Ranking Europe's Top 15 Club Teams After Weekend of May 15-17

The play­–off contenders in the Premiership and Pro 12 are settled, with one week left for France’s top six to sort themselves out.

In the Top 14, following the final round of the regular season this weekend, the top two will have a week off while positions three to six contest "les barrages" or quarter–finals. The winners of those matches will proceed to play the top two in the semi-finals.

The real drama in the final round of the Premiership was in the fight for the last place in the top four. Leicester secured their passage with a win over Northampton’s second string, which made it a straight shootout between Exeter and Saracens, with the latter prevailing after overwhelming London Welsh.

In France, the away-day jitters returned to put the skids under Toulouse while Toulon’s "B" team escaped from Clermont Auvergne with a losing bonus point that kept them top.

The Pro 12 had nothing to settle but who would play at home in the semis. Glasgow and Munster took the honours with convincing wins that make them both favourites to meet in the final.

Here is what it all means for this ranking.

15. Bordeaux-Begles

Bordeaux are still in the fight for the French title, sitting sixth in the table and occupying the last spot available for a quarter–final.

They beat Bayonne 38–20 to keep themselves in the hunt but face a stiff test on the final day of the regular season with a trip to Toulouse.

A brace from Fijian powerhouse Metuisela Talebula helped them to this win, and they will need their star man on top form to bust open the Toulouse rearguard that was shown up mercilessly by Grenoble.

Bordeaux have already taken the scalp of Toulon this season, per Sky Sports, when Talebula claimed another pair, so they have no fear of reputation.

Bordeaux's sixth place squeaks them on to this ranking ahead of Racing Metro, who lie in wait behind them, and Wasps, who have finished sixth in the Premiership but were out of the title picture last week after defeat at home to Leicester.

14. Oyonnax

Oyonnax beat Lyon 28-10 to sit fifth with one week left.

Wins for Bordeaux and Racing Metro can still eject them from the quarter–finals should they lose at Toulon.

With Bordeaux away at Toulouse and Racing hosting mid–table Castres, it is likely Oyonnax will be pinning their hopes on defeat for the former to render their result at the Stade Felix Mayol academic.

13. Ulster

Ulster’s defeat to Glasgow means they may as well have cancelled their flight back across the water.

They will run out at Scotstoun again next week hoping to do much better than the 32–10 defeat that saw them finish fourth in the Pro 12 table.

If history is any sort of guide, it is not on the side of Neil Doak’s men, as the Irish Independent’s Michael Sadlier pointed out:

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No travelling team has yet to come away victorious at the play–off stages and Glasgow possess a pretty bullet–proof home record in the Pro12.

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And in the same paper Neil Francis suggests Doak’s decision to rest some of his front-line troops, having accepted Ulster would be travelling for their semi–final and perhaps not caring where they went, has now backfired on the province’s coach:

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The gambit has failed. Ulster looked ragged and dispirited by the end and it is a huge ask to put their starters in for next week – many of whom belatedly came on in the last few minutes – and ask them to turn around the spiritual tide which was running through this fixture.

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It remains to be seen if the carrot of playing the final on their home ground will be enough to drive the Red Hand gang on to a famous win on Glasgow’s home patch.

12. Exeter

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

It was final-day heartbreak for the Chiefs, who lost out to Saracens for the final berth in the play–offs.

A bonus point win over Sale was not enough as Saracens swamped London Welsh to beat Rob Baxter’s men to the last slot in the top four.

The Devon outfit finished fifth but proved the gap between the established regulars in the play–offs and the clubs battering down the door is getting smaller.

Some smart recruitment has already been done for next season with the arrival of Lions lock Geoff Parling and his Leicester colleague Julian Salvi bolstering an already abrasive pack, and Italian crackerjack Michele Campagnaro adding some flavour to the back line.

11. Toulouse

A defeat at Grenoble was as surprising for the fact it happened as the way it was meted out to Toulouse.

The 32–11 reverse ended a five–game winning run for the Toulousain and has left them with Racing Metro’s fate potentially in their hands.

