2023–24 Rugby Pro D2 season
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| 2022–23 Pro D2 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 17 August 2023 – 17 May 2024 |
| Official website | |
| www | |
The 2023–24 Rugby Pro D2 is the second-level French rugby union club competition, below the Top 14, for the 2023–24 season. It will run alongside the 2023–24 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) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Agen, Biarritz, Brive, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, Soyaux Angoulême |
| 3 |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Aurillac, Grenoble, Valence Romans |
 Occitanie | Béziers, Colomiers, Montauban | |
| 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 to 2018 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 | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vannes | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 396 | 244 | +152 | 5 | 3 | 50 | Semi-final promotion playoff place |
| 2 | Provence | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 427 | 342 | +85 | 4 | 3 | 51 | |
| 3 | Béziers | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 428 | 319 | +109 | 4 | 3 | 49 | Quarter-final promotion playoff place |
| 4 | Mont-de-Marsan | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 400 | 305 | +95 | 2 | 3 | 45 | |
| 5 | Nevers | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 406 | 345 | +61 | 4 | 3 | 43 | |
| 6 | Brive | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 328 | 306 | +22 | 3 | 1 | 40 | |
| 7 | Aurillac | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 311 | 373 | −62 | 3 | 1 | 38 | |
| 8 | Colomiers | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 330 | 331 | −1 | 2 | 4 | 36 | |
| 9 | Grenoble | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 432 | 364 | +68 | 4 | 2 | 34[a] | |
| 10 | Montauban | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 294 | 367 | −73 | 2 | 0 | 34 | |
| 11 | Agen | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 285 | 390 | −105 | 1 | 2 | 33 | |
| 12 | Dax | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 281 | 387 | −106 | 1 | 2 | 33 | |
| 13 | Valence Romans | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 317 | 287 | +30 | 3 | 3 | 30 | |
| 14 | Soyaux Angoulême | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 288 | 321 | −33 | 0 | 4 | 26 | |
| 15 | Biarritz | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 320 | 434 | −114 | 2 | 3 | 25 | Relegation to Nationale |
| 16 | Rouen | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 270 | 398 | −128 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
- Points difference in head-to-head matches
- Try differential in head-to-head matches
- Points difference in all matches
- Try differential in all matches
- Points scored in all matches
- Tries scored in all matches
- Fewer matches forfeited
- Classification in the previous Top 14 season
Notes:
- ^ Following the decisions rendered by the Appeal Commission on July 6, 2023 and December 14, 2023 by the Disciplinary Council, a withdrawal of 12 points applies for FC Grenoble Rugby
Regular season[edit]
Round 1[edit]
Round 2[edit]
Round 3[edit]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ In recent years, Rouen has taken occasional home matches to Stade Robert Diochon.
References[edit]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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]
- (in French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
- (in French) Midi Olympique