Rugby union
Club break · Nations Championship aheadIt is a quiet midweek for rugby union: no Top 14, Premiership or URC matches were found on 13 or 14 October. Toulouse sit top of the Top 14 after six rounds, on 24 points after the 45–34 shoot-out with Bayonne, two clear of Pau, with Bordeaux-Bègles third on 19. At the bottom, Vannes are still looking for a first win. The date of round 7 was not found.
In England, Round 3 produced a 71–48 Northampton win over Bath, the sort of score you usually see at a basketball game. The Premiership now pauses until Round 4 on Friday 23 October. The United Rugby Championship returns the same weekend, with Leinster v Munster at 6pm on Saturday 24 October the pick of Round 4.
The big date is Friday 6 November, when 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 (no games since Sun 11 Oct)
- Premiership Round 4: Fri 23 – Sun 25 Oct; URC Round 4: Fri 23 – Sat 24 Oct (Leinster v Munster)
- 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.