If they beat Bordeaux–Begles this week, they will open the way for Racing to supplant Raphael Ibanez’s side in the last quarter–final slot available.

Lose at home to Les Girondins and they will probably play them again in the first round of knockout play.

However it pans out, this was a bad way to lose momentum at this stage of the season.

10. Saracens

Sarries started the final day out of the play–off picture, but a 68–17 thumping of London Welsh saw them overhaul Exeter on points difference.

Ten tries, four of them from Chris Ashton—a timely reminder before Stuart Lancaster names his World Cup training party—were enough to ensure their passage to the knockout phase.

They now face a trip to Northampton, the side that beat them in last season’s final.

If Mark McCall's side can exploit the weaknesses exposed by Leicester in the Saints' scrum, they will have a solid platform from which to launch their powerful runners.

9. Leicester

Leicester sealed their 11th consecutive appearance in the play–offs with their 22–18 win over Northampton.

They will travel to Bath in a bid to reach an 11th final since the start of the century with painful memories of the 45–0 drubbing they took there earlier in the campaign.

The Tigers were at an injury–ravaged low for that encounter and will return a much more confident outfit after back-to-back wins over Wasps and the champions.

Their progress to the shootout stage of the season has also helped soothe the latest wound inflicted on the club, this time by the off–field behavior of Manu Tuilagi.

Mick Cleary of the Telegraph, for one, believes Leicester have what it takes to ensure the England centre returns to a side reinstated as champions of England.

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Their experiences have hardened them, their troubles and travails helped pull them together, all of which is the stuff of the champion side that they once were. They will take that spirit and wizened knowledge with them on their journey back to where they suffered a 45–0 thrashing in September.

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8. Ospreys

Ospreys ended third after a narrow 24–20 win at Connacht did not deliver the bonus point they needed as Glasgow and Munster both secured maximum rewards for their victories.

Four tries against Champions Cup–chasing Connacht in Galway was always going to be a tough task for Steve Tandy’s men, and yet they nearly had them before half-time were it not for Eli Walker’s rotten luck, per Simon Thomas for WalesOnline:

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As Walker got back to his feet after being half checked and stretched for the line just before half–time, it looked odds on the Ospreys were going to secure the fourth try that would guarantee them a home semi–final. That would have made it 31–0 with the conversion and there would have been no chance of Connacht coming back. But as Walker looked to plant the ball down, it just slipped from his grasp, as the video referee confirmed after scrutinising the footage.

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And so a trip to Munster for a semi–final awaits, and as daunting as a packed Thomond Park can be for visiting teams, Thomas points out that the men from the Liberty have already beaten the Limerick team home and away this season:

“If they can cut out the mistakes that let them down in the second half in Galway and hold their own in the tight, then they have the big game players and the young bucks to do the business.”

7. Stade Francais

Stade were, fleetingly, top of the pile in France after a 35–21 win over Montpellier.

They will harbour hopes that a final-day win over Brive could be enough to earn them a semi–final and week off in the play–offs if Clermont come unstuck in Montpellier.

Next season will be key for Stade. They chose only to gun for the league this year, practically surrendering in the European Challenge Cup at the pool stage.

With Champions Cup rugby to contend with next season, they will need to prove they have the depth and mentality to fight on two fronts.

6. Munster

Munster walloped the Dragons 50–27 in Cork to ensure they will be going no further than back to Thomond Park next week for their semi–final with the Ospreys.

This victory was described by the Irish Independent’s David Kelly as “a reminder of those last days in school before the summer holidays when you were allowed to bring in your toys.”

Munster’s favourite plaything was the Dragons pack, treated like a rag doll as they were mauled to death, the red unit driving over for three tries and securing the required bonus point inside 23 minutes.

And the Newport–Gwent coach Lyn Jones, who has seen a few seasons of rugby in his time, passed his judgement post–match to WalesOnline after seeing Munster dismantle his team:

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If I did have a sneaky five euros, which is probably about the price of coffee in Ireland, I would put it on Munster. I think the error count is low with Munster. I think that their set-piece is very clean and I think home advantage will just be too much for the Ospreys.

