The French Rugby Federation on Friday confirmed the make-up of the pools for the championships running from Nationale 2 down to Fédérale 3. A line-up that had leaked the day before and did not take long to create unhappy customers. That is the case for RC Auch, AS Fleurance and CA Lannemezanais, entered for the 2025-2026 Nationale 2 season in the… East pool.

A decision that has enraged the two Gers outfits and the club from the Hautes-Pyrénées town that is the home of a certain Antoine Dupont. The three South-West strongholds were quick to put pen to paper and sign a joint statement.

FFR infographic titled "Nationale 2 - pool composition". A map of France locating the clubs, then two lists. Pool 1: Anglet Olympique, Avenir Valencien, RC Orléans, SA Mauléonais, SC Graulhet, Saint-Jean-de-Luz OL, Stade Langonnais, Stade Nantais, US Salles, US Tyrosse, Union Drancy Saint-Denis Rugby 93, Union Sportive Marmandaise. Pool 2: AS Fleurantine, AS Mâconnaise, CS Vienne Rugby, Cercle Amical Lannemezanais, RC Aubenas Vals, Rugby Club Auch, Rugby Club Nîmois, Rugby Club Savoie Rumilly, Rugby Club Tricastin, Servette Rugby Club de Genève, Stade Métropolitain, US Seynoise.

Travel costs estimated at between €180,000 and €220,000

“It is with deep indignation and serious concern that we (…) speak out today with one voice. We condemn in the strongest terms the composition of the East pool in which the FFR has decided to place us for the coming Nationale 2 season. This decision, which we consider arbitrary and unfair, puts us in an untenable position, both in sporting and financial terms.“

As well as the predictable absence of their supporters away from home for the ten long trips that await them (Geneva, Mâcon, La Seyne-sur-Mer…), they point to “exorbitant travel and accommodation costs estimated at between €180,000 and €220,000”. An enormous sum for the fourth tier, liable to “jeopardise the financial balance” of these three South-West clubs, which are by definition less easterly than clubs such as Drancy, Orléans or Graulhet, who have been placed in the West pool.

Auch, Fleurance and Lannemezan threaten to pull out of Nationale 2

In their statement, Auch, Fleurance and Lannemezan do not merely set out their situation factually. The three clubs are cutting, and far from kind to the FFR. They accuse the governing body of showing “an unacceptable lack of respect and professionalism” as well as “flagrant contempt for the clubs”. They go even further, denouncing “with force the ‘cronyism’ and the favours that appear to have guided these choices, at the expense of sporting fairness”.

To put pressure on the FFR, the three malcontents are also threatening to forfeit certain away fixtures – or even to refuse to play in Nationale 2 if the pool allocation is confirmed – and to take the matter to the CNOSF, the French national olympic committee. The unappealing prospect of a stand-off in a semi-professional division that is still struggling to find its economic model.