2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season

2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season
Countries France
ChampionsToulon
PromotedToulon
Mont-de-Marsan
RelegatedBlagnac
USA Limoges
Matches played243
Tries scored744
(average 3.1 per match)
Top try scorerFrance Florian Ninard (13)

The 2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 was a French rugby union club competition. The season ran alongside the 2007-08 Top 14 competition, which is the highest club competition. Both competitions were operated by the Ligue nationale de rugby (LNR).

At the end of the previous season, Auch were champions and thus automatically promoted to Top 14. They were eventually followed by Dax who beat La Rochelle in the final providing the second promotion place. Colomiers were relegated to Fédérale 1; Limoges finished in a relegation spot, but were reprieved when Gaillac were denied a professional license for the 2007-08 season due to serious financial problems. Aurillac and Blagnac earned promotion from Fédérale 1.

The new season showed a bright future for two particular clubs who signed several quality players in the transfer market in hopes of promotion at the end of the season. Some notables include George Gregan, Victor Matfield, Andrew Mehrtens and Anton Oliver who all signed with Toulon. The team also signed former All Black and Toulon player Tana Umaga as their Manager Sportif. Meanwhile, Sireli Bobo, Carlo Festuccia and Argentine captain Agustín Pichot moved to Racing Métro. Pichot's move wasn't a long distance one since he was simply switching from one Parisian team to the other.

Toulon jumped to an early lead on the ladder and never looked back, ultimately clinching the title and automatic promotion with two rounds to spare. Mont-de-Marsan won the promotion playoffs, defeating Racing Métro in the final, to secure the second promotion place. At the other end of the table, Limoges and Blagnac finished in the relegation places. Unlike the previous season, when Limoges were spared relegation due to the financial woes of Gaillac, all of the clubs above the bottom two places passed their required postseason financial audits, ensuring that both of the bottom two teams would go down.

This season, LNR trialled a modification to the bonus point system in both the Top 14 and Pro D2. The system being used this season was:[1]

  • 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 7 points (or less).

This system was explicitly intended to prevent a losing team from earning two bonus points, as is possible under the standard system.[1]

Season table

Key to colors
     Champions automatically promoted to Top 14
     Winner of playoffs between second- through fifth-place teams for the second promotion place
     Remaining participants in promotion playoffs
     Bottom two teams are relegated to Fédérale 1. Blagnac was later relegated further, to Fédérale 2, due to financial issues.
2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 Table
Club Total points Bonus points Match points Games Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Diff
1 Toulon 106 16 90 30 22 1 7 873 495 +378
2 Racing Métro 99 13 86 30 21 1 8 683 426 +257
3 Mont-de-Marsan 89 7 82 30 19 3 8 582 488 +94
4 Lyon 83 15 68 30 17 0 13 604 424 +180
5 La Rochelle 81 13 68 30 17 0 13 540 443 +97
6 Béziers 81 9 72 30 17 2 11 556 505 +51
7 Agen 81 9 72 30 17 2 11 575 430 +145
8 Grenoble 77 9 68 30 16 2 12 506 454 +52
9 Oyonnax 73 9 64 30 16 0 14 612 545 +67
10 Pau 69 13 56 30 14 0 16 533 576 −43
11 Aurillac 66 10 56 30 14 0 16 609 691 −82
12 Bordeaux-Bègles 61 11 50 30 12 1 17 468 526 −58
13 Narbonne 57 7 50 30 12 1 17 503 626 −123
14 Tarbes 45 11 34 30 8 1 21 428 705 −277
15 Limoges 31 7 24 30 5 2 23 340 791 −451
15 Blagnac 27 7 20 30 4 2 24 469 756 −287

Results

Round 1

Saturday 27 and Sunday 38 october

41 Toulon Béziers 7
18 Aurillac Stade Montois 26
22 Grenoble Tarbes 16
16 La Rochelle Oyonnax 10
22 Racing Métro 92 LOU 17
26 Pau Bordeaux-Bégles 17
20 SU Agen Blagnac 9
19 Limoges Narbonne 26
Round 2

Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 november

19 Stade Montois La Rochelle 9
29 Béziers Grenoble 5
17 Tarbes Racing Métro 92 22
28 Oyonnax Pau 13
39 LOU Limoges 5
15 Bordeaux-Bégles SU Agen 22
5 Blagnac Toulon 16
6 Narbonne Aurillac 17
Round 3

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 november

29 Narbonne SU Agen 10
21 Grenoble Stade Montois 16
29 La Rochelle Béziers 21
48 Aurillac Tarbes 3
30 Toulon Oyonnax 15
20 Pau LOU 9
21 Racing Métro 92 Bordeaux-Bégles 18
9 Limoges Blagnac 9
Round 4

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 november

34 Tarbes Toulon 39
26 Béziers Pau 19
22 Stade Montois Racing Métro 11
28 Oyonnax Aurillac 20
6 LOU Grenoble 3
12 Bordeaux-Bégles La Rochelle 11
12 Blagnac Narbonne 19
62 SU Agen Limoges 0
Round 5

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 november

15 SU Agen Béziers 12
15 Limoges Stade Montois 14
19 Pau Tarbes 7
19 Racing Métro 92 Oyonnax 10
29 Aurillac LOU 21
37 Toulon Bordeaux-Bégles 7
28 La Rochelle Blagnac 11
12 Narbonne Grenoble 23
Round 6

Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 december

23 Tarbes Narbonne 19
17 Béziers Limoges 10
19 Stade Montois SU Agen 9
45 Oyonnax Blagnac 6
11 LOU La Rochelle 15
42 Grenoble Bordeaux-Bégles 6
35 Toulon Pau 10
15 Aurillac Racing Métro 92 9
Round 7

Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 december

13 Grenoble Toulon 13
8 Narbonne Béziers 20
9 Blagnac Stade Montois 19
6 Limoges Tarbes 3
16 SU Agen Oyonnax 3
9 Bordeaux-Bégles LOU 12
6 Pau Racing Métro 92 11
28 La Rochelle Aurillac 10
Round 8

Saturday 15 december and Sunday 9 march

30 La Rochelle Pau 6
27 Béziers Blagnac 15
14 Stade Montois Narbonne 10
19 Tarbes Bordeaux-Bégles 6
25 Oyonnax LOU 21
64 Toulon Limoges 10
23 Aurillac SU Agen 11
28 Racing Métro 92 Grenoble 13
Round 9

Saturday 22 december, Sunday 23 december, Saturday 8 March* and Sunday 20 April**

24 Racing Métro 92 ** La Rochelle 6
18 Oyonnax * Béziers 16
33 SU Agen Toulon 0
12 Tarbes Stade Montois 12
15 LOU Narbonne 12
36 Bordeaux-Bégles Blagnac 13
16 Limoges Aurillac 23
22 Grenoble Pau 13
Round 10

Saturday 5 january and Sunday 6 january

20 Pau SU Agen 26
6 Béziers Bordeaux-Bégles 3
22 Stade Montois Oyonnax 6
37 LOU Tarbes 0
18 Blagnac Aurillac 19
9 Narbonne Racing Métro 92 6
27 Grenoble Limoges 18
36 Toulon La Rochelle 0
Round 11

Saturday 12 january and Sunday 13 january

18 Aurillac Grenoble 16
7 Tarbes Béziers 11
19 Stade Montois LOU 10
33 Bordeaux-Bégles Oyonnax 16
17 Blagnac Pau 19
21 Toulon Narbonne 20
29 Racing Métro 92 Limoges 0
17 La Rochelle SU Agen 6
Round 12

Saturday 19 january and Sunday 20 january

12 Grenoble La Rochelle 3
6 SU Agen Racing Métro 92 13
21 Béziers Stade Montois 21
39 Oyonnax Tarbes 12
36 LOU Blagnac 11
9 Bordeaux-Bégles Narbonne 16
16 Limoges Pau 19
14 Aurillac Toulon 23
Round 13

Saturday 26 january and Sunday 27 january

15 Racing Métro 92 Toulon 21
17 Blagnac Grenoble 29
14 Tarbes Grenoble 16
10 Stade Montois Bordeaux-Bégles 6
15 LOU Béziers 6
25 Narbonne Oyonnax 10
11 Limoges La Rochelle 15
19 Pau Aurillac 17
Round 14

Saturday 2 february and Sunday 3 february

9 Grenoble SU Agen 3
16 Béziers Racing Métro 92 16
9 Pau Stade Montois 13
20 Blagnac Tarbes 15
40 Oyonnax Limoges 6
14 Bordeaux-Bégles Aurillac 12
16 Toulon LOU 6
19 La Rochelle Narbonne 0
Round 15

Saturday 9 february and Sunday 10 february

9 Tarbes La Rochelle 32
37 Racing Métro 92 Blagnac 21
16 Stade Montois Toulon 12
31 Aurillac Toulon 32
20 Oyonnax Grenoble 12
24 SU Agen LOU 20
19 Limoges Bordeaux-Bégles 10
14 Narbonne Pau 8
Round 16

Saturday 16 february and Sunday 17 february

24 Béziers Toulon 23
15 Blagnac SU Agen 12
52 Stade Montois Aurillac 13
19 Tarbes Grenoble 3
12 Oyonnax La Rochelle 9
9 LOU Racing Métro 92 13
16 Bordeaux-Bégles Pau 6
26 Narbonne Limoges 10
Round 17

Saturday 23 february and Sunday 24 february

23 La Rochelle Stade Montois 12
60 Racing Métro 92 Tarbes 7
26 Aurillac Narbonne 20
11 Grenoble Béziers 12
37 Pau Oyonnax 16
9 Limoges LOU 29
16 SU Agen Bordeaux-Bégles 9
38 Toulon Blagnac 9
Round 18

Saturday 1 march and Sunday 2 march

33 Oyonnax Toulon 22
23 Béziers La Rochelle 19
12 Stade Montois Grenoble 6
13 Tarbes Aurillac 7
6 LOU Pau 9
20 Bordeaux-Bégles Racing Métro 92 16
33 Blagnac Limoges 11
37 SU Agen Narbonne 11
Round 19

Saturday 15 march and Sunday 16 march

19 Grenoble LOU 12
30 Aurillac Oyonnax 6
9 Limoges SU Agen 9
9 Pau Béziers 13
23 Racing Métro 92 Stade Montois 22
30 Toulon Tarbes 13
9 La Rochelle Bordeaux-Bégles 3
22 Narbonne Blagnac 22
Round 20

Saturday 22 march and Sunday 23 march

9 Oyonnax Racing Métro 92 16
12 Blagnac La Rochelle 31
25 Béziers SU Agen 9
19 Stade Montois Limoges 12
3 Tarbes Pau 8
28 LOU Aurillac 9
8 Bordeaux-Bégles Toulon 20
6 Grenoble Narbonne 13

Promotion playoffs

All times CET.

Semifinals

  • 15 June, 15:15 — Mont-de-Marsan 12–6 Lyon
  • 15 June, 19:00 — Racing Métro 23–17 La Rochelle

Final

  • 21 June, 15:00 at Limoges — Racing Métro 23–32 Mont-de-Marsan (extra time)

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 2007-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
Preceded by Rugby Pro D2
season
2007-08 		Succeeded by