantes and its 38,000-seat Beaujoire stadium are part of the history of Brittany. That location obviously interests us,” president Olivier Cloarec said. One detail stands out: when the club won promotion, he talked about a trip to Nantes “in the spring”. The fixture list has instead put UBB at the very start of November.
A precedent with 29,842 spectators
Vannes have done this before. In November 2025, while in Pro D2, the club moved their home game against Grenoble to Roazhon Park: 29,842 spectators and a 28-18 win. La Rabine, with its 12,500 seats, has been sold out for months.
Toulouse and UBB, their two tormentors of 2024-25
The choice of fixtures is no accident when you look at the numbers: these are the two opponents Vannes suffered most against during their previous season in the top flight.
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2024 | Vannes – Stade Toulousain (R1) | 18-43 |
| 23 November 2024 | Vannes – Union Bordeaux-Bègles (R10) | 29-37 |
| 1 March 2025 | Stade Toulousain – Vannes (R18) | 63-21 |
| 7 June 2025 | Union Bordeaux-Bègles – Vannes (R26) | 59-28 |
Across those four games, the Bretons scored 96 points and conceded 202. The opening game against Toulouse had already been played at a packed La Rabine.
More broadly, the 2024-25 season showed that the Morbihan ground was not enough to make a fortress: 13 home games in the Top 14, 5 wins, 1 draw, 7 defeats, 349 points scored and 375 conceded.
La Rabine, unbeaten all last season
The contrast with the Pro D2 campaign is stark. In 2025-2026, Vannes won all 15 of their regular-season home games, scoring 649 points and conceding 175. The semi-final against Oyonnax (48-7) followed the same script. One caveat: the win over Grenoble included in that total was in fact earned in Rennes.
Europe stays in Morbihan
The season’s two Challenge Cup home games, against Edinburgh on 13 December and Black Lion on 10 January, are for now pencilled in for La Rabine. The relocation strategy therefore only covers the showpiece league fixtures.
Comments