French rugby and the URC near the end of the 2023/24 season

In France’s Top 14 elite professional league, 23 games have been played with 3 to go. The last regular season game is played on June 8th after which the top 6 teams will move to the playoffs. The top 2 automatically have a place in the semi-final; the other 4 play two “quarter-finals” on June 15 with the winners playing the top 2 clubs on June 21 for a place in the final on June 28. Like the other professional competitions in the northern hemisphere, finishing the season as #1 in the league doesn’t mean you’re the champion. You have to win the final to claim the trophy.

After 23 games, Stade Toulousain are on top, in excellent form having dispatched England’s Harlequins last weekend in the semifinals of the Investec Champions Cup. Only 7 points separate them from their closest challengers, Stade Francais Paris (who they beat handily on 5/11) and Union Bordeaux-Begles, which with 3 games and a possible 15 points on offer, is a slim margin. RC Toulon, Racing 92 and Stade Rochelais round out the top 6, for now.

The URC, fielding 16 clubs from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, South Africa and Italy have played 16 of 18 games and play their last regular season game on June 1. The current top 8 (who will qualify for the quarter-finals) are separated by just 12 points and by a further 4 points from #s 9 & 10. Glasgow Warriors are #1 currently, closely followed by Leinster (who will meet Stade Toulousain in the Investec Final) and Munster. The Bulls and Stormers from South Africa, Ulster, Edinburgh and Benetton (from Italy) round out the top 8. Quarter-finals will be played the weekend of June 8, semi-finals on June 25 and the Final on June 22.

To watch on TV, the Rugby Network (the rugbynetwork.com) covers the English Premiership and MLR: while FloRugby streams the Top 14 and URC games with some southern hemisphere action if you like it.