Pro D2 (R10) – Provence can knock Oyonnax off top spot

Eight games, and eight home sides with 25 wins from 33 home matches between them: on paper, round 10 of the Pro D2 offers few upsets, except at the top.

Provence v Oyonnax, first place at stake

Provence Rugby have gone nine rounds without defeat (eight wins and a draw in Dax). On 36 points, they sit two behind Oyonnax, who have collected six bonus points to Provence’s two. A win at the Stade Maurice-David on Friday (21:05 CET) would be enough to take first place.

At home, Provence have won all four games, scoring 42.3 points and conceding 18.8 per match. Their 177 points conceded make them the best defence in the league. Oyonnax have won three of their four away games and lost only once this season, by a point in Montauban (24-23). Their 19 points conceded per away game is the lowest in the Pro D2. Fly-half Luka Matkava leads the scoring charts with 119 points.

Oyonnax have not won at Provence since December 2021 (27-33). Since then: a 19-19 draw and two home wins, including 35-34 last February.

Since 2005, only one club had gone nine Pro D2 rounds unbeaten: Vannes in 2023-24, with the same record as Provence. They lost in round 10, at Colomiers (15-10).

At home, 25 wins from 33 games

The eight home sides this week have won 25 of their 33 home games. Their opponents have won only 8 of 33 away games, six of them by Oyonnax and Grenoble. Nevers, Nice, Béziers and Dax are yet to win on the road: 0 from 17.

Agen v Biarritz on Thursday

Agen (10th, 19 points) host Biarritz (6th, 24 points) with ten changes from the defeat in Colomiers, Sud Ouest reported. The senior players rested last week return, prop Nail Audoire makes his first home start, at loosehead, and wing Iban Etcheverry plays his 100th game for Agen. “If we don’t win, it will put us in an uncomfortable position,” backs coach Guillaume Jan told La Dépêche.

Biarritz travel without six players away on international duty: Sione Vailanu, Duncan Paia’aua, Hugo Pirlet, Kerman Aurrekoetxea, Luka Begic and Kakhaber Darbaidze. Bastien Guillemin starts after thirteen months out. Biarritz have won only one of four away games, in Nevers (22-20), and concede 35.8 points per match on the road. Agen have won only twice in four at home, beaten by Brive (14-37) and Oyonnax (17-19). Last season, both sides won at home (33-16 for Biarritz, 26-7 for Agen).

Grenoble, six in a row, in Angoulême

Grenoble (3rd, 30 points) have won six straight, four of them by four points or fewer. They travel to Soyaux-Angoulême (7th, 22 points) without captain Romain Fusier, who has facial fractures. The hosts have won four of five at home and concede only 18 points per home game, the best record in the league. Their only home defeat: 26-28 against Provence.

Nevers in Valence, a promoted derby in Narbonne

Nevers, beaten nine times, look for a first win at Valence Romans (11th, 18 points), who have won three of four at home. Nevers have just signed Fijian back-rower Kitione Kamikamica as an injury replacement.

In Narbonne, the two sides promoted from Nationale meet: Narbonne (14th, 14 points) have lost only once at home, to Oyonnax, and Nice (13th, 16 points) score 15.8 points per away game and have yet to win on the road.

Béziers in Colomiers, Montauban in Aurillac

Béziers (15th, 10 points) visit Colomiers (12th, 18 points), who have won their last three home games with a bonus point. Béziers have scored only 12.5 points and conceded 48.5 per away game. On Thursday they signed Georgian prop Omar Odishvili, formerly of Agen.

Aurillac (8th, 21 points) have the best home attack, with 46.5 points per game, and host Montauban (5th, 25 points), unbeaten at home but winners of only one of their four away games.

In Brive, Dax (9th, 21 points) will try to win away for the first time. They concede 57.3 points per game on the road. Catalan referee Julien Camus takes charge of his first Pro D2 match.

Pivot tackle banned

This is the first round with the pivot tackle banned in the Top 14 and Pro D2. World Rugby has set the minimum sanction at a penalty. “Good luck refereeing that,” said Toulouse attack coach Clément Poitrenaud, quoted by actu.fr.