Power Ranking Europe's Top 15 Club Teams After Weekend of September 19-21

No question about the eye–catching result of the weekend in Europe.

Bath’s demolition of Leicester sent shock waves through the Premiership.

With Sam Burgess still to add to Mike Ford’s options, Bath are looking serious contenders this season, while perennial play–off participants Leicester are so ravaged by injury that their rivals will be smelling Tiger blood if they can’t get their wounded back on the field soon.

Elsewhere, Clermont carried on with their strong start in France and Toulon came roaring back from last week’s setback.

In the PRO12, an unlikely top three of Ospreys, Glasgow and Connacht all maintained their 100 per cent records.

Cardiff drop out after defeat at home to Ulster, who come into the ranking, while Bordeaux Begles also make their first appearance after gaining access to France’s top four at the expense of Stade Francais.

15. Leinster (PRO12)

The champions' spluttering start to the defence of their crown continues after defeat to Connacht. Matt O’Connor’s side went down 10–9 in Galway, the coach blaming a lack of cutting edge, per rte.ie:

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We knew what we were going to get from the two fixtures last year. But we were just a little bit more clinical then and more accurate and dragged it out at the death, which we didn’t manage to do tonight.

We had a couple of chances we didn’t take, which are always going to be at a premium down here.

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The Dubliners cling to their place in this ranking through history more than current form.

14. Leicester (Premiership)

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

The Tigers’ depleted squad had not been exposed until they arrived at the Rec last weekend.

Even the return of Tom Croft couldn’t stem the blue, black and white tide that drowned the orange-clad East Midlanders, 45-0.

They lost centres Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen in the build up to the game, which certainly didn’t help, but the way their pack was dismantled by Bath will provide coach Richard Cockerill with the biggest headache. ESPNScrum.com reported his comments after the game:

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We couldn't cope with the set-piece, and if you get no set-piece parity you are always going to struggle," Cockerill said. "Credit to Bath. It was pretty average from us, at best, and we got exactly what we deserved. If you have got the quality we've got missing, some day it is going to hurt you, and today it hurt us. That's not an excuse, we should play better and I am bitterly disappointed.

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13. Munster (PRO12)

Munster put Zebre away as expected in a 31–5 win.

A 36-minute hat-trick for Simon Zebo was the highlight of a contest that won’t go on to define Munster's season but more or less sums up the kind of campaign the Italians can look forward to.

A first home win under Anthony Foley would have been welcome no matter who the opponents were, however, and it sets his side up for the infinitely harder fortnight in store, with clashes against Ospreys and Leinster on the menu.

12. Ulster (PRO12)

Ulster break into the ranking after adding a 26–9 away win at Cardiff to home success against Zebre seven days earlier.

The Belfast Telegraph described the display as “supremely efficient,” following tries from Dan Tuohy and Ian Humphreys. But injury to Tuohy marred the win, with the lock expected to be out for 12 weeks with a broken arm.

The Belfast Telegraph’s Michael Sadler wrote:

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It is also a huge personal blow to the 29-year-old who has been in notably try-scoring form this season – he bagged his third in three games on Friday – and the recurrence of his fractured forearm, following on from last February's initial break and surgery when playing for Ireland in the Six Nations, means he will not only miss what seems likely to be Ulster's first four European pool games but will also, of course, be sitting out any involvement in the November internationals as well.

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11. Bordeaux Begles (Top 14)

Bordeaux have quietly improved to a top-four slot after following up an impressive win against Montpellier with away success against minnows La Rochelle, 29-26.

They certainly displayed a huge amount of character to come back from 26-16 down after 64 minutes to claim the win, and they had eight points from French international No. 10 Lionel Beauxis to thank.

His conversion of Jandre Marais’ try drew the sides level, but it took a nerveless 79th-minute penalty to seal the deal.

A 100 per cent record at home had been undermined by two losses on the road to Toulon and Grenoble, so this away win was much-needed.

10. Exeter (Premiership)

The Chiefs stay in a play–off spot following a 25–22 away win at Gloucester, and their young centre Henry Slade garnered much of the attention following another strong showing that boosted his chances of an international call-up.

Coach Rob Baxter said of his performance, per the Press Association (h/t The Guardian):

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We could probably pick him anywhere across the back-line and he would do a great job for us,” Baxter said. “He is looking more and more comfortable. His best attribute is that he is tough mentally and physically – he likes getting stuck in and he is very competitive.

He just wants to be out on the pitch playing, and that is what is going to drive him all the way if he chooses to. If he stays grounded and works as hard as he is working now, it is going to be up to us to help him be the best player he can be. If we do that, I am sure he will be very successful.

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9. Connacht (PRO12)

Pat Lam’s team are into uncharted territory, having won their opening three games of the PRO12 season for the first time.

Their third win also ended a run of 11 defeats to the other Irish provinces.

This was their biggest scalp of the campaign so far, scoring a 10–9 win over Leinster thanks to Kieran Marmion’s try.

The No. 9 has a habit of scoring in the big games. It was he who registered the five-pointer that helped beat Toulouse in France last season, and he was at it again in Galway to down the reigning champions.

His snipe and turn of pace will not have gone unnoticed by watching Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.

Self-belief is building nicely on Ireland’s west coast.

8. Glasgow (PRO12)

The Warriors roll on. A comfortable 33–13 defeat of the Dragons at Rodney Parade was secured despite the 45th-minute red card shown to Tyrone Holmes for stamping.

