FloRugby's Professional Club Power Rankings: Dec. 31, 2025

FloRugby’s Professional Club Power Rankings for Dec. 31, 2025, reordered by rating points after a decisive festive derby weekend across global leagues.

Dec 31, 2025 by Philip Bendon

FloRugby's Professional Club Power Rankings: Dec. 31, 2025

The final Power Rankings of 2025 land exactly where a brutal festive schedule usually leaves the truth exposed.

The noise has faded, the sample size has grown and the table now reflects which sides can survive pressure, rather than simply sparkle in short bursts.

At the top, the DHL Stormers remain the benchmark. They did not even take the field this weekend, yet they still close the year clear at No. 1 with a rating of 1,676. That in itself tells the story of their body of work.

Consistency, discipline and ruthless execution have carried them through the first half of the season, and the gap they have built gives them valuable insulation heading into a heavy New Year's stretch. This run is a real feather in the cap for head coach John Dobson, who has turned the team around in rapid fashion. This time last season, the Stormers were outside of the URC playoff bracket.

Behind them, the Northampton Saints make one of the most significant climbs of the festive period. Their emphatic 41-21 dismantling of Bath at the Recreation Ground was the type of away performance that power models reward heavily.

The Saints did not just win, they dominated the tempo of the fixture, running in six tries including a hat trick for Tommy Freeman and double for Henry Pollock. This result ended Bath’s long home unbeaten run.

That single result pushes Northampton up to second overall at 1,645, and similar to the Stormers, is a major turnaround from last season, where despite making the Investec Champions Cup final, the Saints failed to reach the Premiership semifinals.

The Bristol Bears continue to sit firmly in the contender bracket at third.

Their comeback win over Newcastle Red Bulls was not perfect, but it showed depth and adaptability for a side that has been hit hard by injuries, two traits that consistently stabilize ratings across long seasons.

Bristol has won five of its last six league games and both of its Investec Champions Cup matches. The Bears' ability to score late when momentum turns remains one of the Premiership’s defining trends.

In the URC, the Glasgow Warriors have quietly become one of the most reliable outfits in Europe.

Completing the 1872 Cup double with a controlled 21-3 win at Murrayfield keeps them fourth overall. The manner of victory matters here.

Glasgow squeezed Edinburgh out of the contest, scored when it counted and closed the door. Those performances are gold dust for rankings built on repeatable behaviors, rather than spectacle.

Adding to the impressive resume of Franco Smith's side this season was a huge 28-21 win over Toulouse in the Champions Cup, overturning a 21-point deficit at halftime to down the French champions

Leinster rises back into the top 5 following a gritty 13-8 win over Munster at Thomond Park. It was not pretty, but it was authoritative in its own way.

Josh van der Flier’s early try, Harry Byrne’s boot and a ferocious defensive stand under relentless late pressure, underlined why Leinster continues to score well in high-leverage games. After a slow start to the season, six straight wins in all competitions have hauled Leinster firmly back into contention territory.

Munster remains close behind, but the team's failure to convert territorial and possession dominance into points against Leinster shows up subtly in the ratings.

Losing bonus points help in the model, but understandably, they count significantly less than a win. This explains why Munster has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time this season.

In France, Toulouse delivered one of the statements of the festive period with a 60-14 demolition of La Rochelle. That result reinforces Toulouse's sixth-place standing in the rankings and first place in the Top 14.

The performance was yet another stark reminder that when Toulouse finds rhythm, the team is capable of overwhelming even elite opposition.

Pau, meanwhile, continue to be one of the most underrated stories in Europe.

Back-to-back derby wins and a dramatic 35-33 success over Montpellier lift Pau into the global top 10 and into second place on the Top 14 table, a remarkable return for a side that simply refuses to go away.

Interestingly, Union Bordeaux-Begles, despite its Champions Cup clean sweep in the opening two rounds, languishes in the 18th position on our rankings.

Due to UBB's two recent losses to Montpellier and ASM Clermont (with a win over Toulon in between), the squad's rankings have been up and down thus far this season.

Currently sitting fifth in the Top 14, the reigning Champions Cup title holders feel set for a major rise when the calendar flicks over to 2026.

The middle of the Premiership pack remains compressed, but the Exeter Chiefs continue their resurgence, sitting seventh overall in the rankings and second in the Premiership, including backing up a StoneX comeback with a composed win over Leicester.

After last season’s collapse, the Chiefs' climb is no fluke.

Process has returned, confidence has followed and the ratings are responding accordingly.

Not playing in the Investec Champions Cup this season knocks Rob Baxter's side a touch, given the competition weighting, but it is clear they are Premiership contenders, even without the injured Len Ikitau.

Japan League One continues to inject volatility into the rankings due to limited games played, but the early indicators are strong.

The Saitama Wild Knights and Kubota Spears both push into the top 10 following dominant Round 3 wins, while Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo remains dangerous, despite a narrow path to its points.

As the Japanese season matures, expect these ratings to stabilize and for true separation to appear.

Lower down, the festive derbies offered signs of life for some, and warnings for others.

The Ospreys climb after their Boxing Day success and Cardiff holds firm after another emotionally charged Arms Park battle, while the Dragons, Scarlets and Connacht continue to search for consistency amid structural and on field challenges.

How The Power Rankings Work

These Power Rankings use a single global rating scale to compare professional clubs across competitions.

Each match updates a team’s rating based on opponent strength, result and context.

Wins away from home carry more weight than home victories, heavy defeats are penalized more than narrow losses and sustained performance matters far more than isolated results.

League tables tell you where teams sit. These rankings aim to show how strong they actually are right now.

Global Club Power Rankings

Dec. 31, 2025

DHL Stormers – 1,676
Northampton Saints – 1,645
Bristol Bears – 1,614
Glasgow Warriors – 1,606
Leinster – 1,596
Toulouse – 1,592
Exeter Chiefs – 1,586
Saitama Wild Knights – 1,576
Kubota Spears – 1,566
Pau – 1,564
Bath – 1,554
Munster – 1,554
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo – 1,547
Ulster – 1,540
Toulon – 1,538
Urayasu D Rocks – 1,534
Tokyo Sungoliath – 1,534
Bordeaux Bègles – 1,534
Montpellier – 1,529
Cardiff Rugby – 1,525
Stade Francais – 1,524
Racing 92 – 1,522
Benetton – 1,522
Kobelco Kobe Steelers – 1,520
La Rochelle – 1,514
Castres – 1,507
Bayonne – 1,503
Sale Sharks – 1,501
Leicester Tigers – 1,496
Saracens – 1,496
Ospreys – 1,487
Hollywoodbets Sharks – 1,483
Edinburgh – 1,482
Toyota Verblitz – 1,482
Emirates Lions – 1,477
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars – 1,476
BlackRams Tokyo – 1,474
ASM Clermont Auvergne – 1,456
Scarlets – 1,449
Vodacom Bulls – 1,446
Shizuoka BlueRevs – 1,441
Harlequins – 1,441
Newcastle Red Bulls – 1,435
MIE Honda Heat – 1,426
Yokohama Canon Eagles – 1,426
Dragons – 1,423
Connacht – 1,423
Gloucester Rugby – 1,415
Zebre – 1,408
Black Lion – 1,405
Cheetahs – 1,400
Lyon – 1,397
Perpignan – 1,368
Montauban – 1,335

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Rugby fans can stream every match from the Top 14, Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship on FloRugby, along with the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, making the platform the U.S. home for the world’s biggest club competitions and the game’s top players.

How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby

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FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays.

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