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Rugby in Pau and Béarn

After Le Havre and Bordeaux, Pau was the third major provincial French city to host rugby. As a matter of fact, the sport's presence has been attested since 1890 by the Coquelicots de Pau (Poppies of Pau), playing matches against the neighbouring teams of the Montagnards de Bayonne (Mountaineers of Bayonne) and the Pyrénéenne de Tarbes.

Stade Palois was founded in 1899 by former students of the Lous-Barthou high school, who were imbued with Anglophilia, in vogue in Pau during the Belle Epoque.

Beginnings and first title (1902–1939)

Founded in April 1902, the Section paloise de ligue girondine is an all-round sports club in Pau. Since 1905, it is simply called Section paloise. At that time, rugby or "rugby football" was hugely popular. The club was first established as a Barette (sport) team, yet the club very quickly turned towards this new sport of rugby union. A rugby club had already been formed on November 12, 1899, since the Stade palois, had been founded in café on rue Bayard. The Stade Palois was thus integrated into Section to form the dominant club in bearnese rugby. In 1912, Section Paloise abandoned its blue and black jerseys, in order to definitively adopt green and white as its colours. The club was then led by Welshman Thomas Potter (rugby union), who took on the role of player-coach until the outbreak of the Great War. The club (all sports combined) paid a heavy price, with around forty deaths on the battlefields.

Section Paloise, now under the leadership of Gilbert Pierrot, achieved remarkable success during the 1927-1928 season, as the team won the title of Côte Basque champion for the second consecutive year. Subsequently, it finished first in its pool of 5 in the French championship. In the following groups of 4, it defeated Stade Français, USA Perpignan and Lyon OU as well as the defending champions Stade Toulousain in the semi-final by 3-0 after extra time (1 try at zero).

The final took place in Toulouse in May 1928, where Section Paloise faced off against US Quillan. A crowd of 30,000 spectators attended this highly anticipated match against the players of patron Jean Bourrel, an industrialist who had made his fortune in the hat industry. Indeed, Bourrel was determined to create the best possible team in Quillan and was willing to spend extravagantly to achieve that goal. For Jean Bourrel, a hat maker by profession, the logic was clear: "I am certain to have more commercial publicity by putting together a team to compete for the French championship than by plastering posters around the region." Thus, in 1926, no one seemed surprised when no fewer than seven players from US Perpignan, the French champions in 1925 and finalists in 1926, suddenly arrived in this town in Aude. Later on, the group was further reinforced with the arrival of five international players the following year, including Louis Destarac from Tarbes.

The final was hard-fought and close, but Section Paloise managed to prevail with a score of 6-4, thereby claiming the club's first-ever Bouclier de Brennus. The local newspaper, Le Patriote des Pyrénées, enthusiastically reported on this victory, describing how the players of Section Paloise, nicknamed the "bérets" (berets), had succeeded in defeating the players of Quillan, nicknamed the "chapeaux" (hats).

Another local newspaper L'Indépendant des Basses-Pyrénées also echoed the feat achieved by the team from Pau, referring to it as a "triumph." Their success generated strong enthusiasm among supporters, and during the final in Toulouse, no less than 25,000 Pau and Béarn supporters were present to cheer on their team, which was wearing white that day. The emblematic captain at the time was Albert Cazenave, who was admirably supported by players such as Georges Caussarieu, David Aguilar, Robert Sarrade, Fernand Taillantou, and the indispensable François Récaborde.

This victory by Section Paloise marked a historic moment in the club's history and was celebrated fervently by the fans.

Before the war, the Section paloise won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in the 1938-1939 edition against RC Toulon by a score of 5-0 after extra time, courtesy of a try by Desperbasque and transformed by the full-back Courtade.

After WWII

In 1946, at the end of the war, the club was once again crowned French champions. Section Paloise, won the prize, beating the likes of Toulouse and Agen. In spite of some uninspiring results during the first phase of the championship, Section successively beat Stade Toulousain in the quarter-finals and Perpignan in the semi-finals (6-3 after extra time) to reach the final against their neighbours from the French capital. However, guided by a series of 12 consecutive victories, FC Lourdes were largely defeated 11-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The press noted then that the Section had a very homogeneous team without "stars" but with a perfect physical and moral condition. Theo Cazenave, Pierre Lauga and captain André Rousse are some of the figures of this remarkable XV.

Section Paloise lost in the semi-finals of the 1950 French championship against the future French Olympic champion, Castres Olympique.

After a French Cup semi-final in 1951, the team won the Yves du Manoir challenge in 1952. In 1959, François Moncla, then international and title holder with Racing Club de France, became captain and a new, younger team was formed.

The team slowly took its bearings and in 1964, Section Paloise became French champion for the third time, beating the great Béziers 13-0. Its stars at the time were Moncla, Piqué, Capdouze, Saux, Etcheverry and Abadie.

However, all had started badly during this season, the press even published a headline in October entitled La Section en perdition (Section in Perdition). The team had just lost 31-3 in Agen and lost at Croix du Prince by 24-3 to their heavyweight rivals. The journey slowly took shape with successive victories over Brive, Chalon, Bayonne, and Narbonne before the triumph against Béziers, beaten 14-0 with two tries by Jean Capdouze.

