2008–09 Rugby Pro D2 season
The 2008–09 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, in the 2008–09 season. It ran alongside the 2008–09 Top 14 competition; both competitions were operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Previous season 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. 2008–09 synopsis Racing Métro, which had barely missed out on promotion the previous season, easily won the title, clinching with three rounds to spare. The three promotion playoff games were decided by a total of 5 points, with the semifinal between Albi and La Rochelle being tied after extra time and decided on the third step of the tiebreaker, penalties scored during the match. Albi ultimately defeated Oyonnax in the final to secure an immediate return to the Top 14. The two newly promoted teams, Colomiers and Bourg-en-Bresse, were in relegation trouble throughout the season, but Colomiers escaped, finishing in 14th, the last safe spot. Bourg-en-Bresse were provisionally joined in relegation by Béziers. However, this did not end the relegation saga. In order to keep a professional license and stay in Pro D2, all clubs must pass a postseason audit conducted by DNACG (Direction nationale d'aide et de contrôle de gestion), the LNR's financial arm. On June 12, DNACG announced that Tarbes and Bourg-en-Bresse had failed their audits and would be relegated. Tarbes would be relegated to Fédérale 1, while Bourg-en-Bresse, already consigned to Fédérale 1, would face a further drop to Fédérale 2. Béziers would have been spared the drop if Tarbes had not successfully appealed its relegation. However, Tarbes were able to come up with sufficient financial guarantees to satisfy DNACG, and its relegation to Fédérale 1 was officially rescinded on June 26. The competition 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 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. France's bonus point system operates as follows: