The 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 was the season of the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2010–11 season. It runs alongside the 2010–11 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
Albi, who had become the first team to gain promotion back to the Top 14 only one year after being relegated in 2008, got immediately relegated again at the end of the previous Top 14 season. Bayonne finished second-to-bottom and were set to accompany Albi in Pro D2, but Montauban were revealed to have serious financial troubles and were relegated instead. A month later, the LNR's financial arm, DNACG, announced that Montauban would be further dropped to Fédérale 1, allowing Aix-en-Provence, who finished second-to-bottom in Pro D2, to stay. This meant that only the bottom finisher, Lannemezan, would be relegated to Fédérale 1 that year. Carcassonne and Saint-Étienne, last year's Fédérale 1 two finalists, gained promotion to Pro D2 for the first time in their history, whilst Agen and La Rochelle, respectively champions and promotion play-offs winners, were promoted to the Top 14.
Lyon, who lost the promotion final the previous year, established themselves as a candidate for the title from early on in the season along with recently relegated Albi. But whilst Albi struggled to keep their momentum after the Christmas break, Lyon managed to maintain their winning ways and held on to their top spot until the end of the season despite a remarkable finish by Grenoble, who had missed on a semi-final spot because of an unfavourable head-to-head against Pau the previous year, and who came back from a poor start to finish within two points of Lyon, the smallest margin between the top two teams since the establishment of the Pro D2, and seven points clear of Albi. In the promotion semi-finals, Albi saw off Mont-de-Marsan after extra time, while Grenoble couldn't capitalise on their home ground advantage and fell to fifth-placed Bordeaux-Bègles. In the final, Bordeaux-Bègles defeated Albi 21–14 to reach the Top 14 for the first time since Bordeaux and Bègles merged to form a new club in 2006.
The previous year's two losing semi-finalists, Oyonnax and Pau, both had disappointing seasons, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. The two newly promoted teams, Carcassonne and Saint-Étienne, fared very differently. While Carcassonne enjoyed a very successful season, to the point that they looked like a credible candidate for the promotion playoffs for the first half of the season, ultimately finishing in tenth, Saint-Étienne had a nightmarish season, with a single win, one draw and twenty-eight losses, amounting to 17 points, the poorest-ever record in the Pro D2 (Lannemezan had finished with 19 points the previous year). Aix-en-Provence, who had been reprieved the previous year, looked like they were going to be part of a three-way battle with Dax and Colomiers to avoid the second relegation spot, but a string of victories in the second half of the season ensured that they would stay in Pro D2 for at least a third consecutive year. Dax and Colomiers fought until the last day, both finishing with 55 points, but a better head-to-head allowed Dax to clinch the coveted 14th spot, and sent Colomiers to Fédérale 1.
Previous season
Agen, who had been a favorite for promotion ever since they were relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season, finally lived up to the expectations and dominated the championship from the start, finishing with an 11-point margin over second-placed Lyon and thus earning promotion to the 2010–11 Top 14 season. Lyon and La Rochelle made the most of the home ground advantage to qualify for the promotion final with victories over Pau and Oyonnax, respectively, and faced each other in the final. La Rochelle, despite having lost both confrontations against Lyon during the regular season, triumphed 32–26 and earned the right to accompany Agen in the Top 14 after eight years spent in Pro D2.
The two newly promoted teams, Aix-en-Provence and Lannemezan, were not able to rival the other teams and from early on in the season occupied the bottom two places that they were to keep until the end. Lannemezan in particular finished with only three wins out of thirty games (one of which against arch-rivals Tarbes), amounting to 19 points, the poorest record in the Pro D2 since the introduction of the bonus points.
However, in a new twist of events, Montauban, who were already relegated to Pro D2 for financial reasons (thus saving Bayonne's spot in the Top 14), failed their audit on June 10, and were further relegated to Fédérale 1. Their decision not to appeal the DNACG's ruling also meant that Aix would be reprieved and compete again in Pro D2 for the next year.
