Rugby union
Club break · Nations Championship aheadToulouse sit top of the Top 14 after six rounds. Sunday's 45–34 shoot-out with Bayonne took them to 24 points, two clear of Pau, with Bordeaux-Bègles third on 19. At the bottom, Vannes are still looking for a first win.
In England, Round 3 produced a 71–48 Northampton win over Bath, the sort of score you usually see at a basketball game. Leicester beat Gloucester 38–31, Saracens beat Bristol 30–7, Sale edged Harlequins 28–24 and Exeter beat Newcastle 34–28. The Premiership now pauses until Round 4 on Friday 23 October, and the United Rugby Championship also looks to be resting until 23–24 October.
The big date is Friday 6 November. The Nations Championship returns for its second window (6, 13 and 21 November), with the finals at Twickenham on 27–29 November. After the July window, South Africa and New Zealand lead the Rest of the World pool on 15 points and France top the European pool on 12.
- Top 14 after 6 rounds: Toulouse 24, Pau 22, Bordeaux-Bègles 19
- Premiership Round 3: Northampton 71–48 Bath (Sat 10 Oct)
- Nations Championship: second window 6, 13, 21 Nov; finals 27–29 Nov at Twickenham
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Two teams of 15 play two 40-minute halves. You can run with the ball or kick it, but you can only pass it sideways or backwards. A try, where a player grounds the ball over the opponents' line, scores 5 points. A conversion kick adds 2, and a penalty kick or drop goal scores 3.
The game is built on set pieces. A scrum restarts play after minor infringements, with the forwards pushing against each other. A lineout restarts play after the ball goes out of play, with a jumper lifted to catch the throw.
Club rugby runs on league tables: the Top 14 in France, the Premiership in England and the United Rugby Championship (teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa). A win earns 4 points, and bonus points reward scoring four or more tries or losing narrowly.
The Nations Championship is new in 2026. Twelve national teams sit in two pools, a European one and a Rest of the World one. Each team plays every team in the other pool once, across a July window and a November window, and the top sides meet in finals at Twickenham.