2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 season explained

2017–18 Pro D2
Countries:	France
Date:	18 August 2017 – 12 May 2018
Champions:	Perpignan (1st title)
Runnersup:	Grenoble
Promoted:	Perpignan, Grenoble
Relegated:	Narbonne, Dax
Matches:	215
Attendance:	1190778
Highest Attendance:	18,700 (final) Perpignan v Grenoble 6 May 2018 16,179 (league) Bayonne v Biarritz 14 October 2017
Lowest Attendance:	900 Narbonne v Massy 23 March 2018
Top Point Scorer:	Jérôme Bosviel (Montauban) 278 points
Top Try Scorer:	Adriu Delai (Biarritz) 15 tries
Website:	www.lnr.fr
Prevseason:	2016–17
Nextseason:	2018–19

The 2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2017–18 season. It ran alongside the 2017–18 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

Teams

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne	Aurillac (Cantal)	Stade Jean Alric	align=center	9,000
Aviron Bayonnais	Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)	Stade Jean Dauger	align=center	16,934
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
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
FC Grenoble	Grenoble (Isère)	Stade des Alpes	align=center	20,068
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
USO Nevers	Nevers (Nièvre)	Stade du Pré Fleuri	align=center	7,500
USA Perpignan	Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales)	Stade Aimé Giral	align=center	16,600
Soyaux Angoulême XV Charente	Angoulême (Charente)	Stade Chanzy	align=center	6,000
Rugby Club Vannes	Vannes (Morbihan)	Stade de la Rabine	align=center	9,500

Changes in the lineup from 2016–17 were:

Oyonnax won the 2016–17 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Agen won the promotion playoffs to secure the second promotion place.
The two bottom finishers in 2016–17, Bourgoin and Albi, were relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1.
The two bottom finishers in the 2016–17 Top 14 season, Bayonne and Grenoble, were relegated to Pro D2.
Massy won the promotion group in the 2016–17 Fédérale 1 season; Nevers won the play-offs for the second promotion place. Since the 2015–16 season, the promotion process has been separate from the play-offs for the traditional Fédérale 1 championship prize, Trophée Jean-Prat.

Number of teams by regions

Teams	Region or country	Team(s)
6		Béziers, Carcassonne, Colomiers, Montauban, Narbonne, and Perpignan
5		Bayonne, Biarritz, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, and Soyaux Angoulême
2		Aurillac and Grenoble
1

		Massy

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 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.

Fédérale 1 to Pro D2

At the same time, LNR and the French Rugby Federation (FFR) will change the promotion process from Fédérale 1 to Pro D2. For three seasons (2017–18 to 2019–20), only one team will be promoted to Pro D2 through the Fédérale 1 competition. The second promotion place will be a "wild card" granted by LNR to a club that meets the following criteria:^[4]

must be located in northern France (with the dividing line running approximately from La Rochelle to Lyon)
have a long-term development plan
location in an area that can demographically and economically support a fully professional club

Starting with the 2020–21 season, LNR will create a third professional league, slotting between Pro D2 and Fédérale 1 in the league system.^[4]

Relegation

Normally, 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 bar a Fédérale 1 team from promotion.

Fixtures & Results

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Round 8

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Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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Round 12

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Round 13

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Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 22

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Round 23

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Round 24

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Round 25

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Round 26

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Round 27

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Round 28

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Round 29

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Round 30

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Promotion Playoffs

Relegation playoff

The team finishing in 13th place of the Top 14 faces the runner-up of Pro D2, with the winner of this match playing in Top 14 in 2018–19 and the loser in Pro D2.

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Attendances

Attendances do not include the final as this is held at a neutral venue. Also does not include the relegation playoff game.

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Aurillac	15	37,836	2,522	4,500	1,200	28%
Bayonne	15	127,734	8,516	16,179	7,000	50%
Béziers	15	91,398	6,093	10,300	4,500	33%
Biarritz	15	84,616	5,641	11,500	4,200	38%
Carcassonne	15	45,100	3,007	8,000	1,500	30%
Colomiers	15	55,250	3,683	6,100	2,200	32%
Dax	15	60,409	4,027	6,599	3,010	25%
Grenoble	16	138,055	8,628	12,000	6,000	43%
Massy	15	30,131	2,009	3,000	1,306	63%
Mont-de-Marsan	16	96,379	6,024	9,000	4,122	27%
Montauban	16	91,588	5,724	9,500	3,800	45%
Narbonne	15	61,858	4,124	8,000	900	34%
Nevers	15	94,758	6,317	7,500	4,896	84%
Perpignan	16	148,097	9,256	14,466	7,356	56%
Soyaux Angoulême	15	62,400	4,160	6,000	3,000	69%
Vannes	15	112,039	7,469	9,162	6,216	79%

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Top points scorers

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Rank	Player	Club	Games	Points
1	Jérôme Bosviel	Montauban	26	278
2	Jonathan Bousquet	Perpignan	25	276
3	Thomas Girard	Massy	23	270
4	Pierre Bernard	Biarritz	27	235
5	Joris Segonds	Aurillac	28	222
6	Lucas Méret	Soyaux Angoulême	27	206
7	David Mélé	Grenoble	29	198
8	Christopher Hilsenbeck	Vannes	25	178
9	Nicolas Cachet	Dax	26	177
10	Ash Moeke	Vannes	25	173

Top try scorers