2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season

2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season
2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season
Countries	France
Champions	Toulon
Promoted	Toulon; Mont-de-Marsan
Relegated	Blagnac; USA Limoges
Matches played	243
Tries scored	744 ; (average 3.1 per match)
Top try scorer	Florian Ninard (13)
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 was a French rugby union club competition. The season ran alongside the 2007-08 Top 14 competition, which is the highest club competition. Both competitions were operated by the Ligue nationale de rugby (LNR).

At the end of the previous season, Auch were champions and thus automatically promoted to Top 14. They were eventually followed by Dax who beat La Rochelle in the final providing the second promotion place. Colomiers were relegated to Fédérale 1; Limoges finished in a relegation spot, but were reprieved when Gaillac were denied a professional license for the 2007-08 season due to serious financial problems. Aurillac and Blagnac earned promotion from Fédérale 1.

The new season showed a bright future for two particular clubs who signed several quality players in the transfer market in hopes of promotion at the end of the season. Some notables include George Gregan, Victor Matfield, Andrew Mehrtens and Anton Oliver who all signed with Toulon. The team also signed former All Black and Toulon player Tana Umaga as their Manager Sportif. Meanwhile, Sireli Bobo, Carlo Festuccia and Argentine captain Agustín Pichot moved to Racing Métro. Pichot's move wasn't a long distance one since he was simply switching from one Parisian team to the other.

Toulon jumped to an early lead on the ladder and never looked back, ultimately clinching the title and automatic promotion with two rounds to spare. Mont-de-Marsan won the promotion playoffs, defeating Racing Métro in the final, to secure the second promotion place. At the other end of the table, Limoges and Blagnac finished in the relegation places. Unlike the previous season, when Limoges were spared relegation due to the financial woes of Gaillac, all of the clubs above the bottom two places passed their required postseason financial audits, ensuring that both of the bottom two teams would go down.

This season, LNR trialled a modification to the bonus point system in both the Top 14 and Pro D2. The system being used this season was:^[1]

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).

This system was explicitly intended to prevent a losing team from earning two bonus points, as is possible under the standard system.^[1]

Season table

Key to colors
	Champions automatically promoted to Top 14
	Winner of playoffs between second- through fifth-place teams for the second promotion place
	Remaining participants in promotion playoffs
	Bottom two teams are relegated to Fédérale 1. Blagnac was later relegated further, to Fédérale 2, due to financial issues.

	Club	Total points	Bonus points	Match points	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Diff
2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 Table
1	Toulon	106	16	90	30	22	1	7	873	495	+378
2	Racing Métro	99	13	86	30	21	1	8	683	426	+257
3	Mont-de-Marsan	89	7	82	30	19	3	8	582	488	+94
4	Lyon	83	15	68	30	17	0	13	604	424	+180
5	La Rochelle	81	13	68	30	17	0	13	540	443	+97
6	Béziers	81	9	72	30	17	2	11	556	505	+51
7	Agen	81	9	72	30	17	2	11	575	430	+145
8	Grenoble	77	9	68	30	16	2	12	506	454	+52
9	Oyonnax	73	9	64	30	16	0	14	612	545	+67
10	Pau	69	13	56	30	14	0	16	533	576	−43
11	Aurillac	66	10	56	30	14	0	16	609	691	−82
12	Bordeaux-Bègles	61	11	50	30	12	1	17	468	526	−58
13	Narbonne	57	7	50	30	12	1	17	503	626	−123
14	Tarbes	45	11	34	30	8	1	21	428	705	−277
15	Limoges	31	7	24	30	5	2	23	340	791	−451
15	Blagnac	27	7	20	30	4	2	24	469	756	−287

Results

Saturday 27 and Sunday 38 october

41	Toulon	Béziers	7
18	Aurillac	Stade Montois	26
22	Grenoble	Tarbes	16
16	La Rochelle	Oyonnax	10
22	Racing Métro 92	LOU	17
26	Pau	Bordeaux-Bégles	17
20	SU Agen	Blagnac	9
19	Limoges	Narbonne	26

Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 november

19	Stade Montois	La Rochelle	9
29	Béziers	Grenoble	5
17	Tarbes	Racing Métro 92	22
28	Oyonnax	Pau	13
39	LOU	Limoges	5
15	Bordeaux-Bégles	SU Agen	22
5	Blagnac	Toulon	16
6	Narbonne	Aurillac	17

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 november

29	Narbonne	SU Agen	10
21	Grenoble	Stade Montois	16
29	La Rochelle	Béziers	21
48	Aurillac	Tarbes	3
30	Toulon	Oyonnax	15
20	Pau	LOU	9
21	Racing Métro 92	Bordeaux-Bégles	18
9	Limoges	Blagnac	9

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 november

34	Tarbes	Toulon	39
26	Béziers	Pau	19
22	Stade Montois	Racing Métro	11
28	Oyonnax	Aurillac	20
6	LOU	Grenoble	3
12	Bordeaux-Bégles	La Rochelle	11
12	Blagnac	Narbonne	19
62	SU Agen	Limoges	0

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 november

15	SU Agen	Béziers	12
15	Limoges	Stade Montois	14
19	Pau	Tarbes	7
19	Racing Métro 92	Oyonnax	10
29	Aurillac	LOU	21
37	Toulon	Bordeaux-Bégles	7
28	La Rochelle	Blagnac	11
12	Narbonne	Grenoble	23

Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 december

23	Tarbes	Narbonne	19
17	Béziers	Limoges	10
19	Stade Montois	SU Agen	9
45	Oyonnax	Blagnac	6
11	LOU	La Rochelle	15
42	Grenoble	Bordeaux-Bégles	6
35	Toulon	Pau	10
15	Aurillac	Racing Métro 92	9

Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 december

13	Grenoble	Toulon	13
8	Narbonne	Béziers	20
9	Blagnac	Stade Montois	19
6	Limoges	Tarbes	3
16	SU Agen	Oyonnax	3
9	Bordeaux-Bégles	LOU	12
6	Pau	Racing Métro 92	11
28	La Rochelle	Aurillac	10

Saturday 15 december and Sunday 9 march

30	La Rochelle	Pau	6
27	Béziers	Blagnac	15
14	Stade Montois	Narbonne	10
19	Tarbes	Bordeaux-Bégles	6
25	Oyonnax	LOU	21
64	Toulon	Limoges	10
23	Aurillac	SU Agen	11
28	Racing Métro 92	Grenoble	13

Saturday 22 december, Sunday 23 december, Saturday 8 March* and Sunday 20 April**

24	Racing Métro 92 **	La Rochelle	6
18	Oyonnax *	Béziers	16
33	SU Agen	Toulon	0
12	Tarbes	Stade Montois	12
15	LOU	Narbonne	12
36	Bordeaux-Bégles	Blagnac	13
16	Limoges	Aurillac	23
22	Grenoble	Pau	13

Saturday 5 january and Sunday 6 january

20	Pau	SU Agen	26
6	Béziers	Bordeaux-Bégles	3
22	Stade Montois	Oyonnax	6
37	LOU	Tarbes	0
18	Blagnac	Aurillac	19
9	Narbonne	Racing Métro 92	6
27	Grenoble	Limoges	18
36	Toulon	La Rochelle	0

Saturday 12 january and Sunday 13 january

18	Aurillac	Grenoble	16
7	Tarbes	Béziers	11
19	Stade Montois	LOU	10
33	Bordeaux-Bégles	Oyonnax	16
17	Blagnac	Pau	19
21	Toulon	Narbonne	20
29	Racing Métro 92	Limoges	0
17	La Rochelle	SU Agen	6

