On 29 March 2019, Massy became the first side to be relegated, a narrow home defeat against Montauban condemning them to the drop with four games still left to play.[1] The other relegation spot was much more keenly fought, going all the way to the last round, when on 5 May 2019 Bourg-en-Bresse were the second team to go down, despite winning their final game, just 1 point behind 14th placed Aurillac.[2] Massy and Bourg-en-Bresse drop to Fédérale 1.
The promotion play-off final was between Brive (1st in the league stage) and Bayonne (3rd). As they had topped the league stage, Brive were slight favourites to make an instant return to the Top 14, while Bayonne had had two tough games including a memorable 38-34 semi-final away against league runners up, Oxonnax, who like Brive had also hoped to make an instant return to the Top 14.[3] In the final held at the Stade du Hameau, Pau, Bayaonne shaded a close game, 21–19, to win their first ever Pro D2 title and return to the Top 14 after an absence of two seasons.[4]
Defeated finalists Brive had a second shot at promotion when they faced 2018–19 Top 14 13th placed side, Grenoble, in the relegation playoff. Brive won 28–22 to take Grenoble's place and join Bayonne in the 2019–20 Top 14.[5] Grenoble and bottom club, Perpignan, would be relegated to the 2019–20 Rugby Pro D2.
Perpignan won the 2017–18 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Grenoble won the Top 14/Pro D2 playoff to secure the second promotion place.
The two bottom finishers in 2017–18, Narbonne and Dax, were relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1.
The bottom finisher in the 2017–18 Top 14 season, Brive was relegated to Pro D2. Oyonnax lost the Top 14/Pro D2 playoff and were therefore relegated.
Provence won the promotion group in the 2017–18 Fédérale 1 season; Bourg-en-Bresse 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.
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,[6] 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.[7]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[8]
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.[9]
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) changed 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:[9]
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.[9]
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.
Source: [10] Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.
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 the 2019–20 Top 14 and the loser in the 2019–20 Pro D2.
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
44,646
2,976
6,300
1,506
33%
Bayonne
16
145,008
9,063
16,207
7,207
54%
Béziers
15
82,053
5,470
7,591
2,867
29%
Biarritz
15
83,793
5,586
10,086
3,950
37%
Bourg-en-Bresse
15
87,245
5,816
9,853
4,137
51%
Brive
16
136,700
8,544
12,107
6,887
53%
Carcassonne
15
36,500
2,433
5,000
1,500
24%
Colomiers
15
60,200
4,013
5,000
3,200
35%
Massy
15
24,877
1,658
2,612
1,131
52%
Mont-de-Marsan
15
75,364
5,024
6,520
4,180
30%
Montauban
15
78,450
5,230
7,500
4,000
42%
Nevers
15
107,022
7,135
7,500
6,485
95%
Oyonnax
16
102,789
6,424
11,500
4,000
56%
Provence
15
70,594
4,706
6,000
3,500
81%
Soyaux Angoulême
15
84,500
5,633
8,000
3,000
70%
Vannes
16
119,996
7,500
9,169
6,499
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.
^Note that the capacity of Stade Maurice David increased from 5,000 to 6,000 at the end of October 2018 due to the construction of a new 1,000 capacity stand.
^"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.
^"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.
