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2020–21 Rugby Pro D2 season

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2020–21 Pro D2
Countries France
Date3 September 2020 – 13 June 2021
ChampionsPerpignan (2nd title)
Runners-upBiarritz
PromotedPerpignan, Biarritz
RelegatedValence Romans, Soyaux Angoulême
Official website
www.lnr.fr

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

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Competition format

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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

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Pro D2 to Top 14

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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

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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

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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

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2020–21 Rugby Pro D2 Table
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 13 666 863 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
Source: [6]
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.

Promotion Playoffs

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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

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Notes

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

References

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  1. ^ "Top 14 - Pro D2 : les présidents d'accord pour ne pas attribuer de titre". L'Equipe. 6 May 2020.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Classement PRO D2". Ligue Nationale de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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