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;" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background:#fff;" 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:#ccf;"| |Remaining participants in promotion playoffs |- | style="background: #ff79B4;" | |Bottom two teams relegated to Fédérale 1
2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstDiffBonus pointsPointsHead-to-head 1 Lyon 30 21 2 7 705 448 +257 13 101 2 Grenoble 30 19 4 7 767 505 +262 15 99 3 Albi 30 19 3 8 674 524 +150 10 92 4 Mont-de-Marsan 30 18 0 12 667 467 +200 14 86 5 Bordeaux-Bègles 30 18 1 11 727 578 +149 10 84 6 Auch 30 16 2 12 566 559 +7 11 79 7 Aurillac 30 15 1 14 603 585 +18 8 70 8 Oyonnax 30 13 3 14 579 539 +40 11 69 Oyonnax–Pau 5–5Oyonnax 36–33 9 Pau 30 15 0 15 630 628 +2 9 69 10 Carcassonne 30 12 2 16 612 608 +4 14 66 11 Aix-en-Provence 30 14 1 15 586 650 −64 5 63 12 Tarbes 30 13 1 16 579 674 −95 8 62 13 Narbonne 30 13 0 17 576 767 −191 8 60 14 Dax 30 10 1 19 591 652 −61 13 55 Dax 6–4 15 Colomiers 30 10 4 16 488 678 −190 7 55 16 Saint-Étienne 30 1 1 28 434 922 −488 11 17
Results
Key The score of the game is given by the middle (third and fourth) columns. The first and last columns 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 1 27–29 August 0Bordeaux-Bègles1520Colomiers10Grenoble912Mont-de-Marsan01Auch2526Carcassonne12Aurillac3613Dax11Lyon229Aix-en-Provence03Narbonne3429Tarbes26Albi4519Saint-Étienne11Pau2019Oyonnax1 Round 2 4 and 5 September 1Saint-Étienne 7 47Oyonnax 61 Colomiers 16 12 Mont-de-Marsan 02 Pau 22 16 Auch 11 Bordeaux-Bègles 22 15 Aurillac 01 Tarbes 25 19 Grenoble 11 Carcassonne 19 21 Lyon 00 Aix-en-Provence 18 11 Narbonne 11 Dax 13 28 Albi 3
Round 3 11 and 12 September 4Mont-de-Marsan 35 11 Auch 12 Oyonnax 26 9 Bordeaux-Bègles 03 Grenoble 31 18 Carcassonne 03 Lyon 28 13 Dax 13 Aurillac 36 9 Aix-en-Provence 00 Tarbes 24 30 Albi 2 3 Colomiers 33 19 Pau 1 2 Narbonne 15 24 Saint-Étienne 0 Round 4 18 and 19 September 1 Aurillac 28 16Pau 11 Grenoble 16 16 Bordeaux-Bègles 13 Oyonnax 33 9 Carcassonne 04 Dax 31 16 Colomiers 12 Auch 29 12 Aix-en-Provence 04 Albi 34 8 Narbonne 14 Saint-Étienne 38 43 Tarbes 30 Mont-de-Marsan 15 22 Lyon 1
Round 5 25 and 26 September 2 Narbonne 24 13 Mont-de-Marsan 24 Carcassonne 30 6 Aurillac 01 Dax 26 14 Oyonnax 23 Aix-en-Provence 21 36 Grenoble 50 Tarbes 18 14 Auch 12 Colomiers 23 23 Saint-Étienne 2 2 Pau 18 22 Albi 1 0 Bordeaux-Bègles 18 12 Lyon 0 Round 6 9 and 10 October 1 Albi 22 17Mont-de-Marsan 11 Pau 17 12 Narbonne 01 Saint-Étienne 16 48 Bordeaux-Bègles 61 Auch 19 17 Dax 12 Aix-en-Provence 29 3 Colomiers 03 Oyonnax 20 25 Aurillac 11 Carcassonne 13 12 Tarbes 05 Lyon 39 20 Grenoble 2