It left Gregor Townsend’s men to play the entire second half with a man less, but they shrugged the disparity off to add tries through Josh Strauss, Tommy Seymour and Tim Swinson to maintain their winning start.

Matt Lloyd of the Scotsman was impressed: "It was breathless stuff once again from a Glasgow side that are fast becoming the great entertainers of this season."

7. Ospreys (PRO12)

A solid Ospreys start to the campaign found top gear against Edinburgh as Steve Tandy’s side obliterated the Scots 62–13.

Nine tries from Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb (2), Dan Baker, Jeff Hassler, Jonathan Spratt, Hanno Dirksen, Tom Grabham and Tyler Aldron underlined what a one-sided affair this was.

But you can only play the fixtures in the order the computer spits them out, and the Ospreys sit top of the pile after wins over the Dragons, Treviso and now Edinburgh.

Next week’s journey to Thomond Park provides the season’s first true test of this team’s credentials in their post-star era after saying goodbye to internationals Ryan Jones, Ian Evans and Adam Jones.

Scrum–half Webb caught the eye of Wales Online’s Gareth Griffiths:

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His 60-metre blistering break which resulted in his opening try after just 70 seconds was reminiscent of the great Gareth Edwards as he showed his power and pace to burst past four defenders. His second try was more of a sniping scrum-half effort as he burrowed over from short range.

Lions star Mike Phillips remains the safest option for Howley and Warren Gatland, while Gareth Davies has been in impressive form for the Scarlets.

But if Wales are picking on form at the moment, Webb should be the man in possession for the autumn internationals.

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6. Northampton (Premiership)

The Saints clipped the Falcons’ wings at Newcastle with a 35–10 win to get their show back on the road after a round two defeat at Wasps. The Guardian’s Rob Kitson was hugely impressed with the manner of the champions’ performance.

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With young Will Hooley deputising splendidly for Myler, the Saints offloaded out of the tackle beautifully in the first quarter and defended with an intensity slightly lacking in their unscheduled defeat at Wasps the previous week.

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The win sets up a mouth-watering collision next weekend with Bath at Franklin’s Gardens, where we will see England centres Luther Burrell and Kyle Eastmond do battle, as will Red Rose No. 2s Dylan Hartley and Rob Webber.

5. Montpellier (Top 14)

In a clash between two sides occupying berths in the top four at the start of the weekend, Montpellier scored a resounding triumph over Stade Francais with a 23–3 victory.

Having seen off Toulon on the road a week earlier, the Parisians would have traveled to the Languedoc region with confidence, but they were out of the argument by half–time as the home side went in with a 16-0 lead.

This win was built on the assured boot of scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue, who slotted three penalties in the first 35 minutes before converting Sitaleki Timani’s try.

The win puts Fabien Galthie’s men third behind Toulon and Clermont.

4. Toulon (Top 14)

Toulon got back to winning ways and won a place back in the power rankings with a powerful 53–15 destruction of Brive away from home.

Defeat at their place to Stade Francais clearly stung Bernard Laporte’s men, and they responded with interest.

Eight tries, including a Rudi Wulf hat-trick, buried Brive, whose cause was pretty much a lost one after 20 minutes when second row Peet Marais was red-carded.

With no Frederic Michalak in the squad, the kicking tee was passed to James O’Connor who landed five conversions, while Delon Armitage kicked a penalty to complement his two tries.

3. Saracens (Premiership)

Sarries got out of jail in the last minute for a 36–32 win against London Irish thanks to Billy Vunipola’s try. It was the second time they had put themselves into a winning position, having earlier led 20-7 before a stirring Exiles comeback.

The 2014 runners-up have secured two of their three victories this season at the death, which says a lot for their composure.

It was evident at the Madejski when skipper Brad Barrit eschewed the chance to take three points and a draw in favour of kicking for the corner and seeking the win.

His decision was rewarded with Vunipola going over from the line–out. This sort of "Never say die" mindset will take Mark McCall’s men far this season.

2. Bath (Premiership)

Bath rocket up the power rankings for their demolition of Leicester. The Tigers were taken to the cleaners up front, per the Guardian’s Paul Rees.

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Bath have in recent seasons developed a reputation for being more proficient at using the ball than winning it, but they took on Leicester at their supposed strongest point from the first scrum and in destroying them up front reduced their opponents to a car without a steering wheel. David Wilson made his opposite number Logovi’i Mulipola’s stay a short one and left the field to a standing ovation.

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Mike Ford’s men took full advantage of a weakened Leicester outfit to make it three wins from three this season, and their powerful play up front highlighted by Rees was equaled by their adventure with ball in hand.

A length–of–the–field try that saw forwards and backs combine beautifully was finished by Kyle Eastmond to provide a strong contender for try of the season, and there will have been no man happier to complete the thrashing than former Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer.

The Irishman was the victim of Neil Back's infamous act of gamesmanship that robbed Stringer of the ball in the 2002 Heineken Cup final.

1. Clermont Auvergne (Top 14)

Clermont stamped their authority all over top spot in the Top 14 with 43–12 win over league new boys Lyon.

There was only a converted score in this contest at half-time, but Franck Azema’s men stretched away after the break with tries from Benson Stanley, John Ulugia and Fritz Lee.

A tougher test awaits next week with a visit to Oyonnax, who have developed a taste for upsetting the league’s big guns on their own patch.