2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 season
| 2015–16 Pro D2 | |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 France
|
| Date | 20 August 2015 – 4 June 2016 |
| Champions | Lyon |
| Promoted | Bayonne |
| Relegated | Provence, Tarbes |
| Matches played | 243 |
| Attendance | |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
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← 2014–15
2016–17 →
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The 2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2015–16 season. It ran alongside the 2015–16 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
Changes in the lineup from 2014–15 were:
The top team at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away), is declared champion and earns a spot in the next Top 14 season. Teams ranked second to fifth compete in promotion playoffs, with the semifinals being played at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. The final is then played on neutral ground, and the winner earns the second ticket to the next Top 14.
The LNR uses a slightly different bonus points system from that used in most other rugby competitions. It trialled a new system in 2007–08 explicitly designed to prevent a losing team from earning more than one bonus point in a match, a system that also made it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for subsequent seasons.
France's bonus point system operates as follows:
Note: When two teams have the same points total, position is calculated by results between teams before points difference.
Note: Tarbes had 8 points deducted and were automatically relegated at the end of the season.
Normally, the teams that finish in 15th and 16th places in the table are relegated to Fédérale 1 at the end of the season. In certain circumstances, "financial reasons" may cause a higher-placed team to be demoted instead, or prevent one of the two finalists in Fédérale 1 from promotion.
This season saw an example of the latter situation. Following the 2015–16 season, 15th-place Dax was spared relegation after Pro D2 side Tarbes was relegated due to excessive debt and failed in an appeal of the decision.
The highest ranked team at the end of the regular season, Lyon OU, earned automatic promotion to the Top 14 as champion de France de PRO D2 2016.
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