2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 season

2015–16 Pro D2
Countries France
Date20 August 2015 – 4 June 2016[1]
ChampionsLyon
PromotedBayonne
RelegatedProvence, Tarbes
Matches played243
Official website
www.lnr.fr

The 2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2015–16 season. It ran alongside the 2015–16 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

Teams

Club City Stadium Capacity
Aviron Bayonnais Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Stade Jean Dauger 16,900
SC Albi Albi (Tarn) Stadium Municipal d'Albi 13,000
Stade Aurillacois Aurillac (Cantal) Stade Jean Alric 9,000
AS Béziers Hérault Béziers (Hérault) Stade de la Méditerranée 18,500
Biarritz Olympique Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) Parc des Sports Aguiléra 15,000
CS Bourgoin-Jallieu Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère) Stade Pierre Rajon 10,000
US Carcassonne Carcassonne (Aude) Stade Albert Domec 10,000
US Colomiers Colomiers (Haute-Garonne) Stade Michel Bendichou 11,400
US Dax Dax (Landes) Stade Maurice Boyau 16,170
Lyon OU Lyon (Rhône) Matmut Stadium 11,800
US Montauban Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) Stade Sapiac 12,600
Stade Montois Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) Stade Guy Boniface 22,000
RC Narbonne Narbonne (Aude) Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié 12,000
USA Perpignan Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) Stade Aimé Giral 16,600
Provence Rugby Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône) Stade Maurice David 4,000
Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) Stade Maurice Trélut 16,400

Changes in the lineup from 2014–15 were:

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

Table

2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Lyon 30 25 0 5 971 493 +478 13 4 117 Champions automatically promoted to Top 14
2 Bayonne 30 19 1 10 658 602 +56 4 4 86 Winner of the promotion play-offs
3 Aurillac 30 18 0 12 724 613 +111 7 2 81 Qualify for the promotion play-offs
4 Mont De Marsan 30 17 1 12 655 611 +44 5 3 78
5 Colomiers 30 16 3 11 629 590 +39 4 4 78
6 Béziers 30 17 1 12 745 662 +83 4 3 77
7 Perpignan 30 15 1 14 676 615 +61 5 6 73
8 Biarritz 30 14 0 16 674 656 +18 3 5 64
9 Bourgoin 30 12 0 18 595 642 −47 5 9 62
10 Albi 30 13 2 15 591 643 −52 2 4 62
11 Narbonne 30 13 0 17 602 653 −51 2 6 60
12 Montauban 30 12 0 18 570 624 −54 1 9 58
13 Tarbes 30 13 0 17 543 630 −87 0 9 53[a] Relegation to Fédérale 1
14 Carcassonne 30 11 0 19 484 741 −257 0 5 49
15 Dax 30 10 1 19 538 713 −175 1 5 48
16 Provence Rugby 30 10 0 20 549 716 −167 1 5 46 Relegation to Fédérale 1
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is calculated by results between teams before points difference.
Notes:
  1. ^ Tarbes had 8 points deducted and were automatically relegated at the end of the season.

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 prevent one of the two finalists in Fédérale 1 from promotion.

This season saw an example of the latter situation. Following the 2015–16 season, 15th-place Dax was spared relegation after Pro D2 side Tarbes was relegated due to excessive debt[5] and failed in an appeal of the decision.

Play–offs

The highest ranked team at the end of the regular season, Lyon OU, earned automatic promotion to the Top 14 as champion de France de PRO D2 2016.

Semi–finals

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

28 May 2016
18:00
Stade Aurillacois28 – 13Mont-de-Marsan
Report
Stade Jean Alric
Referee: Salem Attalah

29 May 2016
14:00
Bayonne28 – 16Colomiers
Report
Stade Jean Dauger
Referee: Maxime Chalon
  • 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.

4 June 2016
16:15
Bayonne21 – 16Stade Aurillacois
Pen: Moyano (7) 5', 11', 13', 22', 30', 37', 63'ReportTry: McPhee 78' c
Con: Petitjean (1/1)
Pen: Petitjean (3) 16', 34', 52'
Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse
Referee: Cyril Lafon

See also

References

  1. ^ "CP LNR - TOP 14 et PRO D2, les calendriers 2014-2015" (in French). LNR. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  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. ^ "Aix-en-Provence, dernier de ProD2, relégué en Fedérale 1". L'Équipe (in French). 22 May 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.