England greats snub Super Rugby teams in top 10 list as ‘whole package’ French outfit claim bragging rights
Retired England duo Dan Cole and Ben Youngs have had plenty to about the Hurricanes, inset, the Super Rugby Pacific champions
England greats Ben Youngs and Dan Cole have rubbished the quality of Super Rugby Pacific, with not a single club from that tournament making the top 10 in their biggest clubs in world rugby rankings.
Following the outcome of the 2026 Super Rugby season, there was plenty of speculative noise in the southern hemisphere about how the Hurricanes would be too good in a cross-hemisphere decider against Bordeaux-Begles, the double-winning Investec Champions Cup champions.
However, the achievement of the New Zealand franchise in winning a first trophy in 10 years was downplayed on the latest edition of For the Love of Rugby.
Unveiling their top 50 rankings list of clubs who compete in Super Rugby, Top 14, PREM Rugby the United Rugby Championship, the rankings list produced by the retired England duo and guest Squidge Rugby reflected poorly on the competition that is now down to 10 clubs following the closure of Moana Pasifika.
“I do feel that Super Rugby has really, really dropped off…”
Squidge had Hurricanes fourth on his list and Youngs had them sixth, but with Cole ranking the New Zealand club way down his list behind the Crusaders and the Chiefs, it resulted in the Hurricanes being deemed only 11th best on the overall top 50 list.
Cole explained: “It’s historical rankings. Yes, Hurricanes are good and at the minute they are very hot but over the past five years, the Crusaders and the Chiefs have been better teams than Hurricanes. That’s why I had the Hurricanes ranked beneath those two in terms of that past period.”
The former tighthead’s reasoning was the prompt for ex-scrum-half Youngs to stick the boot in regarding the Super Rugby standard. “I do feel that Super Rugby has really, really dropped off,” he claimed.
“I watch the Super Rugby, and I can’t help but feel that it just isn’t in a great spot and the knock-on effect of that has been huge. I look at the Australian teams; they ebb and flow, like they don’t really compete. They might have the odd scalp.
“It’s basically a tournament between the New Zealand teams. The South African teams not being a part of it has had a massive impact on it. It really has. And on the back of that, it’s had an impact on New Zealand rugby as a whole and also Australian rugby.”
Cole replied: “The thing as well with New Zealand rugby, it’s difficult to cut free the national team. Like you think about the national team and how well they played against South Africa and beat them in that first Test, and how New Zealand have beaten France and they’re on the roll.
“So it’s automatically like because they’re going well and the Hurricanes have got like those players, the Hurricanes are good, you know what I mean? Whereas actually Hurricanes are a club side, and if you played against the European sides like Bordeaux, they would struggle, just the way it’s slightly different rugby and that kind of stuff.
“Doesn’t mean that New Zealand would struggle against France, but it’s just the rising tide of the All Blacks lifts those Kiwi franchises to a point where they are good, but you don’t know how good because they play against the Australian teams.
“We don’t know how good they are. They don’t play against African teams. So, it’s a tough gauge, especially with the Hurricanes. Like they are the best team in Super Rugby, but how good is Super Rugby? I don’t think it’s as good as Top 14.”
Youngs signed off on the segment saying: “If you put the Hurricanes in the European Cup, some of the English teams would potentially do them.
“I feel you lose a game (in Europe, Top 14, Prem and URC), there’s a genuine ‘bloody hell, like, we got to go and perform next week’. With Super Rugby it just feels like, ‘We’re all mates, it’s all good, that was an entertaining game, don’t worry about it, we’ll catch up next week’.”
Moving into the top 10, South African duo the Bulls and Stormers were respectively ranked No.7 and No.8, with English pair Northampton and Bath No.4 and No.5.
Cole said: “Northampton have shown their class, winning the Prem two of the past three; they have reached the European final. Bath have been in European semi-finals, won the Prem.
“Obviously we are ranking the Prem quite highly in terms of leagues, probably second best after the Top 14, but they’ve shown their European quality and they got good, deep squads full of internationals.”
Irish leaders Leinster were named at No.3 on the list, but this ranking came with a 2026/27 caveat from Youngs. “Leinster are stacked, no doubt about it. Leo Cullen’s going to do his final season; the impact of that, let’s see how that unfolds.
“But I watched them in that European final, and they got so dominated against Bordeaux. I felt that if they had a different route, I don’t think Leinster would have made that final because they stuttered last year. They were sort of unconvincing, and it took the final to be found out. They won the URC, they should win the URC, they should do that. But I have this feeling that you’re not going to see Leinster in a European final for a while.”
Cole had Leinster ranked as his No.2, ahead of Bordeaux-Begles due to the French club’s failure to make the Top 14 play-offs last June. However, the show’s overall list had Bordeaux at No.2 and repeat French champions Toulouse at No.1.
“I had Bordeaux at No.3, basically because of their two European successes, but last year domestically they struggled; they were outside the play-offs,” he said. “So therefore, that consistency of Leinster reaching a final and winning the URC, I had them ranked slightly higher than Bordeaux.
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“But this top three, Toulouse stand out. Yes, they lost to the eventual champions of Europe in the knockouts, but their domination of the Top 14, the domination of Europe – like, they’re always there or thereabouts in Europe – they are the number one club side in the world with their stack full of internationals, the way they play, the crowds they get, just the whole package, the budget they’ve got.
“Like they are the ideal; every team in the world wants to beat Toulouse. Or if they could be Toulouse, they would swap places in a heartbeat.”
For The Love of Rugby – Ranking the 50 biggest clubs in world rugby
1 Toulouse, 2 Bordeaux-Begles, 3 Leinster, 4 Northampton Saints, 5 Bath, 6 La Rochelle, 7 Bulls, 8 Stormers, 9 Glasgow Warriors, 10 Montpellier;
11 Hurricanes, 12 Chiefs, 13 Leicester, 14 Stade Francais, 15 Pau, 16 Exeter Chiefs, 17 Munster, 18 Toulon, 19 Crusaders, 20 Sharks;
21 Saracens, 22 Racing 92, 23 Lions, 24 Blues, 25 Clermont, 26 Bristol Bears, 27 Castres, 28 Ulster, 29 Sale Sharks, 30 Brumbies;
31 Lyon, 32 Reds, 33 Connacht, 34 Edinburgh, 35 Bayonne, 36 Harlequins, 37 Benetton, 38 Cardiff, 39 Highlanders, 40 Ospreys;
41 Waratahs, 42 Gloucester, 43 Western Force, 44 Perpignan, 45 Scarlets, 46 Fiji Drua, 47 Zebre Parma, 48 Dragons, 49 Newcastle Red Bulls, 50 Vannes.
