Domestic bliss - a weekend of local rugby before the 6 Nations
After 2 action-packed weekends of Investec Champions Cup rugby and before the annual 6 Nations competition kicks off on January 31, the Premiership, United Rugby Championship and Top 14 in France rejoined for a week, providing some thrilling matches but only minor changes in the leader boards for those respective competitions.
In England’s Gallagher Premiership, Harlequins beat the Northampton Saints with a 77th minute try taking them to 6th; Gloucester gained 2 spots to 3rd after beating the Tigers who stay 4th; Exeter won their 2nd match of the season beating Saracens, who drop to 5th; and Sale dropped a place to 7th after losing to top-of-the-table Bath. Bristol Bears stay in 2nd after beating bottom team Newcastle. Round 12 takes place March 21 after the 6 Nations is complete.
In the URC, Leinster remained unbeaten besting the Stormers and staying 11 points clear of 2nd place Glasgow Warriors who beat #11 Connacht. The Vodacom Bulls beat the Emirates Lions in SA and moved up to 3rd while Hollywoodbets Sharks beat Cardiff taking the 4th spot and pushing the Welsh team back into 5th. Munster entered the top 8 by beating the Dragons and the Scarlets beat Edinburgh, both teams staying in the top 8, for now. Next round February 14,15 & 16.
No change at the top of the French Top 14 with Union Bordeaux-Begles, Stade Toulousain and RC Toulon in 1st, 2nd and 3rd despite UBB losing at home to Lyon’s LOU side. Stade Toulousain beat Montpelier and RC Toulon beat 6th place Stade Rochelais. Next round on February 15 and 16.
Many of the top European clubs were depleted by calls from their national teams ahead of next weekend’s 6 Nations. The competition kicks off on Friday January 31 with France at home to Wales, followed on February 1 by Scotland at home to Italy and, in the marquee match, Ireland at home to England.
Finally, the first HSBC SVNS (7-a-side) tournament of 2025 took place in Perth, Australia (3rd round of the annual event) and now moves on to Vancouver (Feb. 21-23), Hong Kong (March 28-30), Singapore (April 5-6) and the Grand Final in LA (May 3-4). After events in Dubai, Cape Town and Perth, in the Men’s event, Fiji, Argentina and Spain are tied on points for 1st place with South Africa in 4th and France in 5th. The Great Britain team lies 8th and the US 11th in a field of 12. In the Women’s competition, New Zealand, with 1 win and 2 seconds, leads Australia by 2 pts (2 wins and one 4th). France are in 3rd and the US in 4th. On to Vancouver.