2016–17 Rugby Pro D2 season
| 2016–17 Pro D2 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  France |
| Date | 25 August 2016 – 21 May 2017 |
| Champions | Oyonnax |
| Promoted | Agen |
| Relegated | Bourgoin, Albi |
| Matches played | 480 |
| Official website | |
| www | |
The 2016–17 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2016–17 season. It ran alongside the 2016–17 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
Teams[]
Changes in the lineup from 2015–16 were:
- Lyon won the 2015–16 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Bayonne won the promotion playoffs to secure the second promotion place.
- The bottom finisher in 2015–16, Provence Rugby was relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1. Tarbes was also relegated for financial reasons.
- The two bottom finishers in the 2015–16 Top 14 season, Oyonnax and Agen, were relegated to Pro D2.
- Soyaux Angoulême and Vannes won the Fédérale 1 promotion playoffs. The 2015–16 season was the first in which the promotion playoffs were separated from those for the traditional Fédérale 1 championship prize, Trophée Jean-Prat.
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,[1] 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.[2]
France's bonus point system operates as follows:[3]
- 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.
The 2016–17 season was the last for the then-current Pro D2 promotion system. From 2017–18 forward, Pro D2 will institute a playoff system identical to the one currently used in Top 14, with the top six teams qualifying for the playoffs and the top two teams receiving byes into the semifinals. The league championship and automatic promotion place will go to the winner of the playoffs; the runner-up will enter a playoff with the second-from-bottom Top 14 team, with the winner of that playoff taking up the final place in Top 14 for the following season.[4]
Table[]
The current table for the 2016–17 Rugby Pro D2 is:[5]
| |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Club | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | ||||||
| 1 | Oyonnax | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 790 | 637 | +153 | 7 | 7 | 90 | ||||||
| 2 | Agen | 30 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 780 | 624 | +156 | 5 | 6 | 87 | ||||||
| 3 | Montauban | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 726 | 533 | +193 | 6 | 4 | 86 | ||||||
| 4 | Mont-de-Marsan | 30 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 738 | 588 | +150 | 6 | 9 | 83 | ||||||
| 5 | Biarritz | 30 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 730 | 637 | +93 | 5 | 4 | 81 | ||||||
| 6 | Perpignan | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 744 | 589 | +155 | 9 | 4 | 79 | ||||||
| 7 | Colomiers | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 760 | 593 | +167 | 5 | 3 | 78 | ||||||
| 8 | Aurillac | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 689 | 712 | −23 | 5 | 5 | 70 | ||||||
| 9 | Carcassonne | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 648 | 642 | +6 | 3 | 3 | 64 | ||||||
| 10 | Béziers | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 694 | 667 | +27 | 7 | 4 | 63 | ||||||
| 11 | Vannes | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 659 | 735 | −76 | 2 | 7 | 61 | ||||||
| 12 | Narbonne | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 616 | 746 | −130 | 3 | 0 | 61 | ||||||
| 13 | Soyaux Angoulême | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 565 | 686 | −121 | 2 | 5 | 61 | ||||||
| 14 | Dax | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 647 | 845 | −198 | 1 | 6 | 59 | ||||||
| 15 | Albi | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 641 | 781 | −140 | 1 | 4 | 57 | ||||||
| 16 | Bourgoin | 30 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 452 | 864 | −412 | 1 | 6 | 17 | ||||||
| Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Points Total Green background denotes the champions, who are automatically promoted to Top 14. Yellow background denotes winner of the promotion play-offs. Blue background denotes teams that qualify for the promotion play-offs. Red background relegation to Fédérale 1. Notes: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference. Bourgoin had 8 points deducted for financial irregularities.[6] | |||||||||||||||||
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.
Fixtures[]
Round 1[]
Round 2[]
Round 3[]
9 September 2016
20:00 |
| (1 BP) Biarritz | 20–21 | Soyaux Angoulême |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Parc des Sports Aguiléra
Referee: |
Round 4[]
Round 5[]
Round 6[]
Round 7[]
Round 8[]
Round 9[]
Round 10[]
Round 11[]
Round 12[]
Round 13[]
Round 14[]
Round 15[]
16 December 2016
20:00 |
| Narbonne | 27–26 | Carcassonne (1 BP) |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié
Referee: |
Round 16[]
Round 17[]
Round 18[]
Round 19[]
Round 20[]
Round 21[]
Round 22[]
Round 23[]
Round 24[]
Round 25[]
Round 26[]
Round 27[]
Round 28[]
Round 29[]
Round 30[]
7 May 2017
14:15 |
| (1 BP) Narbonne | 43–14 | Soyaux Angoulême |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié
Referee: |
Play–offs[]
The highest ranked team at the end of the regular season, Oyonnax Rugby, earned automatic promotion to the Top 14 as champion de France de PRO D2 2017.
Semi–finals[]
The semi–finals followed a 2 v 5, 3 v 4 system, with the higher ranked team playing at home.
13 May 2017
21:00 |
| Montauban | 24–13 | Mont-de-Marsan |
|---|---|---|
| Try: 7' m 57' c Con: (1/2) 57' Pen: (3/4) 31', 48', 79' Drop: (1/1) 6' |
Report | Try: 63' c Con: Loustalot (1/1) 64' Pen: (2/3) 15', 40' |
Stade Sapiac
Referee: |
14 May 2017
14:15 |
| Agen | 26–14 | Biarritz |
|---|---|---|
| Try: 9' c Darbo 40' c Con: Darbo (2/2) 10', 40+1' Pen: Darbo (4/6) 14', 51', 71', 75' |
Report | Try: Lucu 55' m Pen: Lucu (3/4) 3', 5', 61' |
Stade Armandie
Referee: |
Final[]
The winners of the semi–finals played off for the second promotion spot to the Top 14.
21 May 2017
15:15 |
| Agen | 41–20 | Montauban |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Darbo 3' c 26' c Paris 33' c Nakosi 63' c 67' c Con: Darbo (5/5) 3', 28', 34', 64', 68' Pen: Darbo (2/2) 13', 52' |
Report | Try: Sukanaveita 38' c 73' c Con: (2/2) 39', 73' Pen: (2/2) 29', 40+1' |
Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Referee: |
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.
Top points scorers[]
|
Top try scorers[]
|
Number of teams by regions[]
| Teams | Region or country | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Occitanie | Albi, Béziers, Carcassonne, Colomiers, Montauban, Narbonne, and Perpignan |
| 5 | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Agen, Biarritz, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, and Soyaux Angoulême |
| 3 |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
Aurillac, Bourgoin, and Oyonnax |
| 1 |  Brittany |
Vannes |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Mortimer, Gavin (18 August 2016). "French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future". Rugby World. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ "Classement PRO D2". Ligue Nationale de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 13 February 2017.
- ^ "PROD2, Bourgoin - Retrait de 8 points". Ligue Nationale de Rugby (Press release) (in French). 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Rugby Pro D2 Top Try Scorers". lnr.fr. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
External links[]
- (in French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
- (in French) Midi Olympique
- Rugby Pro D2 seasons
- 2016–17 in French rugby union leagues