Both Nationale 2 pools opened their season on 5 and 6 September. Twelve matches, a single draw, and two clubs who rose to the occasion.

From Troisième Série to Nationale 2 in twelve years

Servette Genève beat Floirac 23-16 on Sunday 6 September. They are the only foreign club playing in the French league at this level.

Their rise is there in the archives. The Swiss club were in Troisième Série in 2014, Promotion d’Honneur in 2017, Fédérale 3 in 2019, Fédérale 2 for the following two seasons, and Fédérale 1 in 2022 and 2023. This is their third consecutive season in Nationale 2.

Annonay win the first match in their history at this level

In the same pool, Annonay beat Mâcon 45-39 in the highest-scoring match of the round. It was the Ardèche club’s first match at this level, and Mâcon had finished second in their group and reached the semi-finals last season.

The club announced a crowd of around 2,000.

Graulhet end a thirteen-year wait

In Pool 2, Graulhet beat La Seyne 23-7. The Tarn club had not won their opening match for thirteen years.

Elsewhere, Fleurance posted the highest total of the round by beating Peyrehorade 50-32, a few days after learning that new signing Thibaud Mazzoleni would miss the season with ruptured cruciate ligaments. Aubenas saw off Nîmes 40-15, Valence d’Agen beat Tricastin 39-25, Auch won 35-29 at Tyrosse and Saint-Jean-de-Luz won 29-23 at Mauléon.

Rumilly beat Salles 32-22, Nantes edged Langon 27-23 and Marmande got past Stade Métropolitain 16-13. Saint-Médard and Drancy shared the only draw of the round, 25-25.

The highest-scoring opening round in four years

The twelve matches produced 653 points, or 54.4 per match. That is the highest total of the division’s last four opening rounds, ahead of 49.5 points per match in 2025 and 41.2 in 2024.

Nine of the twelve home sides won, and two teams won away, Auch and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Round 2 is scheduled for Saturday 12 September.