Sports · Rugby · Pro D2

Pro D2 resumes on Thursday 27 August at Aguiléra, against Nice. Until then, Biarritz Olympique is having a summer clear-out: a reshaped squad, a captain playing his final season, and an opening opponent who brings back a face well known to the red-and-white house. A stocktake before the new season.

Aguiléra — The Biarritz summer has its rituals: the beaches filling up and, a little higher up, a stadium shedding its silence. At Aguiléra, pre-season has moved back in; on Fridays, Boris Bouhraoua’s squad even takes its fitness session out of the stadium — recently seen sweating on the sand of the Côte des Basques. A postcard, but not only that: the BO has six weeks to recover from a gruelling season and be ready to march on 27 August.

For it must be said: the club is coming back from far. Tenth in Pro D2 in the spring, the BO secured its survival only on the final day, against Carcassonne, at the end of a campaign weighed down from the start by a three-point penalty in the standings. That slate is now wiped clean: for the first time in a long while, the Reds and Whites will start again from zero — in the table as much as figuratively. Cyril Arrosteguy’s management, which arrived in May 2025, promises sound foundations; the pitch will have to confirm it.

A reshaped dressing room

The off-season, first of all, looks like selective sorting. On the arrivals side, two experienced reinforcements were announced as early as mid-May: centre Duncan Paia’aua, from Perpignan, and centre back-row Sione Vailanu, arriving from Glasgow. Two profiles built for the intensity of Pro D2, meant to add muscle to the team’s spine.

The other way round, the clear-out is more dramatic. Although under contract until 2027, fly-half Enzo Selponi and winger Zach Kibirige are on their way out — a deal has been reached for the first, the second should follow, even if the official announcements are slow to come. Stanislav Kucherenko has left the club, and Jules Even has gone to rebuild at Stade Montois, in Nationale. The staff is moving too: an offer has been made to Stéphane Prosper, the former Mont-de-Marsan coach, to join Bouhraoua’s set-up.

One common thread in this reshuffle: identity. On 8 July, the LNR published its ranking of home-grown players — the famous JIFF — and the BO finishes top of the entire Pro D2 for the past season. In a club that long searched for its bearings, that may be the most reliable compass: you rebuild first with your own.

Acebes, the last dance

It’s the human story of the summer. At 38, winger and captain Mathieu Acebes signs on for one more season in the red and white — his twenty-second as a professional, and his last: the final curtain has been announced. In a dressing room in full transformation, the old warrior will act as a link between yesterday’s team and the one they are trying to build. Each of his appearances at Aguiléra will, this season, carry a hint of farewell.

Thursday 27 August, 7 p.m.: Aguiléra will reopen its doors — and welcome, with Nice, an old face of the house.

Nice, and a reunion with Aldigé

The fixture list, unveiled on 9 July by the League, has handed the BO an opening with a certain piquancy. New this season: the first round will exceptionally be played on a Thursday, in a multiplex — seven matches on Thursday 27 August, before a final fixture on the Friday. And it is Biarritz that will open the ball, at 7 p.m., hosting the promoted side from Nice.

For this Nissa Rugby is no ordinary newcomer: it is chaired by Jean-Baptiste Aldigé, who held the reins of the BO from 2018 to 2024 — six intense seasons, marked notably by promotion to the Top 14 in 2021, at the end of an access match that has stayed in the memory. Having left for the Côte d’Azur, he lifted Nice into Pro D2 in record time. His return to Aguiléra, on the very first round, will thus have the air of a reunion: whatever one thought of his Biarritz years, the man knows the house, and the house knows him. Enough to give this opening night an extra soul that the sporting stakes alone do not explain.

The rest of the calendar also has its dates circled in red: the Basque–Landes derby against Dax will be played at Maurice-Boyau on round 14, before a return match at Aguiléra on round 28, over the Fan Days weekend, on 22 and 23 April 2027. The regular season will stretch until 14 May 2027; the final is scheduled for the weekend of 4 June.

Building up the heat

Before that, they’ll need to warm up. Two warm-up matches are on the August programme: an away trip against USAP on Friday 14th — venue still to be confirmed —, then the traditional run-out against neighbours Bayonne, on Thursday 20 August at 8 p.m., at Jean-Dauger. A pre-season BO–Aviron is never trivial around here: last year, the Biarritz side claimed the friendly derby on the neighbouring turf. We’ll bet that no one, on 20 August, will play entirely “friendly”.

Between now and 27 August, there will be the long swims, the sand of the Côte des Basques and the evenings drawing gently in. Then Aguiléra will switch its floodlights back on, one Thursday night, for a season opener between an ambitious newcomer and old acquaintances. As for the BO’s season, it will ask only one thing: that we finally talk about rugby.

Zilbor
zilbor@pm.me