Pro D2 Notes: Four Rounds In, and This Week Could Tell Us Plenty
Pro D2 enters Round Five this weekend after a compelling opening to the season
We're four rounds into the new season, and perhaps the most revealing statistic is that three teams have played four and won four.
Oyonnax lead on 18 points, with Provence Rugby and Brive on 17. Biarritz have 14 and Montauban 13, so five clubs can still finish the opening block top of the table.
That orderly-looking top five disguises what has already become an extraordinarily volatile competition.
Colomiers went into last weekend without a win and scored 66 points. Montauban, thrashed at Soyaux-Angoulême, responded by scoring 50. Grenoble trailed by 14 at half-time in Nissa and won with the last play of the game. Nevers have lost four matches by a combined nine points. And Agen came within two points of ending Oyonnax's winning start.
Oyonnax: Winning when the fireworks stop
Our last Pro D2 notes focused on Oyonnax's attack: 31 at Béziers, 47 against Biarritz and 52 against Aurillac. Agen, who had already won 39-33 at Grenoble, took the fireworks away at Stade Armandie. Oyonnax had two players sin-binned inside 11 minutes and needed a Luka Matkava penalty a minute from time to win 19-17.
That grind may tell us more about their promotion credentials than another bonus-point victory.
Four games have brought four wins and 149 points, the most in Pro D2. Yet the leaders have conceded only 80, joint-best with Brive. The balance is there, and on Friday they return home to face the only side yet to win - Nevers.
Provence: quietly ticking every box
Provence Rugby have also gone four from four:
Provence 44-10 Agen, Colomiers 13-18 Provence, Provence 47-42 Narbonne, Valence-Romans 23-27 Provence.
That's two big home performances and, perhaps more importantly, two away wins. The latest, at Valence-Romans, was another evening when Provence had to find a way rather than overwhelm their opponents. That's an increasingly important distinction.
We knew before the season that Provence had one of the strongest squads and largest budgets in the division. What we didn't know was whether they could win the awkward ones. One player to watch is Etonia Waqa. The former Fijian Drua forward scored twice on his first appearance at Maurice-David in Round Three.
Aurillac visit on Friday, and on paper Provence should continue their perfect start. If the first four weeks have taught us anything, though, paper is a dangerous place to play Pro D2 rugby.
Brive: Four from four, and learning to survive
Brive's fourth win might have been their most revealing: 29-28 at Aurillac, sealed by a penalty after the siren. Centre Gatien Massé said afterwards that the team's leaders had stayed calm at the critical moments.
We've been following the coaching group's attempt to bring more movement and variety to Brive's rugby, but promotion isn't won by playing attractively. Brive have now beaten Valence-Romans, Agen, Nissa and Aurillac. They share the best defensive record in the league, with 80 conceded, and lead Pro D2 for territory at an average of 54.3 per cent.
That makes Thursday's visit of Colomiers far more interesting than it looked a week ago.
Colomiers have woken up
Three matches, three defeats. Then Colomiers 66, Dax 21.
Ten tries, 40 points by half-time and a Martin Dulon hat-trick. At last, a performance befitting the club that finished second in last season's regular season.
So was 66-21 the start of Colomiers' season, or one spectacular evening? The next examination could hardly be tougher. If Colomiers compete at Brive, we may need to reassess those opening three defeats. If Brive win, they go into the break five from five.
Brive v Colomiers, Thursday at 21:00 French time, is our first game to watch.
Montauban: What happens next?
Montauban are fast becoming one of our favourite Pro D2 case studies:
Nevers 21-25 Montauban, Montauban 20-17 Grenoble, Soyaux-Angoulême 45-7 Montauban, Montauban 50-21 Béziers.
They came from 14-0 down to beat Grenoble and were comprehensively beaten at Soyaux-Angoulême. Then they put 50 on Béziers at Sapiac, with their pack dominant once the visitors began losing players to the bin.
Johnny Matthews again started at hooker. Daniel Brennan, Lewis Bean and captain Karl Wilkins were in the pack, and Joey Walton played at inside centre. It's another reminder of why this club should interest British and Irish followers.
Three wins from four, 13 points and fifth place, but no obvious pattern. A side relegated from the Top 14 is rediscovering the peculiar rhythms of Pro D2. Their Instagram, incidentally, is well worth following for the photography.
Friday brings another serious test: Biarritz v Montauban. It's fourth against fifth, and unlike several fixtures this weekend, it's about more than consolidation. Depending on results elsewhere, the winner could finish the first block top of the table. The LNR itself has picked it out as the head-to-head in the five-way race for first place.
For TRU, this may be the match of the round.