Jean Piqué played the final of the 1963–64 French Rugby Union Championship with a photo of his wife on him during the match. Piqué, a father of a two-year-old daughter, lost his first wife to sudden leukemia during the playoffs. He played the final with a photo of her on him.

The title triggered several days of celebration in the capital of Béarn, and the Boulevard des Pyrénées was flooded with an unprecedented green and white crowd, with 30,000 people.

Béziers got its revenge in the Challenge the following week, preventing Pau from achieving the double.

Robert Paparemborde era (1965–1990)

The following seasons were more unspectacular from a sporting point of view, with captain Moncla stopping his career at the beginning of the 1967 season. From 1968 onwards, a new development took place, as the positions of General President and Rugby President could not be held concurrently. It was the departure of Albert Cazenave after 16 years as President, and that of his brother Theo from the role of coach.

That same year, the Section saw the birth of a young talent from Laruns in the Ossau Valley. Robert Paparemborde started his first game as an inside centre but it was as a prop that he became a world reference. Laurent Cabannes made his debut at the age of 17 and years later became one of the world's best flankers. On a sporting level, the first team lost to Montferrand 14-11 in the quarter-finals in 1970 and reached the semi-finals against Narbonne in 1974, having gone past Agen in the round of 16 by a surprise 24-21. The team spent a single season in Group B, 1977-1978, and then moved back to the elite immediately.

Section did not fulfil its 18-year rule, after 1928, 1946 and 1964 as they did not win another title in 1982, narrowly defeated by SU Agen in the Round of 16. They did, however, reach the quarter-finals in 1983 against Nice.

At the end of the 1980s, with two seasons in Group B, the first team reached the finals of this category but narrowly failed (1989 and 1990). The Section was then in a delicate sporting and economic situation.

Revival then fall (1990–2006)

In October 1990, the club left its historic Stade de la Croix du Prince for the more modern Stade du Hameau. This move helped the club to solve its debts, as the Croix du Prince was sold to the Pau Town Hall. The beginning of the 1990s saw the first team begin to recover and they remained in Group A in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, the team even reached the Top 16 but failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in favour of FC Grenoble who were deprived of the title after a refereeing error and RC Narbonne who played their fifth quarter-final in 6 seasons.

During the 1994 and 1995 seasons, Section Paloise did not reach the top 16 and participated in the Moga Cup where it failed in the final against Aviron Bayonnais in Mont de Marsan.

Rugby Palois moves up in the hierarchy and obtains again good results. Also in 1996, the Section played in the final of the Challenge Yves du Manoir and was eliminated in the semi-final of the French championship, each time against Brive. These results enabled the club to qualify for the second edition of the European Rugby XV Cup.

In 1997, the Section was once again awarded a national trophy which was the Yves du Manoir challenge, while reaching the quarter-finals of the French championship, again both times against the same team from Bourgoin. In 1998, it reached the semi-finals of the H-Cup, beaten only by the future winner of the competition (the English Bath). In 2000, the Section won the European Shield against Castres by 34-21 in Toulouse. The same season, Pau eliminates Montferrand in the quarter-final of the French championship but misses the final by a hair's breadth against Colomiers in the semi-final. The Section lost 24-22 after extra time, the team is led by Joël Rey, David Aucagne, Thierry Cléda, Frédéric Torossian and David Dantiacq.

The following seasons were much more disappointing. The team is often satisfied to play the maintenance in the first division except a qualification in play-off in 2003, and a good course in European challenge in 2005 which sees it only failing in the final against the Sale Sharks. The Section is finally relegated to Pro D2 after the 2005-2006 season, a relegation that it had already avoided by very little the previous season (victory in the play-off). The club plays in Pro D2 from the 2006-2007 season hoping for a better tomorrow, betting a lot on training, like those youngsters trained at the club and who wore the jersey of the French Rugby team during the 2000s: Beauxis, Brusque, Harinordoquy, Traille and Bernat-Salles.

Rebuilding and then returning to ambitions (since 2006)

Section Paloise returned to the elite of French rugby in 2011-2012, after a season that saw it finish second in the championship, and undefeated at home, lost in the final against Stade Montois (29-20). In 2012-2013, the club again reached the Pro D2 final to gain promotion to the Top 14. 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.

On this occasion, the clubs of supporters, partners and other works councils organised a trip that will bring together no less than 142 buses to the Stade Chaban-Delmas. However, at this stage of the competition, the Section still lost to CA Brive by a score of 30-10 in front of 33,175 spectators.

After another disappointment the following season against La Rochelle, defeated 35-18 at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre in the semi-finals, the club made a good recruitment for the coming season with the arrival of manager Simon Mannix. Section obtained direct access to the Top 14 that year. As soon as the season ended, Simon Mannix used his address book to bring in players like Colin Slade, Carl Hayman and Conrad Smith, considered at that time to be of the best centres in the world.

Smith is now high-performance director at the club.

Mannix was dismissed in 2019 after five seasons, when a string of poor results convinced the board to part ways.

The first team is now coached by Sébastien Piqueronies. As a federal coach, he became the manager of the France national under-20 rugby union team in 2018. He led the team to the double title of world champions in 2018 and 2019.