2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season

2022–23 Pro D2
2022–23 Pro D2
Countries	France
Date	26 August 2022 – 5 May 2023
Champions	Oyonnax (3rd title)
Official website
	www.lnr.fr
	← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, below the Top 14, for the 2022–23 season. It will run alongside the 2022–23 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

Teams

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity	Previous season
Agen	Agen (Lot-et-Garonne)	Stade Armandie	13,863	13th
Aurillac	Aurillac (Cantal)	Stade Jean Alric	9,000	10th
Biarritz	Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)	Parc des Sports Aguiléra	15,000	Relegated from Top 14 (14th)
Béziers	Béziers (Hérault)	Stade Raoul-Barrière	18,555	9th
Carcassonne	Carcassonne (Aude)	Stade Albert Domec	10,000	5th
Colomiers	Colomiers (Haute-Garonne)	Stade Michel Bendichou	11,430	6th
Grenoble	Grenoble (Isère)	Stade des Alpes	20,068	12th
Massy	Massy (Essonne)	Stade Jules-Ladoumègue	3,200	Promoted from 2021–22 Championnat Fédéral Nationale (champions and 1st in league)
Mont-de-Marsan	Mont-de-Marsan (Landes)	Stade Guy Boniface	16,800	1st
Montauban	Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne)	Stade Sapiac	12,600	8th
Nevers	Nevers (Nièvre)	Stade du Pré Fleuri	7,500	4th
Oyonnax	Oyonnax (Ain)	Stade Charles-Mathon	11,500	3rd
Provence	Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône)	Stade Maurice David	6,000	7th
Rouen	Rouen (Seine-Maritime)	Stade Robert Diochon^{[a 1]}	12,018	14th
Soyaux Angoulême	Angoulême (Charente)	Stade Chanzy	8,000	Promoted from 2021–22 Championnat Fédéral Nationale (2nd in league)
Vannes	Vannes (Morbihan)	Stade de la Rabine	9,500	11th

Location of teams in the 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2

Competition format

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

Pro D2 to Top 14

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

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

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	B	Pts
1	Oyonnax (C, P)	30	23	1	6	904	457	+447	17	111	Semi-final promotion playoff place
2	Grenoble	30	19	3	8	672	588	+84	8	87^[a]	Semi-final promotion playoff place
3	Mont-de-Marsan	30	19	0	11	764	649	+115	10	86	Quarter-final promotion playoff place
4	Nevers	30	17	3	10	718	551	+167	11	85
5	Vannes	30	17	1	12	718	633	+85	11	81
6	Agen	30	15	1	14	653	583	+70	15	77
7	Colomiers	30	15	0	15	674	678	−4	10	70
8	Provence	30	13	4	13	652	638	+14	9	69
9	Béziers	30	13	1	16	700	716	−16	11	65
10	Aurillac	30	15	0	15	586	706	−120	5	65
11	Biarritz	30	12	2	16	690	699	−9	8	60
12	Rouen	30	12	2	16	594	767	−173	6	58
13	Montauban	30	12	1	17	678	784	−106	6	54^[a]
14	Soyaux Angoulême	30	11	0	19	569	697	−128	8	52
15	Carcassonne (R)	30	10	1	19	553	677	−124	10	52	Relegation to Nationale
16	Massy (R)	30	7	0	23	499	801	−302	5	33	Relegation to Nationale

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
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Grenoble were penalised three competition points, and Montauban were penalised two, for financial and administrative issues that made the clubs "non-compliant with the regulatory provisions and decisions of the CCCP".^[5]^[6]

Promotion playoffs

Semi-final Qualifiers			Semi-finals			Final

			1	Oyonnax	26
4	Nevers	17	5	Vannes	21
5	Vannes	20				1	Oyonnax	14
						2	Grenoble	3
			2	Grenoble	36
3	Mont-de-Marsan	37	3	Mont-de-Marsan	27
6	Agen	24

Notes

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

References

^ "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.
^ "Le FCG sanctionné de trois points de retrait au classement par la Ligue !". Le Dauphiné libéré (in French). 21 November 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023. Un retrait de cinq points dont deux points avec sursis au classement du championnat professionnel de Pro D2 de la saison en cours [...] Cette sanction a été prononcée au motif du « non-respect des dispositions réglementaires et décisions de la CCCP ».
^ "Pro D2 : l'US Montauban sanctionnée de cinq points de retrait pour la prochaine saison !" [Pro D2: US Montauban sanctioned with five withdrawal points for the next season!]. La Dépêche (in French). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.

External links

(in French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
(in French) Midi Olympique

[table_hth_MON0.96011374097323-8] Grenoble were penalised three competition points, and Montauban were penalised two, for financial and administrative issues that made the clubs "non-compliant with the regulatory provisions and decisions of the CCCP".^[5]^[6]

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

[NewBonus-2] "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.

[LNR_bonus_bylaw-3] "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.

[LNR_bonus_bylaw_2014-4] "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.

[Mortimer-5] Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 12 February 2017.

[6] "Le FCG sanctionné de trois points de retrait au classement par la Ligue !". Le Dauphiné libéré (in French). 21 November 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023. Un retrait de cinq points dont deux points avec sursis au classement du championnat professionnel de Pro D2 de la saison en cours [...] Cette sanction a été prononcée au motif du « non-respect des dispositions réglementaires et décisions de la CCCP ».

[7] "Pro D2 : l'US Montauban sanctionnée de cinq points de retrait pour la prochaine saison !" [Pro D2: US Montauban sanctioned with five withdrawal points for the next season!]. La Dépêche (in French). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.

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v t e Pro D2
2023–24 Teams	Agen Aurillac Béziers Biarritz Brive Colomiers Dax Grenoble Mont-de-Marsan Montauban Nevers Provence Rouen Soyaux Angoulême Valence Romans Vannes
Seasons	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Transfers	2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Governing body	Ligue Nationale de Rugby