Ranking Europe's Top 10 Club Teams After Weekend of November 13-15

Europe's top clubs opened the Champions Cup season last weekend, albeit with the champions Toulon, Parisian side Racing 92, Clermont Auvergne and Bordeaux-Begles postponing their fixtures in the wake of events in Paris.

Our first power rankings of the season therefore reflect the inactivity of those sides, but they also take into account the standings of the big hitters in their domestic leagues.

We are only four games into the Aviva Premiership, while the Pro12 and Top 14 are seven and eight rounds old respectively. 

Throw in the graduated return to action of the players who were on World Cup duty and those two latter leagues' current overall standings may well have yet to reflect the true strength of their traditional powerhouses.

Here are your opening rankings of the 2015/16 season.

10. Scarlets

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Scarlets lost narrowly at Northampton in the Champions Cup, but it was only their second reverse of the season.

They have won six of their first seven in the Pro12 and are third in the table behind Connacht and Munster.

They endured frustration against the Saints, who were down to 14 men twice during the contest.

They were also missing the bulk of Ken Owens and Samson Lee in the front row and, as Michael Aylwin noted in the Guardian, a bonus point for their defeat by a margin less than seven wasn't a bad consolation.

9. Connacht

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Connacht are the only side to make this ranking from outside the Champions Cup.

Pat Lam's team head the Pro12 with six wins out of seven and last weekend overcame the challenge of a trip to Siberia, where they beat Enisei-STM 31-14 in their Challenge Cup opener.

That ground-breaking victory has cost them preparation time for their next fixture against Brive, however, with plane trouble—and then visa complications—meaning they could not all make it back to Ireland until Tuesday, per the Irish Independent.

8. Racing 92

PHILIPPE DESMAZES/Getty Images

Racing were due to play Pro12 champions Glasgow on Saturday in Paris, but with the game cancelled, they will now start their European adventure a week late against Scarlets.

They have begun well on the domestic front, winning six and losing two to place them third at present in the Top 14.

They still have the tantalising prospect of Dan Carter pulling on the blue-and-white hoops, and the World Cup winner's influence may well inject further momentum to a season that has started with promise.

7. Toulon

BERTRAND LANGLOIS/Getty Images

Toulon are fourth in the Top 14 but were another side to delay the start of their Champions Cup schedule, calling off their tie with Bath at the weekend.

Now with Quade Cooper pulling the strings at No. 10, they have an eye-watering roster of talent to line up outside the Australian, including Matt Giteau, Ma'a Nonu, Mathieu Bastareaud, Leigh Halfpenny, Bryan Habana and Drew Mitchell.

Their heavyweight pack will provide that stellar collection of names with plenty of ball. But one area where they may be vulnerable could be their lineout, after the loss of Bakkies Botha and Ali Williams, and the long-term injury to new recruit Paul O'Connell.

6. Toulouse

David Rogers/Getty Images

Toulouse may have suffered a heavy 32-7 defeat to Saracens to start their Champions Cup bid, but they are second in the Top 14 with six wins from their first eight games.

Their pulling power as one of Europe's big guns may also be displayed in the coming weeks as we await the outcome of a reported £650,000 salary offer to Welsh No. 8 Taulupe Faletau, per Walesonline.

With Ulster and Oyonnax in their pool alongside Saracens, Fabian Pelous' men still have the quality required to haul themselves into the knockout stages.

5. Munster

Munster left it late but secured maximum points at home to Treviso to kick their Champions Cup season off on the right foot.

Their 32-7 win was capped at the death with Simon Zebo's bonus point clincher, and they have now won seven from eight in all competitions in the 2015/16 season.

Their wins include victories over Pro12 champions Glasgow and results on the road against Edinburgh and the Ospreys.

They sit second behind Pro12 pace-setters Connacht, and this will be just the start the Thomond Park faithful will have hoped for in the post-Paul O'Connell era.

4. Wasps

Wasps earned the result of the weekend with a 33-6 hammering of Leinster in Dublin. 

Brendan Fanning of the Guardian picked out the away side's back three of Christian Wade, Charles Piutau and Frank Halai as the star performers.

And Piutau, who was given the cold shoulder by the All Blacks after opting to join Ulster from the start of next season, wasted little time in talking up the young English talent in his new temporary home, per the Guardian. 

"The All Blacks would love players like Wadey and (Elliot) Daly. Talented, attacking boys like that. I’m biased, but I’d love to see my team-mates play international rugby.”

The Black and Gold have had an inconsistent start in the Premiership, however, with defeats to Harlequins and Leicester and a bizarre 40-40 draw with London Irish.

3. Clermont Auvergne

THIERRY ZOCCOLAN/Getty Images

Clermont are top of the Top 14 after winning five, drawing one and losing two of their first eight games.

They have yet to open their account in Europe after the postponement of their round one tie with Bordeaux-Begles, so we are yet to glean any idea of how they might fare this season.

Last season's runners-up have recruited plenty of fire power to their back line with the addition of Scott Spedding, David Strettle and Hosea Gear, while Flip van der Merwe adds extra bulk to the pack.

2. Leicester

Leicester have had some famous tussles with the pink-clad Parisians of Stade Francais down the years, but they were the dominant force on Friday night at Welford Road as they ran out 33-20 winners.

Tigers' new No. 7 Brendan O'Connor grabbed many of the headlines for his display, and for the fact the newly arrived New Zealander qualifies for England through his grandmother.

Leicester boss Richard Cockerill was quick to quell talk of an early Red Rose call-up, per Chris Foy of the Daily Mail.

Cockerill said:

"

He is very highly-rated in New Zealand, where they have a lot of great No 7s.

We like our back-rowers to compete for the ball and a couple of the turnovers he won tonight were top class.

It is a bit premature to be talking about him playing for England, but he’s a very good player.

"

The east Midlanders are in a loaded pool, with back-to-back fixtures against Munster still to come, but this was a promising bonus-point start for them. It also backs up a healthy start to their Premiership campaign in which they have won three from four and sit fourth.

1. Saracens

Saracens sit top of the Premiership with four wins from four, and they got their European campaign off to a flyer with a 32-7 defeat of Toulouse.

The French side were understandably subdued and were unable to deal with the precision and power of the English champions, who look set for another season in which they can go deep into the Champions Cup and mount a stout defence of their Premiership crown.

Full marks so far for Mark McCall's men.