2009–10 Rugby Pro D2 season

Previous season

At the end of the previous season, Racing Métro were champions and thus automatically promoted to Top 14. They were eventually followed by Albi, who defeated Oyonnax in the final of the promotion playoffs to secure a spot in the 2009–10 Top 14. Bourg-en-Bresse, which had been newly promoted to Pro D2 for the 2008–09 season, finished second-to-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. Béziers finished bottom of the league; they would have however stayed in Pro D2 for the next season, had Tarbes not successfully appealed the decision of the DNACG (Direction nationale d'aide et de contrôle de gestion), the LNR's financial arm, to relegate them to Fédérale 1. The other promoted team in 2008–09, Colomiers, stayed up, finishing in 14th, the first safe spot.

Lannemezan and Aix-en-Provence earned promotion from Fédérale 1 for the 2009–10 season, while Dax and Mont-de-Marsan were relegated from the 2008–09 Top 14.

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 earned 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, 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.

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).

Season table

:{| class="wikitable" width="450px" style="float:left; font-size:95%; margin-left:15px;" |-

• : Mont-de-Marsan were docked five points by the DNACG due to their failure to act upon their financial difficulties. This penalty also causes them to finish behind Dax in the table despite a better head-to-head record (5–4).

Results

Key

The score of the game is given by the middle (third and fourth) columns. The first and last column indicate the number of tries scored by the home and the away team, respectively. A blue border indicates that the team has earned an attacking bonus point (i.e. has scored at least three more tries than its opponent), a yellow one that the team has earned a defensive bonus point (defeat by 7 points or less). If a team earns both bonus points, this will be indicated by a green border.

;; Round 2 Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September

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;; Round 4 Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September

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;; Round 6 Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October

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;; Round 8 Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October

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;; Round 10 Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November

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;; Round 12 Saturday 28, Sunday 29 November and Wednesday 23 December

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;; Round 14 Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December

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;; Round 17 Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January

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;; Round 19 Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 January

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;; Round 21 Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February

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;; Round 23 Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 March

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;; Round 25 Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March

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;; Round 27 Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 April

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;; Round 29 Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May

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Promotion playoffs

All times CEST.

Semi-finals

Nicoud 33' c Sève 63' m

Final

Leite 20' m Ninard 69' c

References

1. (2010-06-10). "Le MTG XV relégué en Fédérale".
2. (2010-06-12). "Pays d'Aix: Le maintien et Laïrle dans le staff".
3. "Mort-auban!".
4. (2007-06-27). "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com.
5. "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain"". [[Ligue Nationale de Rugby]].
6. "Mont-de-Marsan perd 5 points".
7. "Official 2009–10 Rugby Pro D2 Table". Ligue Nationale de Rugby.
8. "Lyon-Tarbes reporté".
9. "Report à Aurillac".
10. "Lannemezan-Lyon reporté".
11. "Aix-Tarbes reporté".
12. "Colomiers-Auch reporté".
13. "Agen-Dax ajourné".
14. (2010-05-15). "La Rochelle – Oyonnax, Pro D2 (samedi 15 mai 2010), Fiche Match". [[L'Équipe]].
15. (2010-05-16). "Lyon – Pau, Pro D2 (dimanche 16 mai 2010), Fiche Match". L'Équipe.
16. (2010-05-23). "Lyon – La Rochelle, Pro D2 (dimanche 23 mai 2010), Fiche Match". L'Équipe.