Pro D2 is as intense, as fiercely contested and as surprising as ever. By the end of the first half of the season, a sizeable gap had opened up between the podium places and the teams scrapping to stay up.

Vannes, only just relegated from Top 14 and with virtually the same backbone as last season, sit top of the table. Still as solid up front and as dangerous out wide, driven by a Ruru-Lafage half-back pairing in fine form, the Bretons have lost only three times this season.

Grenoble and Brive disappoint

Behind them, though, two “surprises”. Colomiers, in keeping with last season, are once again turning heads and sit in second place. Despite a poor showing at Dax in early December, the Columérins are easy on the eye and impressively consistent. Timu, Marta, Nu’u and Giral are the club’s go-to men.

On the bottom step of the podium, you will find… Valence-Romans. Impressive this season, Fortassin’s players are no longer a surprise and now have to live up to their new status. Promoted barely three years ago, VRDR can keep on dreaming, provided they get the second half of the season right. Next come Provence Rugby, disappointing away from home, along with Agen (5th) and Oyonnax (6th), back at a good level.

Not far off the play-off spots, Nevers and Aurillac are fighting with the weapons they have. Aurillac, who have the second-smallest budget in Pro D2, are a pleasure to watch in the slipstream of Oudard, De Jong and Strachan. Ninth and tenth, Grenoble and Brive disappoint. Despite their hefty budgets, both sides alternate between the good and the mediocre. It will be interesting to see what 2026 brings…

A brutal scrap at the bottom

Brive were rocked by the sacking of David Darricarrère. Their recruitment, partly misjudged, has not delivered. Grenoble have also been through a severe spell of turbulence, capped by the departure of Nicolas Nadau. The Jeff Dubois transplant has yet to take.

Disappointing compared with last year, Soyaux-Angoulême are only 11th and are also blowing hot and cold. SAXV are coming off a defeat at Carcassonne. Biarritz and Béziers, docked two points by the financial watchdog after a budget problem, are 12th and 13th, a long way off their usual standards and their ambitions.

At the bottom, everything has been thrown wide open again. Dax, who had climbed back up to 12th after a strong end to the year (four wins in five matches), have ultimately been dropped to second from bottom after being docked nine points (14 points in total). They are even level with bottom club Carcassonne, who are far from doomed.

Just above Dax sit Mont-de-Marsan. They have been given a new lease of life by the sanction handed to US Dax and by a gutsy win over Provence Rugby. You will have gathered as much: this Pro D2 is never a foregone conclusion.