2021–22 Championnat Fédéral Nationale season

The 2021–22 Championnat Fédéral Nationale is the third-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Rugby Pro D2 and Top 14, for the 2021–22 season.

2021–22 Nationale
Countries France
Date3 September 2021 – 5 June 2022
ChampionsMassy (1st title)
Runners-upSoyaux Angoulême
PromotedMassy, Soyaux Angoulême
RelegatedDijon, Aubenas Vals
Official website
www.ffr.fr

Teams

Number of teams by regions
Teams Region or country Team(s)
4  Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesAubenas Vals, Bourgoin, Chambéry, Valence
3  Nouvelle-AquitaineCognac Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Dax, Soyaux Angoulême
 OccitanieAlbi, Blagnac, Tarbes
2  Île-de-FranceMassy, Suresnes
1  Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéDijon
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurNice

Competition format

The regular season uses a double round-robin format, in which each team plays the others home and away.

There is relegation and promotion between both the Rugby Pro D2 and Fédérale 1, the fourth-level competition. Nationale conducts a play-off system similar to the one currently used in Pro D2, with the top six teams qualifying for the play-offs and the top two teams receiving byes into the semi-finals. The winner of each semi-final earns automatic promotion to the next season's Pro D2 if they are eligible financially to do so. The bottom two are automatically relegated to Fédérale 1. The bottom two clubs of the Pro D2 and the top two of Fédérale 1 then enter Nationale for the next season.

There are 26 rounds in the regular season, with each team playing each other team home and away. The two halves of the season are played in the same order, with the away team in the first half of the season at home in the second half. The semi-finals and final take place in May, with the semi-finals being held over two-legs and the final taking place at a predetermined site. At present, 14 clubs compete in the competition.[1][2]

France's bonus point system operates as follows:[3]

  • 4 points for a win.
  • 2 points for a draw.
  • 1 bonus point for winning while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent. This replaces the standard bonus point for scoring 4 tries regardless of the match result.
  • 1 bonus point for losing by 5 points (or less). The required margin had been 7 points or less until being changed in advance of the 2014–15 season.

Promotion

Nationale to Pro D2

As noted above, both promotion places will be determined by play-offs, with the two finalists of the Nationale play-offs earning promotion.

Relegation

Normally, the teams that finish in 13th and 14th 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 bar a Fédérale 1 team from promotion.

Table
2021–22 Nationale season Table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Massy (C, P) 26 22 0 4 672 364 +308 8 3 108 Semi-final promotion play-off
2 Soyaux Angoulême (P) 26 18 0 8 663 454 +209 6 5 92
3 Valence Romans 26 17 0 9 636 414 +222 8 7 92 Quarter-final promotion play-off
4 Albi 26 18 0 8 544 445 +99 6 3 90
5 Chambéry 26 13 0 13 617 496 +121 5 10 76
6 Nice 26 15 0 11 574 525 +49 2 5 76
7 Dax 26 11 0 15 545 542 +3 2 7 62
8 Blagnac 26 12 0 14 429 546 −117 0 4 61
9 Suresnes 26 11 0 15 560 638 −78 3 4 60
10 Tarbes 26 11 1 14 517 661 −144 3 2 60
11 Bourgoin-Jallieu 26 10 0 16 473 551 −78 2 10 59
12 Cognac Saint-Jean-d'Angély 26 8 0 18 531 752 −221 0 10 51
13 Aubenas Vals 26 7 1 18 421 595 −174 1 8 48 Relegation to Nationale 2
14 Dijon 26 7 2 17 512 711 −199 1 5 47
Source: [4]
Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference.

Promotion Playoffs
Semi-final Qualifiers Semi-finals Final
1 Massy 9 40 49
4 Albi 39 4 Albi 21 10 31
5 Chambéry 30 1 Massy 38
2 Soyaux Angoulême 10
2 Soyaux Angoulême 20 21 41
3 Valence Romans 35 3 Valence Romans 13 18 31
6 Nice 20

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Nationale : Le calendrier des oppositions" (Press release) (in French). French Rugby Federation. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
    2. "REGLEMENT DU CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE DE 1ERE DIVISION FEDERALE" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
    3. "Article 330, Section 3.2. Points "terrain" et points de bonus" (PDF). Statuts et Reglements de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby 2014/2015, Chapitre 2 : Règlement sportif des championnats profesionnels (in French). Ligue Nationale de Rugby. p. 166. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
    4. "Classement NATIONALE". Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
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