2014–15 Rugby Pro D2 season explained

2014–15 Pro D2
Countries:	France
Date:	23 August 2014 – 24 May 2015
Champions:	Pau
Promoted:	Agen
Relegated:	Massy
Matches:	112
Top Point Scorer:	Gilles Bosch (Carcassonne) 180 points^[1]
Top Try Scorer:	Taleta Tupuloa (Montauban) & Rodney Davies (Biarritz) 6 tries^[2]
Website:	www.lnr.fr
Prevseason:	2013–14
Nextseason:	2015–16

The 2014–15 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2014–15 season. It ran alongside the 2014–15 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). The average team salaries at the outset of the 2014–15 season were €5.97m; Biarritz and Perpignan had the highest team salaries with €11.07m.^[3]

Teams

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
	Agen (Lot-et-Garonne)	Stade Armandie	align=center	14,000
SC Albi	Albi (Tarn)	Stadium Municipal d'Albi	align=center	13,000
Stade Aurillacois	Aurillac (Cantal)	Stade Jean Alric	align=center	9,000
AS Béziers Hérault	Béziers (Hérault)	Stade de la Méditerranée	align=center	18,500
Biarritz Olympique	Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)	Parc des Sports Aguiléra	align=center	15,000
	Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère)	Stade Pierre Rajon	align=center	10,000
US Carcassonne	Carcassonne (Aude)	Stade Albert Domec	align=center	10,000
US Colomiers	Colomiers (Haute-Garonne)	Stade Michel Bendichou	align=center	11,400
US Dax	Dax (Landes)	Stade Maurice Boyau	align=center	16,170
RC Massy	Massy (Essonne)	Stade Jules Ladoumègue	align=center	3,200
US Montauban	Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne)	Stade Sapiac	align=center	12,600
Stade Montois	Mont-de-Marsan (Landes)	Stade Guy Boniface	align=center	22,000
RC Narbonne	Narbonne (Aude)	Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié	align=center	12,000
Section Paloise	Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)	Stade du Hameau	align=center	13,800
USA Perpignan	Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales)	Stade Aimé Giral	align=center	16,600
Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby	Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées)	Stade Maurice Trélut	align=center	16,400

Changes in the lineup from 2013–14 were:

• Lyon won the 2013–14 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. La Rochelle won the promotion playoffs to secure the second promotion place.
• The bottom two finishers in 2013–14, Bourg-en-Bresse and Auch, were relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1.
• The two bottom finishers in the 2013–14 Top 14 season, Perpignan and Biarritz Olympique, were relegated to Pro D2.
• The two finalists in Fédérale 1, champion Montauban and runner-up Massy, earned promotion.

Competition format

The top team at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away), is declared champion and earns a spot in the next Top 14 season. Teams ranked second to fifth compete in promotion playoffs, with the semifinals being played at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. The final is then played on neutral ground, and the winner earns the second ticket to the next Top 14.

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,^[4] 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.^[5]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:^[6]

• 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). This is a change from previous seasons, in which the margin was 7 points or less.

Relegation

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

This season saw an example of the latter situation. Following the 2014–15 season, 15th-place Dax was spared relegation after Fédérale 1 runner-up Lille was denied promotion due to excessive debt^[7] and failed in an appeal of the decision.^[8]

The last instance of a team outside the bottom two places being relegated was at the end of the 2011–12 season, when 9th-place Bourgoin were relegated, thereby reprieving 15th-place Béziers.

Fixtures

The outline fixtures schedule was announced on 16 May 2014.^{[9] [10]}

Round 14

Weekend of 13 December 2014

Round 15

Weekend of 20 December 2014

Round 16

Weekend of 10 January 2015

Round 17

Weekend of 17 January 2015

Round 18

Weekend of 24 January 2015

Round 19

Weekend of 31 January 2015

Round 20

Weekend of 7 February 2015

Round 21

Weekend of 21 February 2015

Round 22

Weekend of 28 February 2015

Round 23

Weekend of 7 March 2015

Round 24

Weekend of 14 March 2015

Round 25

Weekend of 28 March 2015

Round 26

Weekend of 4 April 2015

Round 27

Weekend of 11 April 2015

Round 28

Weekend of 25 April 2015

Round 29

Weekend of 2 May 2015

Round 30

Weekend of 9 May 2015

Play–offs

The highest ranked team at the end of the regular season, Pau, earned automatic promotion to the Top 14 as champion de France de PRO D2 2015.

Semi–finals

The semi–finals followed a 2 v 5, 3 v 4 system, with the higher ranked team playing at home.

----

• Under LNR rules, if a playoff match ends level after full-time, the first tiebreaker is try count. Agen advanced with 4 tries to Perpignan's 2.

Final

The winners of the semi–finals played off for the second promotion spot to the Top 14.

See also

• 2014–15 Top 14 season

External links

• Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
• Midi Olympique

Notes and References

1. Web site: Statistiques générales, Saison 2014-2015 . . French . 5 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130806092703/http://www.lnr.fr/statistiques-generales.html#prod2 . 2013-08-06 . dead . Click on the tabs for "Joueurs" and "Meilleurs réalisateurs".
2. Web site: Statistiques générales, Saison 2014-2015 . . French . 5 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130806092703/http://www.lnr.fr/statistiques-generales.html#prod2 . 2013-08-06 . dead . Click on the tabs for "Joueurs" and "Meilleurs marqueurs".
3. http://www.espnscrum.com/france-top-14-2014-15/rugby/story/238053.html "Toulouse top budget charts in Top 14 with €35m"
4. Web site: French try out new bonus point system . Planet-Rugby.com . 27 June 2007 . 13 August 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120105/http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0%2C18259%2C3559_2450951%2C00.html . 29 September 2007 .
5. Web site: Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain" . Règlements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel . . French . 27 August 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120217084857/http://www.lnr.fr/omm/upload/3%20-%20Titre%20II%20-%20Reglement%20sportif%202008%20-2009.pdf . 17 February 2012 .
6. Web site: Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain" et points de bonus. Statuts et Reglements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2014/2015, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif des championnats profesionnels . Ligue Nationale de Rugby . French . 166 . 2014-08-26.
7. News: La montée de Lille refusée . . French . 23 June 2015 . 14 August 2015.
8. Décisions du Comité Directeur de la LNR du 21 août 2015 . LNR . French . 21 August 2015 . 21 August 2015.
9. Web site: CP LNR - TOP 14 et PRO D2, les calendriers 2014-2015 . French . . 16 May 2014 . 2 June 2014.
10. Web site: Calendrier 2014/2015 . French . . 16 May 2014 . 2 June 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140724174049/http://admin.lnr.fr/IMG/pdf/PRO_D2_Calendrier_2014_2015.pdf . 24 July 2014 . dead . dmy-all .