The 6 Nations rest and European club competitions continue
In the United Rugby Championship, Round 11 saw little change in the leaderboard with Leinster, Glasgow Warriors, the Vodacom Bulls and the Hollywoodbets Sharks maintaining their 1 through 4 positions. Leinster remain the only club with a perfect record after 11 rounds, beating the Ospreys away from home. Munster climbed 2 spots to 5th after beating the Scarlets who dropped to 8th; Cardiff lost to Connacht and dropped 1 spot to 6th while Benetton, after beating Ulster, move to 7th pushing Edinburgh, losers to Zebre Parma, into 9th. Next Round starts on February 28.
Only one change in France’s Top 14 where Castres Olympique nudged in to the top 6 after tying with Perpignan. Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux-Begles switched places at the top after Bordeaux lost away to #4 Aviron Bayonnais and Toulouse won away from home at ASM Clermont. RC Toulon stay in 3ed spot after beating Montpelier (#9). Stade Rochelais dropped to 7th place after losing to Lyon Olympique who are now in 8th place. Round 17 starts on February 22nd.
With the Premiership in England on hiatus for the duration of the 6 Nations, the Premiership Rugby Cup played the last round of the pool stage matches to decide on Quarter Final slots. As a reminder, the Premiership Rugby Cup pits the 10 clubs in the Premiership against the 12 teams in the Championship, England’s second-tier club competition in a Pool stage + Knockout competition. After 6 rounds of Pool matches, the final 8 teams for the Quarter Finals have been picked, including 1 Championship side, the Ealing Trailfinders. Ealing beat London Scottish 35-15 over the weekend to finish 2nd to Harlequins in Pool 3, edging out Sacacens who despite the same (4-2) won/lost record had an inferior tally of bonus points. On Feb. 28, Newcastle Falcons host Gloucester, the winner playing the victor of the Bath vs. Harlequins match. On March 1, Exeter will play Sale and Northampton Saints will play Ealing to decide the other Semi-Final. Note that the Tigers and the Bears, #4 and 2 in the premiership failed to qualify for the QFs.
Coming up, Round 3 of the 6 Nations: Feb. 22, Wales vs, Ireland and England home to Scotland; and Feb. 23, Italy at home to France. Televised live on Peacock.