2021–22 Rugby Pro D2 season
| 2021–22 Pro D2 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 28 August 2021 – 26 June 2022 |
| Champions | Bayonne (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Mont-de-Marsan |
| Promoted | Bayonne |
| Relegated | Narbonne, Bourg-en-Bresse |
| Official website | |
| www | |
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]
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 |
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]- ^ 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