2021–22 Rugby Pro D2 season

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2021–22 Pro D2
Countries France
Date28 August 2021 – 26 June 2022
ChampionsBayonne (2nd title)
Runners-upMont-de-Marsan
PromotedBayonne
RelegatedNarbonne, Bourg-en-Bresse
Official website
www.lnr.fr

The 2021–22 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, below the Top 14, for the 2021–22 season. It will run alongside the 2021–22 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

Teams[edit]

Number of teams by regions[edit]

Teams Region or country Team(s)
5  Occitanie Béziers, Carcassonne, Colomiers, Montauban, Narbonne
4  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Aurillac, Bourg-en-Bresse, Grenoble, Oyonnax
3  Nouvelle-Aquitaine Agen, Bayonne, Mont-de-Marsan
1  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Nevers
 Brittany Vannes
 Normandy Rouen
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence

Competition format[edit]

The regular season uses a double round-robin format, in which each team plays the others home and away.

The LNR uses a slightly different bonus points system from that used in most other rugby competitions. It trialled a new system in 2007–08 explicitly designed to prevent a losing team from earning more than one bonus point in a match,[1] a system that also made it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for subsequent seasons.[2]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:[3]

  • 4 points for a win.
  • 2 points for a draw.
  • 1 bonus point for winning while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent. This replaces the standard bonus point for scoring 4 tries regardless of the match result.
  • 1 bonus point for losing by 5 points (or less). The required margin had been 7 points or less until being changed in advance of the 2014–15 season.

Starting with the 2017–18 season, Pro D2 conducts a play-off system identical to the one currently used in Top 14, with the top six teams qualifying for the play-offs and the top two teams receiving byes into the semi-finals. The winner of the play-offs earns the league championship and automatic promotion to the next season's Top 14; the runner-up enters a play-off with the second-from-bottom Top 14 team, with the winner of that play-off taking up the final place in Top 14.[4]

This replaced the previous system in which the top team at the end of the regular season was declared champion, also earning a Top 14 place, while the second- through fifth-place teams competed in promotion play-offs. The play-off semi-finals were played at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. The final was then played on neutral ground, and the winner earned the second ticket to the next Top 14.

Promotion[edit]

Pro D2 to Top 14[edit]

As noted above, both promotion places will be determined by play-offs from 2017–18 forward, with the winner of the Pro D2 play-offs earning promotion and the runner-up playing the second-from-bottom Top 14 team for the next season's final Top 14 place.

Nationale to Pro D2[edit]

Starting with the 2021–22 season, the FFR created a third professional league, slotting between Pro D2 and Fédérale 1 in the league system called Nationale.[4]

Relegation[edit]

Normally, the teams that finish in 15th and 16th places in the table are relegated to Nationale at the end of the season. In certain circumstances, "financial reasons" may cause a higher-placed team to be demoted instead, or bar a Fédérale 1 team from promotion.

Table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD B Pts
1 Mont-de-Marsan 30 23 0 7 860 524 +336 14 106 Semi-final promotion playoff place
2 Bayonne (C, P) 30 20 2 8 890 607 +283 16 100
3 Oyonnax 30 20 1 9 910 534 +376 14 96 Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4 Nevers 30 16 2 12 759 611 +148 14 82
5 Carcassonne 30 17 1 12 694 621 +73 10 80
6 Colomiers 30 18 0 12 639 595 +44 6 78
7 Provence 30 17 1 12 670 684 −14 6 76
8 Montauban 30 14 2 14 671 758 −87 8 68
9 Béziers 30 13 1 16 619 634 −15 10 64
10 Aurillac 30 14 0 16 550 720 −170 6 62
11 Vannes 30 12 2 16 655 623 +32 9 61
12 Grenoble 30 11 3 16 619 653 −34 10 60
13 Agen 30 10 1 19 604 725 −121 14 56
14 Rouen 30 10 1 19 606 823 −217 7 49
15 Bourg-en-Bresse (R) 30 9 3 18 607 844 −237 4 46 Relegation to Nationale
16 Narbonne (R) 30 5 2 23 544 941 −397 8 32
Source: Pro D2
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promotion playoffs[edit]

Semi-final Qualifiers Semi-finals Final
1 Mont-de-Marsan 26
4 Nevers 24 4 Nevers 15
5 Carcassonne 12 1 Mont-de-Marsan 20
2 Bayonne 49
2 Bayonne 32
3 Oyonnax 19 3 Oyonnax 20
6 Colomiers 15

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ In recent years, Rouen has taken occasional home matches to Stade Robert Diochon.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  2. ^ "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain"" (PDF). Règlements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel (in French). LNR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain" et points de bonus" (PDF). Statuts et Reglements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2014/2015, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif des championnats profesionnels (in French). Ligue Nationale de Rugby. p. 166. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  4. ^ a b Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 12 February 2017.

External links[edit]

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