European Club Rugby Update - March 23, 2026
While the bottom half of the English Premiership remains unchanged, 4 of the top 5 scored bonus point wins over the weekend resulting in a small shift in the standings. Northampton Saints remain on top with 48 pts after beating bottom club Newcastle by just 1 point, closely followed by Bath (46 pts) who ran in 9 tries over 6th-place Saracens. The London team opened the scoring in the first minute but buckled thereafter. Leicester Tigers moved into 3rd on 41 pts after beating the Bristol Bears who slipped 2 spots into 5th on 37 pts while the Exeter Chiefs jumped a spot into 4th (40 pts) after beating Sale who remain in 7th. The bottom 5 clubs all have losing records with only Saracens keeping in touch with the leaders due to a league-leading 12 bonus points. The top 5 all play bottom 5 clubs on the weekend of March 27-29.
In the United Rugby Championship, the top 4 spots remain unchanged although Glasgow and the DHL Stormers put some daylight between them and the Ulster and Leinster pursuit with 5 point wins while the 2 Irish teams lost. Glasgow Warriors beat Leinster 38-17 while Ulster fell at home to Connacht 19-26. The South African teams - Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers all won but are 2nd, 7th, 8th and 11th in the standings in this 16 team league. Round 14 on March 27 and 28 sees the top 4 clubs all with games against bottom-of-table clubs; Glasgow vs. Benetton (12); Stormers vs. Edinburgh (13); Zebre Parma (16) hosting Ulster; and Leinster vs. Scarlets (14).
The Top 14 league in France completed round 18 with the top 6 clubs remaining intact but changing some positions. Only Stade Toulousain was unchanged, at #1, with 67 pts despite a loss at Union Bordeaux-Begles 44-20 who jumped to 4th spot on 55 pts. Montpelier won 20-17 away at ASM Clermont, moving into 2nd on 57 pts and pushing ASMC down 2 spots to 6th with 52 pts. Stade Francais Paris beat their hosts RC Toulon 46-27 and moved into 5th place on 54 pts while Section Paloise lost away to Stade Rochelais 6-20 and dropped from 2nd to 3ed on 55 pts. Defending champions Stade Toulousain remain well out in front with 14 wins and 13 bonus points, 10 points clear of the pack. But only 10 points cover the next 10 places so, with 7 rounds to go, plenty of teams may fancy their chances at taking on Toulouse in the playoffs that start in June.
All 3 leagues are live-streamed in the US on Florugby.com where you can also access an extensive library of replays