Nyon Rugby Club, nicknamed les Pirates, is a rugby club in Nyon, Switzerland. It is organised as a sports association and plays at the Centre Sportif de Colovray. In 2025/26 its men's first team played in the LNA. The club also has a reserve team, a women's team run jointly with OCM Monthey, under-19 and under-16 teams, a rugby school and a veterans' section. The club supports players from the age of 6.
History
The club was born on 28 March 1972 over a drink at the Café de la Banque. It grew with the energy of people who like a challenge, starting with explaining that in rugby you have to pass backwards to go forwards. It won its first victories without even having a home ground, and grew title by title into what it calls one of the great houses of Swiss rugby.
The club merged with the Ovale Sportive Nyonnaise in December 1975. A selection for the FIRA European Championship followed on 25 April 1976. The club celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday 20 August 2022. By the count of its former players' association, more than 600 players have played for the club since 1972.
The club's LNA team were Swiss champions in 2024. In the final, played at the Stade Municipal d'Yverdon on 8 June 2024, Nyon beat Yverdon 23–22. In 2025 the reserve team, Nyon RC II, won the Excellence A final 16–12 against RC Yverdon II, and RC Nyon won the Swiss Cup final 33–31 against Avusy at the Stade Athenaz on 14 June 2025. In the 2025/26 LNA qualification phase the first team won seven and lost seven of its 14 matches, scoring 342 points and conceding 377, for 37 table points.
Honours
- LNB champions: 1973, 1983
- Coupe FSR winners: 1983
- LNA champions: 2005
- Swiss champions: 2016
- Swiss champions (LNA), men: 2024
- LNFA champions, women (Mermigans): 2019
- Excellence A champions, reserve team: 2025
- Swiss Cup winners: 2025
The titles from 1973 to 2019 are by the club's count.
Ground
The club plays at the Centre Sportif de Colovray, Route de Genève 37, 1260 Nyon. Colovray has been the club's home for more than 40 years. Some rugby school sections also train at the Stade des Rojalets in Coppet, and the club's autumn camp uses the rugby ground in Gland, Chemin de la Perroude.
Teams and training
Training times as of August 2026:
| Team | Training |
|---|---|
| Senior men (LNA and Excellence A) | Tuesday and Thursday 19:00–21:00, Stade de Colovray |
| Women (Mermigans) | Monday and Thursday 19:30–21:00, Stade de Colovray |
| Espoirs (U19) | Tuesday and Thursday 19:00–21:00, Stade de Colovray |
| Juniors (U16) | Monday and Wednesday 18:30–20:00, Stade de Colovray |
| Rugby school | Every Wednesday at Colovray, 17:00–18:30 in early autumn and late spring and 17:00–18:00 in winter, with no sessions in school holidays; U6 to U10 also Saturday 10:00–11:30 at Colovray; U12 to U14 also Friday 16:30–18:00 at Stade des Rojalets, Coppet |
| KromaNyon (veterans) | Once a week, usually with one friendly match a month |
The Mermigans are a combined women's team of OCM Monthey (the Morrigans) and Nyon Rugby (the Mermaids). In 2025/26 they finished fifth after 14 matches, with 40 points. The rugby school is open to all girls and boys born between 2011 and 2020, in the U6, U8, U10, U12 and U14 categories, and children can try rugby free of charge without commitment. With Rugby Tots, the club held a free open house for children aged 3½ to 13 at Colovray on 3 September 2025 (17:00–18:30) and 6 September 2025 (10:00–12:00). Players progress from the discovery stage through the U16 juniors and U19 espoirs to the club's senior men's and women's teams at the highest level of national competition. In 2025/26 the reserve team, Nyon Rugby Club 2, finished sixth in Excellence A after 14 matches, with 30 points.
Players register through SportLoMo, while the KromaNyon register through ClubDesk. Annual membership fees in August 2026:
- Senior men and women: CHF 335
- Students: CHF 185
- Espoirs (U19) and juniors (U16): CHF 275
- KromaNyon: CHF 250
- Rugby school: CHF 165
- Supporting member: CHF 100 or more
The club also runs three camps under the slogan "3 camps, une région, une passion". In 2026 these were a Stade Toulousain camp from 3 to 6 April (€249); a summer camp from 29 June to 3 July (CHF 300 for U6 to U14, CHF 330 for U16 to U19); and an autumn camp from 19 to 23 October at Gland, run in partnership with Rugby la Côte, at the same prices.
Club life
The nickname les Pirates honours the Noble Confrérie des Pirates de Rive, who haunted the same cafés. The club's motto is "Coeur, Courage, Unité, Nyon !" ("Heart, Courage, Unity, Nyon!"). Since its creation the club has been built on strong values rooted in the spirit of the Lake Geneva region: courage, unity, solidarity and the training of local players. Another of its lines is "Rugby does not build character. It reveals it."
The club's colours are red and blue, or white, red and blue. Nyon Rugby CARE is the club's unit for the health, well-being and wider support of its members; the club also has Jobs and Corporate units alongside its playing sections. The club recently bought two minibuses with subsidies from the town, and on 29 April 2026 it named the Ville de Nyon a Gold Partner. Its affiliations include Suisse Rugby, the Association Vaudoise de Rugby, the Association des Sociétés Sportives Nyonnaises, the Amicale des Anciens, the ADRDN and Rugby Tots.