Playing was suspended after the 23rd Matchday due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The season was officially cancelled without any promotion or relegation on 6 May.[1]
Bayonne won the 2018–19 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Brive won the Top 14/Pro D2 playoff to secure the second promotion place.
The bottom finisher in the 2018–19 Top 14 season, Perpignan was relegated to Pro D2. Grenoble lost the Top 14/Pro D2 playoff and were therefore relegated.
Rouen won the 2018–19 Fédérale 1 title and were thereby automatically promoted. Valence Romans, who finished 2nd, was also promoted
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,[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
Pro D2 to Top 14
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.
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:[5]
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.[5]
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: [6] Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.
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
11
28,147
2,559
3,500
1,500
28%
Béziers
12
55,122
4,594
5,537
3,765
25%
Biarritz
12
39,000
3,250
5,000
2,000
22%
Carcassonne
11
31,500
2,864
4,000
2,500
29%
Colomiers
12
47,926
3,994
5,000
2,900
35%
Grenoble
11
100,971
9,179
12,205
7,000
46%
Mont-de-Marsan
11
48,923
4,448
5,900
2,500
26%
Montauban
11
51,027
4,639
5,500
4,000
37%
Nevers
11
70,564
6,415
7,373
5,886
86%
Oyonnax
12
65,465
5,455
6,909
4,500
47%
Perpignan
11
98,299
8,936
13,000
7,374
61%
Provence
11
45,967
4,179
5,950
3,000
70%
Rouen
11
32,795
2,981
6,437
1,452
66%
Soyaux Angoulême
11
49,500
4,500
6,500
3,000
56%
Valence Romans
12
42,500
3,542
5,500
2,000
23%
Vannes
11
82,655
7,514
8,641
7,000
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.
^"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.
