The Pro D2 gets under way on Thursday with seven matches, and three clubs who were not in the division last season.
The Pro D2 gets under way on Thursday with seven matches, and three clubs who were not in the division last season.
The LNR (the French professional rugby league) has scheduled most of the round on a single evening, with the Pau leg of the In Extenso Supersevens taking up Friday. Biarritz host Nice at 7pm, five matches follow at 7.30pm, and Provence Rugby welcome Agen at 9pm. Only Brive against Valence-Romans waits until Friday evening.
Three newcomers, two very different situations
Narbonne return to the division four years after leaving it, having won the Nationale title on 16 May against Nice (23-20) and seen 31 players leave over the off-season. Nice, beaten that day, came up by another route and are playing at Aguilera for the first time. Montauban, meanwhile, drop down from the Top 14 after a season with a single win.
These three paths do not carry the same predictive value. Over fourteen seasons, clubs promoted from the tier below have played 23 opening rounds of Pro D2. They have won six, drawn one and lost sixteen.
Relegated clubs start twice as well
Over the same period, clubs relegated from the Top 14 have played 22 opening rounds. They have won thirteen, eleven of them between 2012 and 2019. The balance of power at the start of the season shows up above all in points scored.
| Round 1 since 2012 | Matches | W | D | L | Average for | Average against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promoted clubs | 23 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 18.3 | 26.8 |
| Clubs relegated from the Top 14 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 22.7 | 22.5 |
On average, promoted sides concede eight and a half points more than they score. Relegated sides, on the other hand, come out of their first outing level.
Six wins for promoted sides in fourteen years
The last promoted club to win first time out was Soyaux-Angoulême in 2022, by a point against Vannes (31-30). Before them came Massy in 2017 (49-10 at Carcassonne), Vannes in 2016 (23-20 against Montauban), Montauban in 2014 (30-13 against Carcassonne), Bourgoin in 2013 (18-13) and Massy in 2012 (21-18).
| Season | Promoted club | Opponent | Venue | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Carcassonne | Aurillac | Away | 10-41 |
| 2024-25 | Nice | Béziers | Home | 9-13 |
| 2023-24 | Dax | Provence Rugby | Home | 16-44 |
| 2023-24 | Valence-Romans | Montauban | Away | 3-20 |
| 2022-23 | Massy | Rouen | Home | 26-40 |
| 2022-23 | Soyaux-Angoulême | Vannes | Home | 31-30 |
| 2021-22 | Narbonne | Mont-de-Marsan | Home | 14-37 |
The 2021-2022 line concerns Narbonne themselves: on their previous return to Pro D2, they conceded 37 points at home to Mont-de-Marsan. This time they travel to Dax with just one friendly under their belts, as their manager Jacques Delmas pointed out.
What it means for tonight
Narbonne and Nice therefore start with the statistics against them, and both are on the road, which does not help: of the 23 opening rounds recorded for promoted sides, eleven were played away, with a single win, Massy’s in 2017.
Montauban belong to the other category, the one that wins thirteen times out of 22. The club have not won since 24 October, however, and manager Sébastien Tillous-Borde spent the week playing down the stakes of the trip to the Nièvre. The last two seasons have also seen the relegated side stumble on the opening weekend: Vannes only managed a draw at Brive (30-30) in 2025, and Oyonnax lost at the same ground (9-18) in 2024. Both have since been promoted to the Top 14.
Kick-off is at 7pm at Aguilera.
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