Round 4 of the Investec Champions Cup pool stage did what it always promises - it clarified the contenders, hardened the pretenders and turned home advantage into the next battleground.

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Bath Rugby sent the loudest message on the opening night. 

Johann van Graan’s side ran in eight tries in a 63-10 rout of Edinburgh Rugby at The Rec to seal the top spot in Pool 2 and lock in a home route through the Round of 16, and potentially beyond. 

Bath’s forwards did the early damage, then the backs turned it into a statement. 

Joe Cokanasiga’s finish near the hour mark opened the second-half surge, Ben Spencer dotted down soon after, and the late wave kept coming with tries from Henry Arundell, Cokanasiga again and Max Ojomoh, as Bath’s tempo never dipped.

That result carried extra weight because Pool 2 stayed unforgiving elsewhere. 

Castres Olympique edged Munster Rugby 31-29 in Limerick in a game that swung repeatedly after halftime. 

Munster surged early in the second period, Castres answered and the finish became a test of nerve, discipline and exit quality. 

Castres held on when it mattered, leaving the pool’s final order to be shaped by the weekend’s remaining outcomes and confirming that margins, not moments, decide knockout paths.

Pool 4 delivered its own drama in Pau, where the Vodacom Bulls pulled off a gritty 26-24 away win to keep qualification wide open for the final spot. 

Section Paloise had been reliable at Stade Hameau, but the Bulls found solutions late. 

Cheswill Jooste broke the second-half deadlock with a try that came from equal parts anticipation and execution, a kick and bounce turning into a simple finish. 

When the pressure built late, Nizaam Carr burrowed over with eight minutes left, and the conversion pushed the Bulls in front. 

Pau threatened right to the end, battering away through its tight carriers, but a final spell of indiscipline blunted the last push and kept the Bulls’ season alive.

Saturday tightened the screws across the tournament. 

Leinster Rugby, made uncomfortable for long stretches by Aviron Bayonnais in Bayonne rain, still found the decisive finish to secure the top spot in Pool 3. 

Dan Sheehan finally cracked the hosts after halftime, and late scores, including a timely Sam Prendergast effort, ensured Leinster left with the win and a home knockout route. Bayonne’s exit underlined the brutality of the format, as a single win rarely is enough when the pool is stacked.

At Stade Ernest Wallon, Stade Toulousain reminded everyone why its ceiling remains as high as anyone’s. 

Toulouse buried the Sale Sharks 77-7 with 11 tries to punch its ticket into the Round of 16 and swing momentum back in its own favor after last week’s disappointment. 

Once the dam broke, it became relentless, pace out wide, power through the middle and ruthless finishing at the edges. In the wider context of the Champions Cup, results like that are not just wins, they are warnings.

RC Toulon also made its move, winning 31-14 at Gloucester to secure a home Round of 16. 

Toulon struck early through Gaël Dréan and Mathis Ferté, and while Gloucester found one response through its maul, the visitors controlled territory and tempo well enough to see it out. 

Toulon’s late bonus-point try pushed the squad upward in seeding terms and sharpened what already is shaping up as a dangerous knockout bracket.

Sunday closed the pool stage with more definition and more tension. 

The Glasgow Warriors, already flying, capped a perfect pool stage by beating Saracens 28-3 at Scotstoun. 

Saracens did not score a try, and Glasgow’s defense stayed authoritative, even as the visitors searched for a foothold. 

Harlequins secured the second spot and a home Round of 16 with a 27-17 win away to La Rochelle, holding firm through late pressure and finding the late score that flipped the finish back its way. 

The Northampton Saints beat Scarlets 43-28, while Union Bordeaux Bègles finished perfect with a 27-15 win at Bristol to close a 20-point pool stage.

With the knockout lineup confirmed, the Round of 16 reads like a highlight reel. 

Bordeaux Bègles will host the Leicester Tigers, the Glasgow welcome the Bulls, Toulon will take on the DHL Stormers, Toulouse hosts Bristol, Bath welcomes Saracens, Leinster hosts Edinburgh, Northampton hosts Castres and Harlequins hosts Sale. 

The pool stage is done, the race to Bilbao is on, and the competition now becomes a weekly test of squad depth, set-piece stability and ruthless decision making.

Japan Rugby League One also rolled on with a weekend that reinforced the current hierarchy. 

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers crushed BlackRams Tokyo 67-21 behind a remarkable four-try performance from Brodie Retallick and a 27-point outing from Bryn Gatland. 

The Kubota Spears stayed on top with a 39-10 win over Toyota Verblitz, while the Saitama Wild Knights powered past the Yokohama Canon Eagles 50-21. 

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo beat the Urayasu D Rocks 38-27, Tokyo Sungoliath won 30-15 over the MIE Honda Heat and the Shizuoka BlueRevs snapped a skid by beating the Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 47-36.

Power Rankings Breakdown

Power rankings are built to reflect what teams have proven, not what their badge suggests. 

This model uses a global Elo system, where every club starts on the same baseline and moves up or down after each finished match. The size of the rating change depends on expectation, venue and margin. Beating a strong opponent moves the needle more than beating a struggling one, and away wins carry extra value because they are harder to bank consistently. 

The model also uses competition weighting to reflect the different levels of week to week difficulty, with the Investec Champions Cup weighted highest, followed by Top 14, then a similar band for the Premiership, URC and Super Rugby Pacific, then the EPCR Challenge Cup, then Japan League One and, finally, MLR. 

Ratings update match by match through the season, so hot streaks and poor runs show quickly, but sustained quality still is rewarded over time.

FloRugby’s Professional Club Power Rankings for Jan. 21, 2026

1 Glasgow Warriors 1,655
2 DHL Stormers 1,651
3 Leinster 1,646
4 Bordeaux Bègles 1,631
5 Northampton Saints 1,628
6 Bath 1,616
7 Ulster 1,596
8 Bristol Bears 1,585
9 Montpellier 1,582
10 Exeter Chiefs 1,573
11 Saitama Wild Knights 1,565
12 Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo 1,558
13 Toulon 1,559
14 Toulouse 1,556
15 Kubota Spears 1,552
16 Stade Francais 1,549
17 Kobelco Kobe Steelers 1,540
18 Harlequins 1,535
19 Edinburgh 1,534
20 Leicester Tigers 1,520
21 Benetton 1,517
22 Castres 1,515
23 Saracens 1,513
24 Tokyo Sungoliath 1,512
25 Cardiff Rugby 1,511
26 Racing 92 1,506
27 Pau 1,502
28 Emirates Lions 1,500
29 Sale Sharks 1,498
30 La Rochelle 1,493
31 Vodacom Bulls 1,492
32 Shizuoka BlueRevs 1,492
33 Urayasu D Rocks 1,478
34 Munster 1,478
35 BlackRams Tokyo 1,475
36 Bayonne 1,466
37 Zebre 1,465
38 Ospreys 1,464
39 Newcastle Falcons 1,462
40 Hollywoodbets Sharks 1,457
41 Toyota Verblitz 1,457
42 Dragons 1,451
43 Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 1,448
44 Newcastle Red Bulls 1,446
45 ASM Clermont Auvergne 1,431
46 MIE Honda Heat 1,429
47 Yokohama Canon Eagles 1,424
48 Cheetahs 1,423
49 Connacht 1,419
50 Black Lion 1,418
51 Scarlets 1,396
52 Perpignan 1,389
53 Lyon 1,388
54 Gloucester Rugby 1,371
55 Montauban 1,290