The Weekly KAK: Sharks bite, Leinster run riot and the women deliver
The week’s rugby in a quick hit: URC, Premiership, Top 14, men’s and women’s internationals, women’s club rugby and the sevens calendar.
Leinster brought the sledgehammer, the Sharks kept Munster to three points, and England’s women piled on 55. If you missed the week’s rugby, here’s the quick version.
URC: three wins for the South African sides
The Sharks beat Munster 15–3 away from home. Keeping Munster out of the try column makes this the pick of the South African results for us. Fifteen points was plenty when the opposition could manage only three.
The Stormers dispatched Ulster 33–7, while the Bulls beat Scarlets 54–26. Different scorelines, same welcome outcome: three South African wins. The Lions were the exception, losing 29–20 to Glasgow.
Elsewhere, Leinster hammered Connacht 50–5. That is a miserable scoreboard to be on the wrong end of in an Irish derby. Cardiff blanked Ospreys 26–0, Benetton beat Edinburgh 31–12, and Dragons defeated Zebre 35–14.
CTK pick: Sharks at Munster. An away win built on allowing almost nothing back.
Men’s internationals: Australia A dominate, Botswana win twice
Australia A beat the USA 52–0. That is an emphatic result, but the distinction matters: this was Australia A, not the Wallabies Test side.
Belgium beat Hong Kong China 27–17, while Botswana enjoyed a productive Boleswa Tri Nations campaign, beating Lesotho 52–5 and Eswatini 71–7. Two victories and 123 points scored make Botswana worth a mention in a week that was about more than the biggest rugby nations.
Premiership: narrow margins, useful away wins
Harlequins edged Exeter 31–28, while Leicester won 22–16 at Bristol. Two away victories worth taking home, with neither leaving much room for comfort.
Bath beat Sale 36–28, Saracens overcame Newcastle 39–31, and Northampton defeated Gloucester 28–14.
The takeaway? Four of the five matches finished with margins of eight points or fewer. Plenty of competitive scoreboards, even if the losing sides won’t find much comfort in that.
Top 14: Stade Français make themselves heard
Stade Français beat La Rochelle 43–24, a result that deserves attention beyond the usual French heavyweights.
Lyon defeated Vannes 48–25, while Clermont beat Racing 92 by 37–30. Bordeaux had a tighter afternoon, getting past Bayonne 19–14.
Toulon’s 25–24 win over Perpignan was the reminder that not every French weekend needs a mountain of points to produce a painful result. One point still buys the whole win.
Women’s internationals: big statements from England and New Zealand
England beat the USA 55–12, while the Black Ferns defeated France 36–7. Those are emphatic finishes against serious opposition.
For South African supporters, the tougher result was Ireland’s 38–17 win over the Springbok Women. Seventeen points on the board, but a 21-point gap at the finish shows the scale of the challenge.
Wales beat Japan 29–5 to complete the week’s international results in our verified women’s feed.
CTK takeaway: The women’s game deserves its own spotlight. England and New Zealand supplied two of the weekend’s clearest statements.
Women’s club rugby: Saracens and Trailfinders win
In the Premiership Women’s Rugby Cup, Saracens beat Bristol Bears 42–26, while Trailfinders defeated Sale Sharks 33–14.
Two clear victories—and a useful reminder to distinguish cup results from the league when reading the weekend’s headlines.
Sevens: a busy calendar, with results still to confirm
The Oceania Rugby 7s Cup was scheduled for Rotorua on 31 October–1 November, with places in SVNS 3 at stake. We couldn’t verify the final results from the official sources available for this edition, so the winners and qualification outcomes remain unconfirmed here.
The World Deaf Rugby Sevens Championship in Tokyo runs from 31 October–3 November, extending beyond this roundup’s weekend.
There was no main HSBC SVNS Series round to recap; its published calendar lists the next event for 28–29 November.
The last word
Result of the weekend: Leinster’s 50–5 against Connacht.
South African pick: Sharks winning 15–3 at Munster.
Women’s headline: England and the Black Ferns winning by a combined 72-point margin.
Plenty of rugby. Plenty of talking points. No need to watch every minute to keep up.
Coverage note: Selected highlights from 26 October–1 November 2026, using match dates at the venue. This is a highlights roundup rather than an exhaustive results list; the Oceania sevens results remain unverified.