2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 season
The 2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 is the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2017–18 season. It runs alongside the 2017–18 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby.
Teams
Changes in the lineup from 2016–17 were:- Oyonnax won the 2016–17 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Agen won the promotion playoffs to secure the second promotion place.
- The two bottom finishers in 2016–17, Bourgoin and Albi, were relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1.
- The two bottom finishers in the 2016–17 Top 14 season, Bayonne and Grenoble, were relegated to Pro D2.
- Massy won the promotion group in the 2016–17 Fédérale 1 season; Nevers 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.
Number of teams by regions
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, 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 5 points. The required margin had been 7 points or less until being changed in advance of the 2014–15 season.
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 will change the promotion process from Fédérale 1 to Pro D2. For three seasons, 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:- must be located in northern France
- have a long-term development plan
- location in an area that can demographically and economically support a fully professional club
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.Table
Fixtures & Results
Round 1
----Round 2
----Round 3
----Round 4
----Round 5
----Round 6
----Round 7
----Round 8
----Round 9
----Round 10
----Round 11
----Round 12
----Round 13
----Round 14
----Round 15
----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
Promotion Playoffs
Semi-final Qualifiers
----Semi-finals
----Final
Relegation playoff
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 Top 14 in 2018–19 and the loser in Pro D2.Attendances
- 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 | 37,836 | 2,522 | 4,500 | 1,200 | 28% |
| Bayonne | 15 | 127,734 | 8,516 | 16,179 | 7,000 | 50% |
| Béziers | 15 | 91,398 | 6,093 | 10,300 | 4,500 | 33% |
| Biarritz | 15 | 84,616 | 5,641 | 11,500 | 4,200 | 38% |
| Carcassonne | 15 | 45,100 | 3,007 | 8,000 | 1,500 | 30% |
| Colomiers | 15 | 55,250 | 3,683 | 6,100 | 2,200 | 32% |
| Dax | 15 | 60,409 | 4,027 | 6,599 | 3,010 | 25% |
| Grenoble | 16 | 138,055 | 8,628 | 12,000 | 6,000 | 43% |
| Massy | 15 | 30,131 | 2,009 | 3,000 | 1,306 | 63% |
| Mont-de-Marsan | 16 | 96,379 | 6,024 | 9,000 | 4,122 | 27% |
| Montauban | 16 | 91,588 | 5,724 | 9,500 | 3,800 | 45% |
| Narbonne | 15 | 61,858 | 4,124 | 8,000 | 900 | 34% |
| Nevers | 15 | 94,758 | 6,317 | 7,500 | 4,896 | 84% |
| Perpignan | 16 | 148,097 | 9,256 | 14,466 | 7,356 | 56% |
| Soyaux Angoulême | 15 | 62,400 | 4,160 | 6,000 | 3,000 | 69% |
| Vannes | 15 | 112,039 | 7,469 | 9,162 | 6,216 | 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.Top points scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Games | Points |
| 1 |  Jérôme Bosviel | Montauban | 26 | 278 |
| 2 | Jonathan Bousquet | Perpignan | 25 | 276 |
| 3 | Thomas Girard | Massy | 23 | 270 |
| 4 | Pierre Bernard | Biarritz | 27 | 235 |
| 5 | Joris Segonds | Aurillac | 28 | 222 |
| 6 | Lucas Méret | Soyaux Angoulême | 27 | 206 |
| 7 | David Mélé | Grenoble | 29 | 198 |
| 8 |  Christopher Hilsenbeck | Vannes | 25 | 178 |
| 9 | Nicolas Cachet | Dax | 26 | 177 |
| 10 |  Ash Moeke | Vannes | 25 | 173 |
Top try scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Games | Tries |
| 1 |  Adriu Delai | Biarritz | 27 | 15 |
| 2 | Gwénaël Duplenne | Vannes | 23 | 12 |
| 2 | Kylan Hamdaoui | Biarritz | 25 | 12 |
| 3 | Lolagi Visinia | Grenoble | 23 | 11 |
| 3 | Jonathan Bousquet | Perpignan | 25 | 11 |
| 4 | Uwanakoro Tawalo | Biarritz | 16 | 10 |
| 4 | Nicolas Plazy | Colomiers | 19 | 10 |
| 4 |  Sabri Gmir | Béziers | 21 | 10 |
| 4 | Julien Cabannes | Mont-de-Marsan | 22 | 10 |
| 5 | Joeli Lutumailagi | Vannes | 17 | 9 |
| 5 | Mathieu Acebes | Perpignan | 24 | 9 |
| 5 | Jean-Bernard Pujol | Perpignan | 24 | 9 |
| 5 | Benoit Lazzarotto | Carcassonne | 25 | 9 |
| 5 |  Andrea Cocagi | Perpignan | 28 | 9 |
| 5 |  Vunga Lilo | Montauban | 28 | 9 |