Saturday 19 january and Sunday 20 january

12	Grenoble	La Rochelle	3
6	SU Agen	Racing Métro 92	13
21	Béziers	Stade Montois	21
39	Oyonnax	Tarbes	12
36	LOU	Blagnac	11
9	Bordeaux-Bégles	Narbonne	16
16	Limoges	Pau	19
14	Aurillac	Toulon	23

Saturday 26 january and Sunday 27 january

15	Racing Métro 92	Toulon	21
17	Blagnac	Grenoble	29
14	Tarbes	Grenoble	16
10	Stade Montois	Bordeaux-Bégles	6
15	LOU	Béziers	6
25	Narbonne	Oyonnax	10
11	Limoges	La Rochelle	15
19	Pau	Aurillac	17

Saturday 2 february and Sunday 3 february

9	Grenoble	SU Agen	3
16	Béziers	Racing Métro 92	16
9	Pau	Stade Montois	13
20	Blagnac	Tarbes	15
40	Oyonnax	Limoges	6
14	Bordeaux-Bégles	Aurillac	12
16	Toulon	LOU	6
19	La Rochelle	Narbonne	0

Saturday 9 february and Sunday 10 february

9	Tarbes	La Rochelle	32
37	Racing Métro 92	Blagnac	21
16	Stade Montois	Toulon	12
31	Aurillac	Toulon	32
20	Oyonnax	Grenoble	12
24	SU Agen	LOU	20
19	Limoges	Bordeaux-Bégles	10
14	Narbonne	Pau	8

Saturday 16 february and Sunday 17 february

24	Béziers	Toulon	23
15	Blagnac	SU Agen	12
52	Stade Montois	Aurillac	13
19	Tarbes	Grenoble	3
12	Oyonnax	La Rochelle	9
9	LOU	Racing Métro 92	13
16	Bordeaux-Bégles	Pau	6
26	Narbonne	Limoges	10

Saturday 23 february and Sunday 24 february

23	La Rochelle	Stade Montois	12
60	Racing Métro 92	Tarbes	7
26	Aurillac	Narbonne	20
11	Grenoble	Béziers	12
37	Pau	Oyonnax	16
9	Limoges	LOU	29
16	SU Agen	Bordeaux-Bégles	9
38	Toulon	Blagnac	9

Saturday 1 march and Sunday 2 march

33	Oyonnax	Toulon	22
23	Béziers	La Rochelle	19
12	Stade Montois	Grenoble	6
13	Tarbes	Aurillac	7
6	LOU	Pau	9
20	Bordeaux-Bégles	Racing Métro 92	16
33	Blagnac	Limoges	11
37	SU Agen	Narbonne	11

Saturday 15 march and Sunday 16 march

19	Grenoble	LOU	12
30	Aurillac	Oyonnax	6
9	Limoges	SU Agen	9
9	Pau	Béziers	13
23	Racing Métro 92	Stade Montois	22
30	Toulon	Tarbes	13
9	La Rochelle	Bordeaux-Bégles	3
22	Narbonne	Blagnac	22

Saturday 22 march and Sunday 23 march

9	Oyonnax	Racing Métro 92	16
12	Blagnac	La Rochelle	31
25	Béziers	SU Agen	9
19	Stade Montois	Limoges	12
3	Tarbes	Pau	8
28	LOU	Aurillac	9
8	Bordeaux-Bégles	Toulon	20
6	Grenoble	Narbonne	13

Promotion playoffs

All times CET.

Semifinals

15 June, 15:15 — Mont-de-Marsan 12–6 Lyon
15 June, 19:00 — Racing Métro 23–17 La Rochelle

Final

21 June, 15:00 at Limoges — Racing Métro 23–32 Mont-de-Marsan (extra time)

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 2007-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-13.

External links

LNR.fr
Table

Preceded by 2006-07	Rugby Pro D2 season 2007-08	Succeeded by 2008-09

[NewBonus-1] "French try out new bonus point system". Planet-Rugby.com. 2007-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-13.

[1]

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