2008-09 Rugby Pro D2 season

The 2008-09 Rugby Pro D2 will be the latest edition of the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14. The season will run alongside the 2008-09 Top 14 competition. Both competitions are operated by the Ligue nationale de rugby (LNR).

At the end of the previous season, Toulon were champions and thus automatically promoted to Top 14. They were eventually followed by Mont-de-Marsan, who beat Racing Métro in extra time in the final providing the second promotion place. Blagnac, which had been newly promoted to Pro D2 for the 2007-08 season, finished bottom of the table and were initially relegated to Fédérale 1, but were further relegated by French sporting authorities to Fédérale 2 due to financial problems. Limoges finished second-from-bottom for the second consecutive year; unlike 2006-07, when Limoges were reprieved when Gaillac were denied a professional license due to financial issues, they received no such break in 2007-08. The other promoted team in 2007-08, Aurillac, stayed up, finishing in 11th.

Colomiers and Bourg-en-Bresse earned promotion from Fédérale 1 for the 2008-09 season, while Albi and Auch were relegated from the 2007-08 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,cite web|url=http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,18259,3559_2450951,00.html |title=French try out new bonus point system |publisher=Planet-Rugby.com |date=2007-06-27 |accessdate=2007-08-13] a system that also makes it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for 2008-09.cite web|url=http://www.lnr.fr/omm/upload/3%20-%20Titre%20II%20-%20Reglement%20sportif%202008%20-2009.pdf |title=Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain" |work=Reglements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2008/2009, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif du Championnat de France Professionnel |publisher=Ligue Nationale de Rugby |language=French |accessdate=2008-08-27]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:

*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).

eason table

:

chedule and results

Matches are ultimately to be listed in the following order:
# By date.
# If matches are held on the same day, by kickoff time.
# Otherwise, in alphabetic order of home club.

All times CET.

Rounds 1 to 5

Round 1
* 6 September, 18:30 — Aurillac 11 - 6 (1 BP) Albi
* 6 September, 18:30 — Béziers 15 - 15 Pau
* 6 September, 18:30 — Grenoble (1 BP) 31 - 6 Colomiers
* 6 September, 18:30 — La Rochelle 30 - 12 Oyonnax
* 6 September, 18:30 — Lyon 18 - 9 Racing Métro
* 6 September, 18:30 — Narbonne 6 - 6 Tarbes
* 7 September, 15:00 — Bourg-en-Bresse (1 BP) 18 - 25 Bordeaux-Bègles
* 7 September, 15:15 — Agen 30 - 16 Auch

Round 2
* 13 September, 18:30 — Albi 26 - 19 (1 BP) Grenoble
* 13 September, 18:30 — Auch 21 - 16 (1 BP) Narbonne
* 13 September, 18:30 — Bordeaux-Bègles 24 - 12 Béziers
* 13 September, 18:30 — Colomiers 20 - 6 Lyon
* 13 September, 18:30 — Pau 27 - 15 Agen
* 13 September, 18:30 — Tarbes (1 BP) 15 - 16 Aurillac
* 14 September, 15:00 — Racing Métro 12 - 9 (1 BP) La Rochelle
* 14 September, 16:00 — Oyonnax (1 BP) 38 - 8 Bourg-en-Bresse

Round 3
* 20 September, 18:30 — Agen 26 - 19 (1 BP) Oyonnax
* 20 September, 18:30 — Aurillac (1 BP) 49 - 19 Bordeaux-Bègles
* 20 September, 18:30 — La Rochelle 15 - 12 (1 BP) Auch
* 20 September, 18:30 — Lyon (1 BP) 56 - 3 Tarbes
* 20 September, 18:30 — Narbonne 16 - 25 Racing Métro
* 21 September, 15:00 — Bourg-en-Bresse (1 BP) 12 - 18 Albi
* 21 September, 15:00 — Grenoble 22 - 9 Pau
* 21 September, 15:15 — Colomiers (1 BP) 38 - 17 Béziers

Round 4
* 27 September, 18:30 — Albi 28 - 22 (1 BP) Narbonne
* 27 September, 18:30 — Auch 24 - 6 Bourg-en-Bresse
* 27 September, 18:30 — Bordeaux-Bègles (1 BP) 22 - 23 La Rochelle
* 27 September, 18:30 — Oyonnax 22 - 15 (1 BP) Lyon
* 27 September, 18:30 — Pau 30 - 23 (1 BP) Colomiers
* 27 September, 18:30 — Racing Métro (1 BP) 35 - 16 Aurillac
* 27 September, 18:30 — Tarbes 34 - 24 Agen
* 28 September, 15:15 — Béziers 16 - 25 Grenoble

Round 5
* 4-5 October — Agen - Bordeaux-Bègles
* 4-5 October — Aurillac - Oyonnax
* 4-5 October — Béziers - Auch
* 4-5 October — Bourg-en-Bresse - Tarbes
* 4-5 October — Colomiers - Narbonne
* 4-5 October — Grenoble - Racing Métro
* 4-5 October — La Rochelle - Pau
* 4-5 October — Lyon - Albi

ee also

* 2008-09 Top 14 season

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.lnr.fr/ LNR.fr]