Ranking Europe's Top 15 Club Teams After Weekend of December 4-6

The weekend's action saw two Irish giants tumble from the top 15 while Saracens took an iron grip on top spot.

Connacht's winning run came to an end in Wales, and Wasps faltered at home, causing both sides to slide down the ranking this week.

In France, the top three flexed their muscles, each recording wins to assert their play-off positions before the domestic action makes way for Champions and Challenge Cup action.

Here's your ranking from the first weekend in December.

15. Bordeaux-Begles (New Entry)

Bordeaux-Begles inflicted a home defeat upon Top 14 champions Stade Francais, winning 24-21 in Paris to improve to six wins from their first 10 games.

And it was done in dramatic fashion, with a last minute interception try from Bordeaux's Heini Adams to steal the match.

The away side had their struggles in the scrum all night against the Parisians, despite the introduction of Australian Test prop Sekope Kepu off the bench, who saw yellow for his own part in the set-piece horror show suffered by his new side.

Still, they are within sight of the top four and now face a test of their Champions Cup credentials with a  doubleheader against the Ospreys.

14. Ulster (New Entry)

Ulster beat Edinburgh 14-7 to place themselves fifth in the Pro 12 table and tune up for the visit of Toulouse this weekend.

The win was overshadowed by an injury to their influential lock-cum-back-row forward Iain Henderson, who suffered a hamstring problem that could end his season, per the Belfast Telegraph.

13. Harlequins (New Entry)

Harlequins battered London Irish 38-7 to force their way into the top four of the Premiership.

Conor O'Shea's men replace Bath in this ranking this week, but Bath's presence in the Champions Cup may well outweigh Quins' progress in the Challenge Cup.

The men from the Stoop have a Saturday afternoon fixture away to Calvisano they need to negotiate to cement their lead at the head of Pool 3.

12. Connacht (Last Week, 5)

Connacht lost top spot in the Pro 12 as they went down 20-16 in Cardiff.

They made eight changes, per BBC.co.uk, from the side that secured a famous win over Munster the previous week, and suffered more injuries in this game, according to the Irish Independent. 

The side 22 points behind them in the table sealed only their second win of the campaign and ended Pat Lam's side's eight-game winning run.

11. Ospreys (11)

Ospreys ran in five tries to take maximum reward from their visit to Zebre, beating the Italians 39-22.

Justin Tipuric stole the show with two scores and a dazzling all-round display, per WalesOnline.

Having rested both Alun-Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar for the contest, coach Steve Tandy will be confident of his side taking this form into their Champions Cup back-to-back assignments with Bordeaux-Begles.

10. Scarlets (12)

Scarlets now sit atop the Pro 12 and will be there for at least the next two weeks as the league makes way for European competition.

Wayne Pivac's men rose thanks to Connacht's defeat in Newport and their own victory over Treviso, a 22-20 away result.

It took a last-gasp Steve Shingler penalty to secure the win, per Sky Sports.

The West Walians now begin their doubleheader with Glasgow away to the Pro 12 champions, who have laboured so far this season with five wins in eight to sit in mid-table.

9. Northampton Saints (8)

Northampton Saints cashed in on a poor Bath performance to beat last season's beaten finalists 13-11 at the Rec.

The Telegraph's Steve James credited Jim Mallinder's forwards for laying the foundations for the win despite this not being a display of high quality from the Saints.

It's a third win for Saints, who leapfrogged Wasps in the Premiership table and now sit four points off the top four.

8. Racing Metro (3)

Racing Metro failed to ride the wave of their previous win over Toulouse, only drawing 15-15 at Pau.

Dan Carter is expected to make his debut this weekend at home to Northampton in the Champions Cup.

The World Cup winner has been assigned his old All Blacks colleague Ali Williams as a minder to fend off some of the media demands being placed on Carter and allow him to focus on bedding down as a Top 14 player, per the New Zealand Herald.

Racing will need their new man to add some more cutting edge than they displayed in the Pyrenees last weekend.

7. Wasps (1)

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Dai Young's men will have likely been treated to a video nasty of their 41-27 defeat to Exeter.

The Coventry Telegraph's Paul Smith broke down the home side's failings against the Devon men, highlighting their weakness in the face of the Chiefs' rolling maul as well as their inability to convert possession into points.

Wasps now face Premiership rivals Bath in a Champions Cup doubleheader.

6. Toulouse (10)

Toulouse are now third after a 27-3 win over Oyonnax on a weekend when skipper Thierry Dusautoir announced his retirement from the international game, per Reuters (h/t the Guardian.)

The 80-cap flanker characteristically got his head down and grafted for his team in a win that placed them handily a point behind leaders Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14 table.

All three tries came from Toulouse's Antipodean contingent, with a brace for Talalelei Gray and one for Luke McAlister.

5. Leicester Tigers (6)

The Leicester Tigers plough on, overcoming a 17-0 deficit to defeat Worcester Warriors 29-20 for a fifth win in six outings.

The win was perhaps sweetened as much by the late bonus point secured with a fourth try as Manu Tuilagi’s decision to commit his future to Welford Road, after the Warriors had been linked with a big-money move for the injured England centre, per the Worcester News.

4. Exeter Chiefs (7)

Exeter Chiefs made a bold statement about their play-off credentials with a handsome win away to in-form Wasps.

Their 41-27 victory was soured, however, by the broken leg sustained by Henry Slade, which looks set to keep the young England hopeful out of Eddie Jones’ Six Nations plans, per the Independent.

Rob Baxter’s side will be without their star centre for a major test of their progress as they head into back-to-back fixtures with Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup.

3. Toulon (4)

Fresh from that thumping win over Clermont Auvergne, Toulon welcomed Ma’a Nonu into their side and promptly set about dismantling Agen 53-23.

After their surprising loss to Wasps in the Champions Cup, Bernard Laporte’s side have set about restoring their reputation as the team to be stopped in all competitions this season.

Planet Rugby’s five reasons why no one will hold a candle to the reigning kings of European rugby make a compelling case.

2. Clermont Auvergne (9)

Clermont bounced back from their home humiliation to Toulon with a hard-fought 26-21 away win over Brive.

The result was all the more impressive as it was Brive’s first reverse on home turf since September 2014, per Agence France-Presse, and accomplished despite a yellow card for Julien Bardy after a late tackle on Matthieu Ugalde. Clermont hang on to top spot in the Top 14 by a single point over Toulon and Toulouse.

1. Saracens (2)

Saracens take top spot away form Wasps after another Charlie Hodgson masterclass put Newcastle Falcons to the sword, 38-3.

Sarries' 100 per cent winning run continues and so do the barbed comments about their wage bill.

The latest came from Falcons boss Dean Richards’ programme notes ahead of their meeting at Kingston Park, which Fez Heads coach Mark McCall shrugged off, per the Evening Standard.