Rugby Club Toulonnais (RCT) have confirmed that their round 23 Top 14 match against eternal rivals Stade Toulousain will be played at the Orange Vélodrome stadium in Marseille. This fixture, now a lucrative tradition for the Var club, will take place on Saturday 9 May 2026. The event, a magnet for attendance records, is already open for booking.

Rugby Club Toulonnais (RCT) have officially announced that one of their marquee fixtures of the 2025-2026 season will be moved. The Var club will host Stade Toulousain in round 23 of Top 14 on Saturday 9 May 2026 at 9pm at the Orange Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.

This meeting between two of the most decorated and emblematic clubs in French rugby has become a classic of RCT’s relocations to Marseille. Started in 2009, the tradition regularly allows the club from the Rade to post the biggest attendances in the entire championship. In 2015, a similar meeting even set an attendance record at the Vélodrome across all sports, with more than 63,800 spectators. That record was beaten last year, in the most recent instalment between the two heavyweights of the championship, with more than 66,000 spectators.

The Var club, through its directors, have often underlined the economic importance of these events, which generate significant revenue, as well as the chance to fly the “Red and Black” colours beyond Mayol.

Historically, RCT have shown strong dominance in this arena, winning seven of the nine meetings with Stade Toulousain played at the Vélodrome since 2009. Last year, though, RCT suffered a heavy defeat to Toulouse (50-16), who were then on their way to another Brennus.

It is worth noting that the reverse fixture, played this Sunday 26 October in Toulouse, has also been moved, to the Stadium.