2020–21 Rugby Pro D2 season
| 2020–21 Pro D2 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 3 September 2020 – 13 June 2021 |
| Champions | Perpignan (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Biarritz |
| Promoted | Perpignan, Biarritz |
| Relegated | Valence Romans, Soyaux Angoulême |
| Official website | |
| www | |
The 2020–21 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2020–21 season. It will run alongside the 2020–21 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). After play was suspended following the 23rd Matchday of the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, the season was officially cancelled without any winner or promotion/relegation on 6 May.[1]
Teams[edit]
Number of teams by regions[edit]
| Teams | Region or country | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 |  Occitanie |
Béziers, Carcassonne, Colomiers, Montauban, Perpignan |
| 4 |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
Aurillac, Grenoble, Oyonnax, Valence |
| 3 |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
Biarritz, Mont-de-Marsan, Soyaux Angoulême |
| 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,[2] 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.[3]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[4]
- 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.[5]
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 2020–21 season, the FFR created a third professional league, slotting between Pro D2 and Fédérale 1 in the league system called Nationale.[5]
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 or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perpignan (C, P) | 30 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 821 | 504 | +317 | 7 | 2 | 107 | Semi-final promotion play-off |
| 2 | Vannes | 30 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 722 | 513 | +209 | 8 | 3 | 99 | |
| 3 | Biarritz (PO) | 30 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 700 | 578 | +122 | 6 | 5 | 91 | Quarter-final promotion play-off |
| 4 | Oyonnax | 30 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 808 | 657 | +151 | 4 | 1 | 81 | |
| 5 | Colomiers | 29 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 617 | 587 | +30 | 2 | 6 | 75.64 | |
| 6 | Grenoble | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 666 | 594 | +72 | 4 | 5 | 75 | |
| 7 | Nevers | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 650 | 652 | −2 | 5 | 6 | 65 | |
| 8 | Carcassonne | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 653 | 665 | −12 | 3 | 4 | 65 | |
| 9 | Montauban | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 627 | 762 | −135 | 0 | 2 | 60 | |
| 10 | Mont-de-Marsan | 29 | 11 | 3 | 15 | 550 | 662 | −112 | 2 | 4 | 58.21 | |
| 11 | Aurillac | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 557 | 585 | −28 | 2 | 6 | 58 | |
| 12 | Béziers | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 620 | 671 | −51 | 3 | 11 | 56 | |
| 13 | Provence | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 622 | 743 | −121 | 1 | 6 | 55 | |
| 14 | Rouen | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 552 | 605 | −53 | 1 | 7 | 54 | |
| 15 | Valence Romans (R) | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 647 | 804 | −157 | 1 | 6 | 49 | Relegation to Nationale |
| 16 | Soyaux Angoulême (R) | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 522 | 752 | −230 | 1 | 7 | 42 |
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.
Promotion Playoffs[edit]
| Semi-final Qualifiers | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Perpignan | 27 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Oyonnax | 28 | 4 | Oyonnax | 15 | |||||||||
| 6 | Colomiers | 22 | 1 | Perpignan | 33 | |||||||||
| 3 | Biarritz | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Vannes | 33 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Biarritz | 41 | 3 | Biarritz | 34 | |||||||||
| 5 | Grenoble | 14 | ||||||||||||
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ In recent years, Rouen has taken occasional home matches to Stade Robert Diochon.
References[edit]
- ^ "Top 14 - Pro D2 : les présidents d'accord pour ne pas attribuer de titre". L'Equipe. 6 May 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Classement PRO D2". Ligue Nationale de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 8 August 2020.
External links[edit]
- (in French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
- (in French) Midi Olympique