What have we learned through two weeks of the 2025-26 Top 14 season? 

Well, in the grand scheme of things, we’ve learned that there’s still plenty of rugby left to be played. 

Five clubs in French rugby’s top division have won both matches to start their domestic campaigns, meaning that there isn’t much wiggle room at the top and that opportunities to break out and lead the pack will be few and far between. 

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That being said, a shake-up in the table could very well be on the horizon, and a hallmark performance this weekend could catapult a variety of clubs right into the forefront of title discussions. 

Here’s a look ahead at the weekend of rugby action on tap on the Top 14 calendar, streamed live and exclusively in the U.S. on FloRugby: 

NOTE: All match kickoff times are in Eastern Time. 

Pau at Clermont, 8:30 a.m. Saturday

After a 2-0 start, is it time for Pau to party like it’s 1964, when it last captured the French rugby title? Not quite yet, as there are still months of the season left to be played, but still, Section Paloise can’t feel anything but encouraged at being third in the standings and with a joint league-high nine points after two weeks. Often lingering around the bottom-half of the table since last being promoted from Pro D2 a decade ago, Pau — which has been known for flashes of extended good form over the past few seasons — has appeared to find its stride early on with a pair of victories over Castres and Stade Francais, the latter of which last weekend was especially impressive. A 27-point first-half eruption and a shutdown of the visitors by not allowing any points in the second half culminated in a strong 24-point Pau victory and the right to be called the favourites as it opens up play in Round 3 with a trip to Clermont. As for this weekend’s hosts, they were dealt a tough draw to open up their season with back-to-back matches against Toulouse and La Rochelle and could use a pick-me-up performance to get them away from the drop zone, being only ahead of last-place Montauban on scoring differential. 

Bayonne at Castres, 12:30 p.m. Saturday 

It’s a long season, but there are some serious early alarm bells ringing when it comes to the state of the Castres attack. The Occitanian club has the lowest scoring total in the league through two rounds at a measly 27 points scored, only managing two tries along the way in a stretch of defeats to Pau and Toulon. Despite that, a pair of losing bonus points — helped by a rigid defence that has kept its games despite its attacking woes — has kept Castres somewhat afloat through the opening matches, though the club’s current pace in terms of getting over the line and putting points up on the board isn’t going to cut it as a long-term strategy. That’s especially true when considering the fact that Bayonne will make the trip over to the Stade Pierre-Fabre this weekend with, so far, the league’s most reliable boot in its possession. Fly-half Joris Segonds is off to a flyer to start the 2025-26 season as he paces the Top 14 thus far with 29 points scored and seven successful penalty kicks, tallying Bayonne’s final 14 points (including the go-ahead penalty with just a few minutes left) by himself in its nail-biting victory over Montpellier in Round 2. 

Racing 92 at Perpignan, 12:30 p.m. Saturday 

With Racing 92 desperate for a bounce-back victory last weekend against reigning EPCR Champions Cup winners Bordeaux-Begles, Les Ciel et Blanc — and in particular, Max Spring — answered the call with authority. The once-capped French fullback ripped apart the European title holders with the first hat-trick of the Top 14 season, notching his trifecta as part of a 12-minute flurry in the first half of Racing’s massive 44-32 shootout victory in Round 2 at the Paris La Defense Arena. After scoring a paltry seven points in a loss to Lyon on opening weekend, Racing roared back in a big way by erupting to a 34-8 halftime lead over Bordeaux, but coach Patrice Collazo also couldn’t have been happy at the fact that his men gave up 24 unanswered points in the final half-hour of the match, either. Still, Racing is back up to eighth place early in the year after ending Round 1 being anchored to last in the table, and it’ll visit a Perpignan side also searching for a maiden victory after being held scoreless in the second half in a 31-13 defeat to four-peat-seeking Toulouse last weekend. 

