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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 Nationale 2, 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 the play-offs earns the league championship and automatic promotion to the next season's Prod D2; the runner-up enters a play-off with the second-from-bottom Pro D2 team, with the winner of that play-off taking up the final place in Pro D2.
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.
France's bonus point system operates as follows:
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.
Source: Rules for classification: When two teams have the same points total, position is determined by head-to-head results before points difference. (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Relegation playoff
The team finishing in 13th place faces the runner-up of the Nationale 2, with the winner of this match playing in the 2024–25 Nationale and the loser in the 2024–25 Nationale 2.
"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.
"Classement NATIONALE". Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 22 May 2023.
France
Occitanie
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Île-de-France
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Nouvelle-Aquitaine