2007–08 Rugby Pro D2 season

French rugby union club competition 100px France Toulon ToulonMont-de-Marsan BlagnacUSA Limoges 243 744 FRA 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:http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,18259,3559_2450951,00.html French try out new bonus point system Planet-Rugby.com 2007-06-27 2007-08-13 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120105/http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0%2C18259%2C3559_2450951%2C00.html 2007-09-29 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. Season table {| class="wikitable" width="450px" style="float:left; font-size:95%; margin-left:15px;" |colspan="2" style="text-align:center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"|Key to colors |- | style="background: #3fff00;" |      |Champions automatically promoted to Top 14 |- | style="background: #fde910;" |      |Winner of playoffs between second- through fifth-place teams for the second promotion place |- | style="background: #ccccff;" |      |Remaining participants in promotion playoffs |- | style="background: #ff79B4;" |      |Bottom two teams are relegated to Fédérale 1. Blagnac was later relegated further, to Fédérale 2, due to financial issues. |} 2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 TableClubTotal pointsBonus pointsMatch pointsGamesWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstDiff 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 Round 1 Saturday 27 and Sunday 38 october 41ToulonBéziers718AurillacStade Montois2622GrenobleTarbes1616La RochelleOyonnax1022Racing Métro 92LOU1726PauBordeaux-Bégles1720SU AgenBlagnac919LimogesNarbonne26 Round 2 Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 november 19Stade MontoisLa Rochelle929BéziersGrenoble517TarbesRacing Métro 922228OyonnaxPau1339LOULimoges515Bordeaux-BéglesSU Agen225BlagnacToulon166NarbonneAurillac17 Round 3 Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 november 29NarbonneSU Agen1021GrenobleStade Montois1629La RochelleBéziers2148AurillacTarbes330ToulonOyonnax1520PauLOU921Racing Métro 92Bordeaux-Bégles189LimogesBlagnac9 Round 4 Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 november 34TarbesToulon3926BéziersPau1922Stade MontoisRacing Métro1128OyonnaxAurillac206LOUGrenoble312Bordeaux-BéglesLa Rochelle1112BlagnacNarbonne1962SU AgenLimoges0 Round 5 Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 november 15SU AgenBéziers1215LimogesStade Montois1419PauTarbes719Racing Métro 92Oyonnax1029AurillacLOU2137ToulonBordeaux-Bégles728La RochelleBlagnac1112NarbonneGrenoble23 Round 6 Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 december 23TarbesNarbonne1917BéziersLimoges1019Stade MontoisSU Agen945OyonnaxBlagnac611LOULa Rochelle1542GrenobleBordeaux-Bégles635ToulonPau1015AurillacRacing Métro 929 Round 7 Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 december 13GrenobleToulon138NarbonneBéziers209BlagnacStade Montois196LimogesTarbes316SU AgenOyonnax39Bordeaux-BéglesLOU126PauRacing Métro 921128La RochelleAurillac10 Round 8 Saturday 15 december and Sunday 9 march 30La RochellePau627BéziersBlagnac1514Stade MontoisNarbonne1019TarbesBordeaux-Bégles625OyonnaxLOU2164ToulonLimoges1023AurillacSU Agen1128Racing Métro 92Grenoble13 Round 9 Saturday 22 december, Sunday 23 december, Saturday 8 March* and Sunday 20 April** 24Racing Métro 92 **La Rochelle618Oyonnax *Béziers1633SU AgenToulon012TarbesStade Montois1215LOUNarbonne1236Bordeaux-BéglesBlagnac1316LimogesAurillac2322GrenoblePau13 Round 10 Saturday 5 january and Sunday 6 january 20PauSU Agen266BéziersBordeaux-Bégles322Stade MontoisOyonnax637LOUTarbes018BlagnacAurillac199NarbonneRacing Métro 92627GrenobleLimoges1836ToulonLa Rochelle0 Round 11 Saturday 12 january and Sunday 13 january 18AurillacGrenoble167TarbesBéziers1119Stade MontoisLOU1033Bordeaux-BéglesOyonnax1617BlagnacPau1921ToulonNarbonne2029Racing Métro 92Limoges017La RochelleSU Agen6 Round 12 Saturday 19 january and Sunday 20 january 12GrenobleLa Rochelle36SU AgenRacing Métro 921321BéziersStade Montois2139OyonnaxTarbes1236LOUBlagnac119Bordeaux-BéglesNarbonne1616LimogesPau1914AurillacToulon23 Round 13 Saturday 26 january and Sunday 27 january 15Racing Métro 92Toulon2117BlagnacGrenoble2914TarbesGrenoble1610Stade MontoisBordeaux-Bégles615LOUBéziers625NarbonneOyonnax1011LimogesLa Rochelle1519PauAurillac17 Round 14 Saturday 2 february and Sunday 3 february 9GrenobleSU Agen316BéziersRacing Métro 92169PauStade Montois1320BlagnacTarbes1540OyonnaxLimoges614Bordeaux-BéglesAurillac1216ToulonLOU619La RochelleNarbonne0 Round 15 Saturday 9 february and Sunday 10 february 9TarbesLa Rochelle3237Racing Métro 92Blagnac2116Stade MontoisToulon1231AurillacToulon3220OyonnaxGrenoble1224SU AgenLOU2019LimogesBordeaux-Bégles1014NarbonnePau8 Round 16 Saturday 16 february and Sunday 17 february 24BéziersToulon2315BlagnacSU Agen1252Stade MontoisAurillac1319TarbesGrenoble312OyonnaxLa Rochelle99LOURacing Métro 921316Bordeaux-BéglesPau626NarbonneLimoges10 Round 17 Saturday 23 february and Sunday 24 february 23La RochelleStade Montois1260Racing Métro 92Tarbes726AurillacNarbonne2011GrenobleBéziers1237PauOyonnax169LimogesLOU2916SU AgenBordeaux-Bégles938ToulonBlagnac9 Round 18 Saturday 1 march and Sunday 2 march 33OyonnaxToulon2223BéziersLa Rochelle1912Stade MontoisGrenoble613TarbesAurillac76LOUPau920Bordeaux-BéglesRacing Métro 921633BlagnacLimoges1137SU AgenNarbonne11 Round 19 Saturday 15 march and Sunday 16 march 19GrenobleLOU1230AurillacOyonnax69LimogesSU Agen99PauBéziers1323Racing Métro 92Stade Montois2230ToulonTarbes139La RochelleBordeaux-Bégles322NarbonneBlagnac22 Round 20 Saturday 22 march and Sunday 23 march 9OyonnaxRacing Métro 921612BlagnacLa Rochelle3125BéziersSU Agen919Stade MontoisLimoges123TarbesPau828LOUAurillac98Bordeaux-BéglesToulon206GrenobleNarbonne13 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) See also 2007-08 Top 14 season Notes and references External links LNR.fr Table Rugby Pro D2season 2006-07 2008-09 2007-08 2007–08 Pro D2