Stade Francais at Lyon, 12:30 p.m. Saturday 

There’s the argument that table-topping Lyon hasn’t yet been tested in this Top 14 campaign — and then there’s the argument that the league leaders to date have just simply been this good so far. After a statement 25-point triumph against Racing 92 in Round 1, Lyon took care of business on the road against Top 14 newbies Montauban last weekend to keep hold of first place in the table and to be the team that everyone else in France is chasing at the moment. With a joint league-low 25 points allowed through two rounds and 41 dominant tackles, Lyon’s hard-nosed style has made it tough to crack, but Stade Francais — featuring an attack that’s tallied eight tries through two matches — will make the trip over to Lyon this weekend to see if it has a solution. The Parisians have had a mixed bag of results over the past two weeks, handling minnows Montauban with ease in their opener before a disastrous visit to Pau this past weekend in which they were pummelled 34-10 in the Pyrenees. Stade Francais coach Paul Gustard, who took over in February and narrowly steered the club away from the relegation playoff last season, will need some signature victories soon in order to improve his job security. He has a major chance to do just that Saturday. 

Montauban at Bordeaux-Begles, 12:30 p.m. Saturday 

Bordeaux-Begles knows by now that bad starts can’t happen if it wants to be in the fight for silverware, so its defeat to Racing 92 — in which the most recent Champions Cup winners were facing a 26-point halftime deficit — acted as a stark reminder that it’ll need to produce week-in and week-out if it both wants to go for a repeat in Europe and finally break through to win a first-ever French domestic rugby title this season. Montauban’s visit this weekend to the Stade Chaban-Delmas on paper has the makings of a game that Bordeaux could use to get back on track in a big way, especially considering the visitors’ position as a recently-promoted club that has so far struggled to adapt to playing in the top flight for the first time since 2010. And while Montauban didn’t look completely outmatched in Round 2 against current league-leaders Lyon, a lack of a bonus point to date means that last season’s Pro D2 playoff winners are at rock-bottom in the table through two weeks — a position that it could get familiar with if tides within the squad don’t change soon. Look for Bordeaux’s stars to shine Saturday as we could see a major get-right performance from last season’s Top 14 runner-up.

Toulouse at Montpellier, 3:05 p.m. Saturday

The chase for what could be a historic feat of four Top 14 titles in a row is so far, so good for Toulouse. The most successful club in French rugby history is currently second in the table on point difference to Lyon, but taking care of business in back-to-back weeks to start the year against Clermont and Perpignan has meant all is going according to plan at the moment for Ugo Mola’s squad. Toulouse especially showed its class and across-the-pitch quality after halftime in the club’s home debut for the 2025-26 domestic season last weekend against Perpignan, holding the visitors without a point in the final 40 minutes as Dimitri Delibes and Clement Verge each had late tries to put a pesky Perpignan (who trailed just 17-13 at the break) away. Only Stade Francais has equalled Toulouse’s team try tally (eight) over the first two rounds, and it’ll look to do more damage away at Montpellier against a unit that dropped to 0-2 following an away loss to Bayonne, though Les Cistes did manage to scrape together a losing bonus point in the 26-23 defeat to avoid being lower in the standings coming into Round 3. 

La Rochelle at Toulon, 3:05 p.m. Sunday

The Round 3 finale is a great one at the always-loud Stade Mayol, with Toulon trying to make it three victories on the bounce to start its season against a La Rochelle side trying to get back in with French rugby’s elite. Toulon last weekend against Castres didn’t score a try until the hour mark, but Gael Drean finally helped to get the hosts in front with a try following a 12-6 deficit, and star man Melvyn Jaminet put the finishing touches on the win with a late drop goal. La Rochelle, meanwhile, secured its first win of the season in Round 2 after defeating Clermont by a 34-16 scoreline, with Antoine Hastoy being a very busy man as he scored a try while booting through two penalties and four conversions as Ronan O’Gara’s men pulled away late. Already at over 1,000 meters gained on 252 carries this season, La Rochelle has no problem with trying to weigh down opponents and will likely look to try the same against Toulon, but with a trip to one of the most imposing places to play in world rugby ahead, it’ll need to be especially formidable if it wants to escape Round 3 with points. 

How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby

The URC will stream all its matches on FloRugby and the FloSports app in the United States. FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to: 

• Investec Champions Cup
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• Currie Cup
• Top 14
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• And more

FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays. 

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