FloRugby's Professional Club Power Rankings: Jan. 28, 2026

Here's a global rugby roundup, as Japan League One drama unfolds, URC sees a change at the top, Premiership contenders surge & updated power rankings drop.

Jan 28, 2026 by Philip Bendon

FloRugby's Professional Club Power Rankings: Jan. 28, 2026

The global club rugby game delivered another decisive weekend, as Japan Rugby League One and the United Rugby Championship both produced results that reshaped domestic races and nudged the wider professional landscape forward.

In Japan, the Saitama Wild Knights emerged as the lone unbeaten side remaining in Division 1 after surviving a dramatic 31-30 scare against Tokyo Sungoliath.

What looked comfortable with the Wild Knights leading by 15 points with less than 10 minutes remaining quickly turned tense as Sungoliath rallied late.

Springboks center Damien de Allende crossed for one of four Saitama tries, while a penalty try followed when Cheslin Kolbe was ruled to have deliberately slapped down a pass with a clear overlap forming. Kolbe was sent to the sin bin, his second yellow card in as many games against Saitama.

That advantage proved decisive, even if narrowly so.

Kolbe redeemed himself with a late try and conversion to cut the margin to a single point, but Saitama held firm to claim a sixth straight win and move three points clear at the top of the standings.

Elsewhere, defending champion Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo brought the Kubota Spears' unbeaten run to an end with a gripping 24-20 victory, decided on the final play.

Kubota appeared to have secured the result when Bernard Foley landed a penalty goal with three minutes remaining, but All Blacks fly-half Richie Mounga had other ideas.

Beating three defenders with sharp footwork, Mounga dived over at the death to deliver a reminder of his big-game pedigree. Toshiba has beaten Kubota five times in succession, each by a margin of five points or fewer.

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers closed to within a point of the league leaders after a 38-32 win over the Yokohama Canon Eagles.

Brodie Retallick continued his extraordinary scoring run with his eighth try of the season, as Kobe blew open the contest open with three tries in a 15-minute burst.

Despite a late fightback from the Eagles, Kobe extended its unbeaten streak to five matches, its best sequence since the team's title run in 2018.

Further down the table, the Mie Honda Heat secured their first win of the season with a 32-23 victory over the Urayasu D Rocks, ending a 14-match regular-season drought.

The result lifted Honda clear of the bottom places and halted momentum for the D Rocks, who were hampered by a red card.

The Shizuoka BlueRevs climbed into the top 6 after dismantling Toyota Verblitz 43-19, leaving Verblitz stranded in relegation series territory and reeling from another heavy defensive outing.

In the United Rugby Championship, the title race tightened significantly.

The Glasgow Warriors moved to the top of the table after capitalizing on the first league defeat of the season for the DHL Stormers.

Glasgow ground out a 26-21 bonus-point win away to Zebre Parma, with hooker Gregor Hiddlestone crossing twice in a contest dominated by physical exchanges and discipline issues.

Earlier, a crowd of more than 52,000 in Cape Town watched the Hollywoodbets Sharks stun the Stormers 30-19.

Andre Esterhuizen sealed the bonus point late, while Aphelele Fassi claimed player-of-the-match honors in a performance that reshuffled the top end of the standings.

Leinster continued its relentless form with a 34-23 win over Connacht in Galway, extending its winning streak across all competitions to 10.

Cardiff Rugby joined Leinster on points after a gritty 17-8 victory over Benetton, while the Scarlets produced the moment of the round with a last-play try to edge Ulster 27-22.

Munster also rallied from behind to beat the Dragons 22-20 in Cork, while the Ospreys and Lions shared the points in a 24-all draw.

With the Six Nations looming, momentum and squad depth are becoming decisive factors across the competition.

Power Rankings Explained

Our Professional Club Power Rankings measure week-to-week performance across competitions without revealing proprietary formulas or internal weighting systems.

Results are contextualized by competition strength, opponent quality, venue and recent form trends, rather than raw scorelines alone.

Teams are evaluated on consistency, resilience and their ability to perform under pressure across domestic and international environments.

Rankings evolve weekly to reflect current performance, not reputation, ensuring movement rewards form, while exposing decline.

The system is designed to compare clubs operating in different leagues on a common scale, offering a clear snapshot of where the global game stands at this moment in the season.

FloRugby's Professional Club Power Rankings: Jan. 28, 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 Rugby 1,616
7 Ulster Rugby 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 Stade Toulousain 1,556
14 RC Toulon 1,559
15 Stade Francais 1,549
16 Kubota Spears 1,552
17 Kobelco Kobe Steelers 1,540
18 Harlequins 1,535
19 Edinburgh Rugby 1,534
20 Leicester Tigers 1,520
21 Benetton Rugby 1,517
22 Castres Olympique 1,515
23 Saracens 1,513
24 Tokyo Sungoliath 1,512
25 Cardiff Rugby 1,511
26 Racing 92 1,506
27 Section Paloise 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 Munster Rugby 1,478
34 Urayasu D Rocks 1,478
35 BlackRams Tokyo 1,475
36 Bayonne 1,466
37 Zebre Parma 1,465
38 Ospreys 1,464
39 Hollywoodbets Sharks 1,457
40 Toyota Verblitz 1,457
41 Dragons RFC 1,451
42 Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 1,448
43 Newcastle Red Bulls 1,446
44 ASM Clermont Auvergne 1,431
45 MIE Honda Heat 1,429
46 Yokohama Canon Eagles 1,424
47 Cheetahs 1,423
48 Connacht Rugby 1,419
49 Black Lion 1,418
50 Scarlets 1,396
51 Perpignan 1,389
52 Lyon 1,388
53 Gloucester Rugby 1,371
54 Montauban 1,290

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