Regular seasons at or near the close - Playoffs await. May 17, 2026
While the leaders of the 3 major competitions in club rugby are unchanged, the qualifiers in each have bunched up, leaving the door open for some late changes.
The top 3 teams in England’s Gallagher Premiership extracted maximum points from the weekend’s activities, pulling away slightly from the next 3 clubs, any of whom could still take the last semi-final spot. #1 Saints dealt #5 Bristol a crushing blow scoring a record 14 tries in their 94-33 win! Bath played bottom-of-the-table Newcastle and won 69-12, scoring 11 times and the Tigers won at Sale 33-47, scoring 7. Exeter, perhaps expecting an easier match against 9th-placed Harlequins, were beaten by a storming second half comeback and 27 unanswered points by the visitors. While the Chiefs remain in 4th place, they are only 3 points ahead of Saracens who after 4 wins in a row look good enough for a semi-final spot. Bristol Bears, with 2 losses in a row, are 5 points back with just 2 rounds to play. Next up on May 29-31, key matches are Bears vs. Bath and Saracens vs. Quins.
Unlike in England and France, the United Rugby Championship (Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy and S. Africa) concluded its regular season last weekend and the Quarter Finals are set for May 29 and 30. 7 of the top 8 clubs gained bonus points over the weekend including 2 losers - the Stormers to Cardiff and the Lions to Munster. Ulster, #8 last week lost to leaders Glasgow and fell out of the playoffs, replaced by Connacht who needed a strong wn against Edinburgh and got one, winning 5-26 for a bonus point win. The QFs are organized on a 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7 etc. basis and the lineup is: Glasgow vs. Connacht; Leinster vs. Lions; Stormers vs. Cardiff; and the Bulls vs. Munster.
In France, the Top 14 played round 24 of 26 and the deck is still being shuffled. Toulouse, despite losing to Stade Rochelais 38-10 remain #1, now only 7 points clear of Montpelier who made it 4 wins in a row beating Castres 33-36. Just 2 points back are Section Paloise and Stade Francais Paris both winners, and 4 points behind them are UBB who jumped a spot after beating Perpignan in a bonus point victory. ASM Clermont, losers to Paloise this weekend are in 6th but with only 6 pts covering 4 teams chasing 2 playoff spots, it is wide open. After 2 more rounds, the teams in positions 3 thru’ 6 play the quarter-finals, the “Barrage” on June 13, the winners meeting clubs 1 and 2 in the semifinals.
Club rugby celebrates the first of the major trophies next weekend with the Final of the Investec Champions Cup. Leinster meet Union Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao. This club version of the 6 Nations, Ireland vs. France, should be a treat.
All the club matches available, live and for replay, on florugby.com.
Finally, in the last weekend of the Women’s Six Nations Championship, the top 2 nations, England and France, battled it out in front of over 35,000 fans in Bordeaux, a record turnout for such an event in France. England took home the trophy, winning 28-43 and adding another Grand Slam to the cabinet. Their current record is 38 consecutive wins, to add to 8 Six Nations Titles and 3 World Cups. Congratulations to the Red Roses! Replays on Peacock.