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5. Glasgow

Glasgow reclaimed top spot with a 32–10 win over Ulster that ensured they will host the same side again in the Pro 12 semi–finals.

Gregor Townsend’s men seized the crucial initiative with a second half that took that game away from the Irishmen with two tries from Finn Russell and one each from Stuart Hogg and Richie Vernon.

The Scotsman’s Iain Morrison labelled it a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance from the league winners, transformed by Hogg’s moment of magic:

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For 50 minutes, Gregor Townsend’s troops were the mild, unassuming and perfectly polite Dr Jekyll who scarcely made a dent in Ulster’s defence. Glasgow needed four tries and had yet to score one, which is when Stuart Hogg stepped up to the plate and knocked one clear out of the ground.

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4. Bath

Bath were already assured of a home semi–final when they completed their league programme but still delivered a rousing end–of–season affair to see off West Country foes Gloucester at the Rec, 50–30.

Amid the 11 tries was a typically direct effort from Sam Burgess to underline his burgeoning credentials as a back rower for Stuart Lancaster to consider this week in his extended 45–man training group.

But equally as eye-catching was the brace from the man who may now profit from Manu Tuilagi’s exclusion from England duty.

Kyle Eastmond looked sharp all afternoon. Burgess inevitably drew the attention post–match, and his colleague on the other flank of the Bath scrum, Francois Louw, championed the former rugby league man’s case as a No. 6 rather than the inside centre position he first tested out, per the Telegraph:

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I don’t think he will switch back to 12, I think he wants to make the back row his position. And when you start to shift a player around too much he doesn’t quite settle. You can often lose a player in that regard.

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Having run in seven tries against Gloucester and with a 45–0 thumping of Leicester to look back on this season, Bath will fancy the job in their home semi–final against Richard Cockerill’s men.

3. Northampton

David Rogers/Getty Images

The Saints rested a number of first-choice players for their visit to Leicester with first place already assured in the Aviva Premiership.

Their reserves put up a stiff challenge but couldn’t overcome the fast–starting Tigers, who they may well see again in the final.

For now, Saints have a re–run of last season’s final with Saracens heading to Franklin’s Gardens for the semi–final battle.

They may want to spend some time this week on the scrummage machine after seeing their two tight-head props sent to the sin bin in quick succession, per Paul Rees in the Guardian:

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The scrum has become an issue for the Saints to the point where it seems to be the greatest barrier between the club and a second successive Premiership title. They lost their two tight–head props to the sin–bin in two minutes in the third quarter and they also suffered in the set piece against Saturday’s play–off opponents, Saracens, when the sides met at Milton Keynes last month. That game turned when (Alex) Corbisiero and (Salesi) Ma’afu were replaced and the loss of the latter at the end of the season has turned from a blow into a blessing.

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2. Clermont Auvergne

Clermont went out for revenge against Toulon after their European final defeat and gave the home fans something to cheer with a 22–18 win.

It wasn’t enough to take first place off the men from the Mayol but may inject some much-needed impetus into Franck Azema’s squad as they bid to wrestle the Bouclon de Brennier from their arch-rivals.

They travel to eighth–placed Montpellier on the final day looking to seal a top-two spot that will keep them put of the quarter–final round of the play-offs.

They may have to do so without Camille Lopez. The fly–half limped from the field before half–time, per Planet Rugby.

1. Toulon

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Toulon were deposed from top spot in the Top 14 momentarily after Stade Francais’ victory on Saturday. Yet Bernard Laporte still opted to roll the dice and field a much–changed side for the visit to Clermont Auvergne.

His secondary troops delivered a losing bonus point in a 22–19 loss that returned the European champions to the head of the table.

They had to survive a last-minute review by the TMO of Morgan Parra’s attempted score that kept their bonus intact and prevented Les Jaunards from overhauling their Champions Cup final conquerors.

At home to Oyonnax next week, Laporte’s plan will see the big guns return to send his team into the post-season fight for the title as league leaders.