Advertisement
Pro D2 is the best league in world rugby: it is the longest (with up to 33 rounds of fixtures), it is fully professional and, in France, it is fully televised. It has amazing fans, a strong geographical spread, and provides a pathway to players from emerging rugby nations. More importantly though, it features some fantastic rugby - whether you’re a fan of outrageously high tempo French flair or the grind of a gnarly physical forward-based battle, Pro D2 has you covered. It provides never-ending surprises on the field, with plenty of crazy coaches, meddling club presidents and boardroom shenanigans off the field too.
Whether you are new to Pro D2 and want to know what’s going on this season or you have been a die-hard follower for years, here’s a round up of the season so far and what you can expect in the second half of this marathon season.
1. Will Vannes be stopped?
It took until the final round of the season last year for Vannes’ relegation from the Top 14 to be confirmed, so they were always going to be one of the favourites for the Pro D2 title this year. This view was reinforced thanks to their off-season recruitment, and they arguably came into this year’s Pro D2 with a stronger and deeper squad than the one they had in the Top 14 last season.
They were undoubtedly the best team in the league in the first half of the season, with 11 wins and a draw from their 15 games, and they sit seven points clear at the top of the table. With a further 15 league games to go, this gap is clearly not insurmountable. However, the squad depth has meant that they have only been defeated three times despite tackling a lengthy injury list and resting their key men for some of those lengthy away trips. They have already built such a reputation at home that many teams aren’t bothering to send competitive sides to the Stade de la Rabine. They are well placed for the second half of the season to mirror their first half.
2. Will one of the lower budget teams hold on for a home semi-final?
On the coattails of Vannes are two teams who have much more modest playing squads: Colomiers and Valence Romans. Coincidentally, these two sides have the joint-10th highest operating budgets in Pro D2; their budgets of €8.7m are less than that of Brive and Vannes.
Budgets play a big factor in Pro D2, arguably more than in any other league by virtue of being a fully professional second-tier league sandwiched between the richest league in world rugby above it and another fully professional league below it. Big budgets buy you three things critical to success in Pro D2: international stardust, physical power, and a bigger senior playing squad. It is the final one of these that can have a huge impact towards the back end of the 30 game season as other squads run out of puff.
In spite of their modest budget, it is not a huge surprise to see Colomiers sitting in 2nd given that they finished last season just one place lower. They won more league points than any other Pro D2 side in 2025, 100 in total and 13 points ahead of the next best (Provence and Valence Romans). Valence Romans, meanwhile, have shocked many this season. At the equivalent point last season, they sat in 15th place, three points adrift of guaranteed safety and staring the possibility of a relegation Access Match in the face.
Both sides have overcome their lack of sheer bulk by playing some thrilling attacking rugby, and both are clearly incredibly well coached. Their enterprising style of play, particularly away from home, should see them accumulate enough points to secure a place in the Barrage. Whether they can hold on for a home Barrage (3rd or 4th place) or even go straight through to a home semi final (by finishing 2nd) is a different matter. In previous seasons, we have seen some thundering late season form from the bigger budget sides like Brive, Provence and Grenoble. All three have the capability of putting out the sort of powerful forward pack that can negate any opposition gameplan.
3. Will Carcassonne survive the drop?
As if to highlight the importance of operating budgets, the three smallest operating budgets belong to Carcassonne (the side promoted from Nationale last year), Aurillac (the side that needed an Access Match win at Chambéry to avoid relegation), and Dax (a team who have been docked 14 points this season for financial irregularities). Aurillac have turned themselves around this season, but Carcassonne and Dax occupy the two relegation spots, locked on 17 points each.
For Dax, their position is clearly driven by their points deduction, without which they would be sitting in 12th, and they have more wins than not just Carcassonne, but also Mont de Marsan and Béziers. They finished 2025 in hot form, with five wins in their last eight games which included: a thumping 40-5 win over Béziers; a nilling of Carcassonne; an away win at Biarritz; and a 68-14 demolition of local rivals Mont de Marsan. In other words, they had too much for the other teams that are in the relegation battle. Continue that end of year form, and they will be safe - regardless of whether their appeal yields any reduction of their points penalty.
While French rugby aristocracy Biarritz and Béziers can’t be ruled out, it looks like Dax’s neighbours Mont de Marsan are the most likely to be overtaken by Carcassonne. Stade Montois have underperformed so far this season. There wasn’t much in the way of recruitment in the offseason, but with some outstanding talent in the squad, they should still have been looking to improve on last year’s 13th place finish.
For this season at least, it is only 16th place that will be automatically relegated and Carcassonne remain favourites for that. Following their promotion, they had to make significant additions to their playing squad to bridge the undoubted gap between the two divisions. There is the sense that their operating budget and its resulting squad depth inferiority may just be too big a hurdle to overcome.