Grenoble rediscover their nerve
Grenoble's first three games baffled us. They scored 57 against Aurillac, lost narrowly at Montauban, then conceded 39 at home to Agen. Round Four looked like more of the same when they trailed 20-6 at half-time in Nissa.
What followed was one of the moments of the season so far. Replacement hooker Lilian Rossi scored a hat-trick, the last try after the final siren. With a kick at goal available for a draw, Grenoble went to the corner instead, and won 37-33.
That's the kind of decision that tells you something about a team. Grenoble are only seventh on 10 points, but victory at home to Valence-Romans on Friday could take them into the top six before the break. Was Nissa simply a remarkable comeback, or the moment Grenoble's season properly began?
Narbonne might be better than we thought
One of the quieter stories is unfolding at newly promoted Narbonne. A 57-19 hammering at Dax on opening weekend was a concern. Since then they have beaten Nevers 28-26 and pushed Provence all the way in a 47-42 defeat. Then they beat Soyaux-Angoulême 31-26, having led 28-0 inside 22 minutes.
That's nine points and ninth place. Friday brings something completely different: Béziers v Narbonne, a proper southern French derby that already carries consequences. Béziers are 15th on four points. A Narbonne win would make their opening block look very encouraging. Defeat for Béziers would leave a historic club entering the break in serious early-season difficulty.
History, geography and league position all collide.
And then there's Nevers
Perhaps the strangest record in Pro D2 belongs to USON Nevers. They have played four and lost four: 25-21 to Montauban, 28-26 to Narbonne, 21-20 to Béziers and 22-20 to Biarritz.
That's four, two, one and two points, nine in total, that they have lost by. They have four losing bonus points and still sit bottom, level with Béziers on four.
At some point, narrow defeats stop being bad luck and become something to investigate. Is it decision-making? Game management? The set-piece? Efficiency in the opposition 22? Bench impact? The ability to close out a match?
Their next destination is leaders Oyonnax. It's first against 16th, but Nevers haven't lost by more than four points all season, so don't assume you know what the scoreline will look like.
British and Irish watch
Part of our interest in Pro D2 has always been the number of players familiar to British and Irish followers now scattered across the competition. Montauban are the obvious example, but there are plenty of others:
- Eoghan Barrett in the Soyaux-Angoulême back three
- Tyler Morgan and Hayden Thompson-Stringer at Nissa
- Calum Randle and Gareth Milasinovich at Valence-Romans
- Liam Turner at Nevers
The question worth asking each week isn't just where they are, but what impact they are actually having.
TRU's round-five watchlist
Rather than predict eight results, here are the questions worth taking into Round Five
Brive v Colomiers (Thursday): Can the side that just scored 10 tries trouble one of the three unbeaten leaders?
Biarritz v Montauban: Probably our game of the round. Can Montauban reproduce their Sapiac form away from home?
Béziers v Narbonne: A historic southern derby with an unexpectedly important early-season edge.
Oyonnax v Nevers: The unbeaten leaders against the winless bottom side, who have lost four matches by nine points combined.
Provence v Aurillac: Can Provence complete the opening block five from five?
Soyaux-Angoulême v Agen: Agen have won at Grenoble and came within two points of Oyonnax. Which version turns up at Chanzy?
Dax v Nissa: Two sides coming off heavy or painful defeats, both needing a response.
Grenoble v Valence-Romans: Has that extraordinary night in Nissa changed Grenoble's season?
Five games, then we can start judging
Five games don't define a 30-round season, but they do begin to provide evidence.
Oyonnax can attack and grind. Provence have won twice away. Brive are finding different ways to close matches, and Biarritz have quietly gathered 14 points.
Montauban have shown how good and how vulnerable they can be, while Grenoble remain unpredictable. Narbonne are refusing to behave like intimidated newcomers. Colomiers have finally shown what their attack can do, and Nevers may be the best winless team in professional rugby.
The official statistics add one more sign of how unusual this opening block has been. Ten of the first 32 matches have been won by the away side, and only eight teams remain unbeaten at home.
That matters, because one thing these weeks are teaching us is that Pro D2 isn't simply an entertaining second division full of famous old French clubs. It has its own tactical, cultural and competitive identity. Increasingly, it's worth following in its own right.
Thursday gives us Brive against a suddenly rampant Colomiers. Friday gives us seven more. Then comes the first pause of the season.
By Friday night, the first chapter of Pro D2 2026-27 will be complete. Will we know considerably more than we did five weeks ago? We should.
![Pro D2 Round Two: What to Watch on Thursday and Friday [3rd & 4th September]](/images/c-042912/001.jpg)