Round 7 16 and 17 October 8 Mont-de-Marsan 60 10 Saint-Étienne 1 0 Tarbes 21 22 Pau 1 2 Narbonne 36 29 Carcassonne 2 1 Dax 14 30 Aix-en-Provence 3 1 Aurillac 22 9 Lyon 0 0 Auch 18 15 Oyonnax 0 5 Grenoble 36 6 Colomiers 0 5 Bordeaux-Bègles 47 9 Albi 0 Round 8 23 and 24 October 2 Mont-de-Marsan 17 26 Tarbes 2 1 Aix-en-Provence 17 19 Bordeaux-Bègles 1 3 Oyonnax 28 10 Narbonne 1 3 Lyon 27 8 Auch 1 0 Colomiers 6 19 Aurillac 1 1 Saint-Étienne 19 26 Pau 2 2 Carcassonne 23 19 Dax 2 0 Grenoble 18 12 Albi 0
Round 9 30 and 31 October 1 Carcassonne 16 12 Mont-de-Marsan 0 1 Pau 25 15 Bordeaux-Bègles 0 5 Dax 37 11 Saint-Étienne 1 2 Albi 21 10 Oyonnax 1 1 Narbonne 25 19 Grenoble 1 3 Lyon 25 18 Colomiers 0 0 Aurillac 15 6 Auch 0 1 Tarbes 20 9 Aix-en-Provence 0 Round 10 6 and 7 November 1 Mont-de-Marsan 22 6 Aix-en-Provence 0 3 Pau 19 32 Carcassonne 4 1 Oyonnax 14 0 Tarbes 0 2 Narbonne 32 27 Lyon 3 1 Auch 22 19 Grenoble 1 1 Colomiers 19 20 Albi 1 4 Bordeaux-Bègles 36 17 Dax 2 0 Saint-Étienne 15 19 Aurillac 1
Round 11 20 and 21 November 3 Mont-de-Marsan 28 0 Pau 0 1 Carcassonne 19 14 Bordeaux-Bègles 1 2 Tarbes 26 6 Dax 0 0 Aix-en-Provence 9 3 Saint-Étienne 0 0 Aurillac 18 23 Narbonne 2 1 Grenoble 19 16 Oyonnax 1 0 Colomiers 12 6 Auch 0 1 Albi 20 15 Lyon 0 Round 12 27 and 28 November 2 Aix-en-Provence 24 17 Carcassonne 1 5 Lyon 39 13 Tarbes 1 6 Grenoble 43 6 Saint-Étienne 0 0 Auch 12 6 Narbonne 0 0 Oyonnax 12 12 Colomiers 0 2 Albi 26 16 Aurillac 1 1 Bordeaux-Bègles 20 13 Mont-de-Marsan 1 0 Dax 9 12 Pau 0
Round 13 4 and 5 December 1 Colomiers 13 12 Tarbes 0 3 Narbonne 27 28 Bordeaux-Bègles 1 3 Pau 28 26 Aix-en-Provence 1 8 Carcassonne 50 14 Saint-Étienne 2 2 Auch 32 32 Albi 2 0 Aurillac 15 16 Grenoble 1 0 Mont-de-Marsan 24 13 Dax 1 0 Oyonnax 9 9 Lyon 0 Round 14 11 and 12 December 0 Pau 3 15 Lyon 0 2 Tarbes 27 16 Bordeaux-Bègles 1 1 Aix-en-Provence 20 6 Oyonnax 0 0 Carcassonne 15 22 Albi 1 1 Mont-de-Marsan 17 6 Aurillac 0 1 Dax 13 23 Grenoble 2 0 Saint-Étienne 9 10 Auch 1 1 Colomiers 19 24 Narbonne 2
Round 15 18 and 19 December 0 Oyonnax 15 9 Mont-de-Marsan 0 3 Bordeaux-Bègles 28 23 Auch 2 4 Carcassonne 32 9 Colomiers 0 0 Narbonne 12 18 Dax 0 2 Albi 23 6 Aix-en-Provence 0 3 Tarbes 28 21 Aurillac 2 5 Lyon 37 0 Saint-Étienne 0 3 Grenoble 21 13 Pau 1 Round 16 8 and 9 January 1 Oyonnax 17 13 Pau 1 2 Colomiers 15 19 Bordeaux-Bègles 1 1 Aix-en-Provence 16 34 Lyon 4 1 Carcassonne 10 16 Auch 1 3 Tarbes 27 8 Narbonne 1 0 Dax 24 15 Aurillac 0 1 Saint-Étienne 13 16 Albi 1 3 Mont-de-Marsan 30 19 Grenoble 3
Round 17 15 and 16 January