4. Will this be the year two get promoted?
While we await a decision on whether this will be the final season for the Pro D2/Nationale Access Match, the Top 14 Access Match - the playoff between the losing Pro D2 finalist and the 13th place Top 14 side - is certainly here to stay. In its early years, the Access Match went exclusively the way of the Pro D2 side. However, in the last four seasons, this has reversed and not since Biarritz’s epic penalty shootout win against fierce rivals Bayonne in 2021 have two sides earned promotion from Pro D2.
Grenoble have been the losers of the last three of those Access Matches. Despite their indifferent season so far you wouldn’t put it past them to make another one and finally shed their bridesmaids tag. However, they will have to go some just to make the shootout of a Pro D2 final, as the Barrages of Pro D2 are notoriously difficult to navigate, such is the number of teams that feel they should be playing Top 14 rugby.
Brive have (as with each of the previous seasons since their relegation in 2023) spend a load of money on some big name players. Despite a host of experienced heads arriving over the summer, they stuttered at the start of the season and the pressure of an expectant public led to a coaching re-shuffle. They have not yet fully clicked, but if they can get it together, they are capable of putting out a side with far too much power and quality for everyone else in the league - including Vannes.
Another side who have made a number of eye-catching signings in recent years is Provence, and there is a sense that this might just be the year that they make it beyond the semi-final stage. Not only have they made some hefty additions to their already enormous pack, but with Fijian first-choice fly-half Caleb Muntz settling in well, they now have someone who could be the deciding factor in a big knockout game. Another side with plenty of current top level international quality is Oyonnax, who similarly look like they have started to get their act together after a sticky start. Given the early season struggles of Montauban and Perpignan in the Top 14, could we see two sides from Pro D2 in the Top 14 next year?
5. Which players could make it in the Top 14?
There are, of course, plenty of gems lurking in the muddy quagmire of Pro D2, but here are five names (ish) who look like they are ready to make the step up to the Top 14 already: Ray Nu’u, Justin Bouraux, Tomasi Fineanganofo, Mathis Baret, and Toulouse loanees Valentin Delpy, Malachi Hawkes and Raphäel Portat.
Colomiers’ 27 year-old Kiwi centre Ray Nu’u has made it look like he is playing in the wrong league at times this season. His physicality makes him a focal point for giving Colomiers the go-forward that allows their electric outside backs to run riot, but he has a complete all-round game and gives off a Pita Ahki-style air of effortless comfort.
One man who will be playing Top 14 regardless of how his side fare this season is Justin Bouraux. The 23 year-old fly half from Oyonnax has already been signed by Clermont for next year. While he already has Top 14 experience from when the Oyomen were last in the top tier, this season he has made the starting 10 jersey his own, keeping out Georgia’s starting fly half Luka Matkava and former Top 14 winner Zack Holmes. He is also the second highest points scorer in the league.
Tomasi Fineanganofo is still uncapped by Tonga, but it surely can’t be too long until we see him on an international stage. He has all the physicality you’d expect from a Tongan, but has excellent workrate and pace to go with it. His ballcarrying has been particularly explosive this season, with four tries in ten games.
It has been a sticky first half of the season for Grenoble, and they have generally flattered to deceive, not helped by a sizeable injury list. They have, however, always had a very impressive academy and one of the undeniable positives of their season has been the promotion of France U20s back row Mathis Baret to a regular starting role. The 20 year old has the sort of X factor ball in hand that makes you think he will go far: quick, powerful, with an audacious offloading game. His 17 year-old younger brother has already played for Lyon this season in the Challenge Cup.
The final ‘name’ is a bit of a cheat from us as it is three names, and all three have appeared in the Top 14 on more than one occasion for their parent club Toulouse. In the case of Valentin Delpy, he has already garnered headlines in the Top 14 thanks not only to his appearances for Toulouse, but also in a loan spell at Perpignan last season. His appearances for Colomiers have been interrupted by needing to nip back round the corner to Stade Ernest Wallon to fill in for international absences, but the 22 year old has displayed the masterful control and unerring kicking game that make him an international fly half in waiting.
The other two Toulousains tearing up Pro D2, Malachi Hawkes and Raphäel Portat have done so as part of an impressive Provence tight five. Australian 23 year-old can play hooker, but he has ousted Tomas Francis to make the starting tighthead berth his own at Provence, thanks in no small part to his running game. 22 year-old Portat is an absolute giant (literally and metaphorically) at the lineout, but with the rampaging athleticism that means he can also play back row. Can one of these on-loan Toulouse youngsters follow in the footsteps of Paul Mallez, whose form on loan at Provence last year earned him a test debut on France’s summer tour to New Zealand?