The naughty step: The most carded club sides in rugby

Before you scroll down in your quest to find out which club had a deep love affair with the yellow and red card, let’s kick off by giving you the combined total of cards across the URC, PREM and Top 14: 646.

A total of 588 yellow cards were issued across those competitions, along with 45 reds and 13 oranges, which are, for now, exclusive to the Top 14 (and ProD2).

But which league proved the naughtiest of them all? The Top 14, of course. A total of 300 yellow cards were shown to players caught infringing by match officials, averaging 21 per club — an astonishing number compared to the English PREM (9.9) and the United Rugby Championship (12).

However, when it comes to red cards, the URC ranks top with 19, followed by the PREM (15) and the Top 14 (13). Of course, if we include the orange card, the Top 14 would again take top spot, showcasing a not-so-pretty side of what is probably the most entertaining club competition in the world.

Now, on to the specifics: the most carded clubs across these competitions. In first place, relegated US Montauban were comfortably the most ill-disciplined side of the season, racking up 28 yellow cards, four reds and one orange – telling the story of one of the worst seasons for a Top14 club. Prop Facundo Pomponio was sent to the sin bin four times, followed by five others with two yellows apiece.

Aviron Bayonnais are next, with the Basque club on the receiving end of 30 cards: 28 yellows, one red and one orange. Pumas pair Facundo Bosch and Cheikh Tiberghien ‘earned’ three trips to the sin bin, with several others picking up a couple of yellows.

Racing 92 sit joint-second, having collected a hat-trick of red and orange cards – topping both tables. While Montauban and Bayonne had clear repeat offenders, Racing’s was more of a collective effort, with 19 players spending time off.

One individual did collect a full set, though: Léo Carbonneau. The Les Bleus scrum-half picked up two yellows, one red and one orange in his first season with the Ciel et Blanc.

With the podium settled, who makes up the next group? If you’re expecting a non-French side, bad news: Castres (29), Lyon OU (24), Stade Rochelais (24), RC Toulon (22), Stade Français (21), Section Paloise (21) and USA Perpignan (22) come next. With Clermont in 11th, we finally get a non-Top14 entry, as the Scarlets sit 12th thanks to 19 cards – 18 yellows and one red.

Wales back-row Taine Plumtree was heavily pinged across the season, sent to the sin bin four times. Joe Roberts picked up their only red, with ten others shown yellow.

Zebre join the Scarlets in 12th after 16 players visited the sin bin and three saw red, for the same total of 19. The Parma-based side endured a tough season on the discipline front, receiving at least one card in 11 of 18 URC rounds.

Sixteen players were shown cards, with Giovanni Licata collecting one of each, while Italy internationals Davide Ruggeri and Marco Zanon were sin-binned twice.

If you’re wondering where the English teams sit, only Northampton Saints make the top 20, thanks to the 16 cards they collected during the regular season. As noted earlier, the PREM was comfortably the most disciplined of the three leagues, with Saints and Bristol the worst offenders in England’s top flight.

Before we sign off, the three best-behaved sides: Stade Toulousain (11 yellows), Harlequins (8) and Glasgow Warriors (11).

Antoine Dupont and co enjoyed a strong Top 14 campaign, finishing first after 26 rounds, with only 10 players temporarily dismissed. Jason Gilmore’s Harlequins endured a difficult 2025/26 season, but discipline wasn’t the issue, conceding just eight yellows.

A quick mention too for Sale Sharks and the Hollywoodbet Sharks. Both picked up just eight yellows — a total that would have put them ahead of Toulouse and Glasgow — but each also had two red cards, which ultimately rules them out of the “most well-behaved” podium.

With the Top 14, PREM and URC reaching their conclusion, it will be interesting to see whether these disciplinary trends have any bearing when the Nations Championship kicks off in July.