Rugby ball (Getty Images)

The French rugby union federation on Tuesday streamlined its third division, creating a single pool of 14 teams in the hope it offers clubs the chance to get on a proper footing before venturing into the professional leagues.

The third division, which will be called la Nationale, was previously the Federale 1 and comprised an unwieldy 48 teams divided into four pools of 12.

The new Nationale represented a “real anteroom for the professional divisions… a springboard towards the elite”, the federation said in reference to the Top 14 and the second division ProD2.

The Nationale is scheduled to start on 12-13 September and run until 24-25 April, with play-offs for promotion into the ProD2 in May culminating in a final on 29-30 May.

Albi, Dax, Massy, Nice, Tarbes, Suresnes, Blagnac, Aubenas, Narbonne, Bourgoin, Dijon, Chambery, Bourg-en-Bresse and Cognac will make up the new division between Federale 1 and the ProD2.

The federation added that it had estimated that its 2020-21 budget would run at a loss of €5.63 million ($6.34m), notably because of funds diverted to help clubs during the coronavirus pandemic which has seen the French rugby season scrapped.

Without that diversion of funds, the budget would have been €2.4m in the black, it added.

“The FFR made the choice to come to the help of its network in a very difficult economic and social time,” it said.