Vannes and Provence Rugby meet in ProD2 final with Top14 promotion at stake

RC Vannes and Provence Rugby will contest the ProD2 final on Saturday 7 June, with the second most coveted trophy in French club rugby and an automatic Top14 promotion place going to the winner. The losing side will still have a lifeline — a barrage final against USA Perpignan on 14 June.

Vannes arrive as the standout team of the regular season, accumulating 116 points to finish top of the standings. The Brittany club, relegated from the Top14 just a year ago, have been relentless in their bid to return, and their semi-final display underlined that intent: a 48-7 dismantling of US Oyonnax last weekend.

Much of that forward dominance has been built around experienced tighthead Mako Vunipola, whose set-piece authority has been central to Vannes’ campaign. Alongside him, Argentina internationals Santiago Medrano and Francisco Gorrissen, plus Tonga’s Sione Kalamafoni, have given the Les Bretons pack a physicality few sides in the division have been able to match.

Provence, however, are not without their own weapons. Philippe Saint-André — the former France head coach — took charge just nine months ago and has quietly rebuilt a squad that had repeatedly fallen short of promotion over the previous decade. Guided by the half-back combination of Fiji’s Caleb Muntz and Portugal’s Manuel Vareiro, Provence clawed their way into the top six and dispatched CS Brive and US Colomiers in the knockout rounds.

In the tight exchanges, Provence can call on the destructive carrying of Fiji’s Albert Tuisue, France’s Charly Gambini and Georgia’s Tornike Jalagonia to test any defence. Their most significant edge, though, may lie in bench depth. Kapelièle Pifeleti, Joris Cazenave and returning captain Teimana Harrison — back after five months out with a serious injury — give Saint-André impactful options late in games.

“Everyone is excited and believes that we can win this,” said Harrison, 33. “The last four or five weeks things have been slowly falling into place.”

For Vannes, a second ProD2 title would complete a rapid and emphatic bounce back to the elite. For Provence, it would be a first, and the culmination of a season that few outside the club saw coming.