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European rugby Power Rankings 2017/2018: Week 14 - how far have Saracens fallen after mauling by Clermont?

Levani Botia and La Rochelle have powered towards the summit - AFP
Levani Botia and La Rochelle have powered towards the summit - AFP

December double-headers were always going to mean carnage for this table of 40 intrepid teams. 

Sure enough, we have a new leader. On a difficult weekend for Premiership outfits, another side has plummeted six places. Then a rapid revamp was required after Clermont ran riot.

Expect another reshuffle next week. 

40. Kings (0-10, no change) 

39. London Irish (2-11, no change)

38. Oyonnax (1-2-11, down one)

37. Brive (3-1-10, down one)

36. Northampton (5-7, down six)  

London Irish shipped half a century to an exciting Edinburgh side and there were also Challenge losses for Oyonnax and Brive, but Northampton Saints are the big news here.

Although they rallied with a handful of eye-catching tries late on, their performance for the first hour against the Ospreys was truly horrible. The Welsh region, who had been in gruesome Pro14 form themselves, led 43-8 at one stage. 

As a sad sign of the fans’ antipathy, Franklin’s Gardens was more than half empty. Prop Kieran Brookes yawning in the stands was darkly amusing, though.

Sky Sports - Credit: Sky Sports
Credit: Sky Sports

35. Agen (4-10, down one)

34. Ospreys (3-10, up four)

33. Dragons (4-1-8, up two)

32. Stade Francais (6-9, up one)

31. Zebre (3-10, no change)  

Agen sink to the verge of the bottom section on the ladder following a six-try, 40-21 tuning at home to Pau.

Ospreys were as enterprising as Saints were insipid, so Steve Tandy’s boys get a boost. Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Evans made the Champions Cup team of the weekend. Dragons overcame Enisei 15-0, while Stade Francais wreaked sweet revenge on Krasny Yar.

Zebre made life difficult for in-form Gloucester, so their eventual 33-26 loss does not cost them too much.

30. Treviso (3-10, up two)

29. Cardiff Blues (6-7, down six)      

28. Edinburgh (8-5, no change)

27. Sale Sharks (5-1-7, no change)

26. Connacht (6-7, up three)  

Benetton climb two despite losing to Scarlets. They seemed to be inspired by Francesco Minto’s red card and delivered a defiant, controlled second half that so nearly produced an upset. 

Cardiff Blues were a distant second best to Sale Sharks in Salford as AJ MacGinty orchestrated a 24-0 win for the hosts. Edinburgh are clicking into gear again - Darcy Graham looks like a rockstar - and Connacht crossed The Channel to overturn Brive. 

25. Worcester (4-9, up one)

24. Pau (9-6, up one)

23. Cheetahs (6-4, no change)

22. Harlequins (6-7, down one)  

21. Ulster (9-1-3, up four)

Worcester maintained their Premiership momentum by registering a 35-14 bonus-point success against Oyonnax. The Cheetahs hibernated on a welcome weekend off, presumably.

Ulster leapfrog Harlequins thanks to a dogged 17-5 win over them at a snow-swept Twickenham Stoop. Jacob Stockdale is the real deal. You already knew that.

Ulster vs Harlequins - Credit: PA
Credit: PA

20. UBB (7-1-7, down two)

19. Newcastle Falcons (8-5, up two)

18. Leicester Tigers (7-6, down three)  

17. Toulouse (8-2-5, no change)

16. Toulon (9-6, up three)  

Newcastle bypass Bordeaux after dispatching Rory Teague’s men 52-24. Matthieu Jalibert sparkled, though. My colleague Ben Coles has a sharp eye.

Leicester Tigers fall three. As we will come to later, Munster dominated them with a display of blood, thunder and breakdown smarts. Toulon shuffle towards the summit, even if they needed Anthony Belleau to bail them out.

Anthony Belleau - Credit: Getty Images 
Credit: Getty Images

15. Bath (8-5, up one)

14. Lyon (8-7, down one)

13. Racing 92 (8-7, down one)

12. Wasps (7-6, down one)

11. Gloucester (9-4, down one)

It might seem slightly counter-intuitive for Bath to wiggle up following a defeat, but they so nearly became the second side to topple the Stade Mayol in Champions Cup history. Jonathan Joseph, Aled Brew and their forwards were fantastic.

Losses for Lyon, Racing 92 and Wasps - overrun at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre - see them shimmy down. Gloucester’s sojourn in the was brief and ends in spite of a 33-26 win away to Zebre. But someone had to make room for Clermont...

10. Scarlets (9-4, down three)

Is this harsh? Maybe. There were far better performances in the top 10, though.

Wayne Pivac’s team rescued a 33-28 bonus-point triumph at Parc Y Scarlets over a determined, well-drilled Benetton and still have a sniff, however faint, of landing a Champions Cup quarter-final. Another five points this weekend in Italy is not out of the question.

Then again, Scarlets were indebted to Steff Evans, who pulled the game out of the fire by chipping ahead for Paul Asquith to score two minutes from time, against 14-man Treviso. Before that, the hosts had seemed worryingly disjointed.

9. Saracens (8-6, down four)

Mark McCall was stunned at full-time on Monday night, dumbfounded at how his European champions had capitulated so drastically on the way to a record-setting 46-14 loss. Admirably honest, as always, he admitted: “I did not see that coming.”

They are not the first side to succumb to a fired-up Clermont, and will not be the last. Still, if Saracens fail to get anything out of their upcoming trip to Auvergne and lose a seventh consecutive match, the holders could be staring down the barrel of a pool-stage exit.

Mako Vunipola - Credit: Getty Images 
Credit: Getty Images

8. Clermont  (9-1-5, up six)

Messed around, missing a recognised fly-half, starved of many fans that had to go home upon the game’s initial postponement, Clermont pulled a domineering display out of the bag

Alivereti Raka represented the headline act thanks to a scorching hat-trick. Morgan Parra, Fritz Lee, Benjamin Kayser, Damian Penaud, Peceli Yato and Sébastien Vahaamahina contributed wonderfully as well. The perennial European bridesmaids want that bouquet.

7. Montpellier (9-6, up one)

Muscular and businesslike, Montpellier remain major players in pool three, the deadliest of Champions Cup groups.

Louis Picamoles, Bismarck Du Plessis spearheaded Vern Cotter’s team as laid siege to Scotstoun. Back-rower  Kélian Galletier grabbed a double.

Louis Picamoles - Credit: AFP
Credit: AFP

6. Munster (9-1-3, up two)

Creeping towards the higher echelons, even with influential individuals still to return, Munster will arrive at Welford road confident of avenging the loss they suffered in the East Midlands a year ago.

The first part of their double-header duty, ousting Leicester Tigers at Thomond Park, was secured by a bullying effort. Peter O’Mahony and Chris Cloete were too clever at the breakdown and the Irish province’s attack was too slick.

A 33-10 success felt every bit as dominant as the 38-0 thrashing 12 months back. Simon Zebo’s take on the contract negotiations of CJ Stander and O’Mahony was typically amusing.

5. Castres (9-1-5, up one)

An all-time blunder from Racing 92 wing Teddy Thomas certainly helped Castres prevail 16-13. That said, they have been riding a wave for a good while and deservedly reach the top five.

Omnipotent, consistent number eight  Maama Vaipulu - a one-cap Tonga international - scored the decisive try. 

Ma'ama Vaipulu - Credit: AFP
Credit: AFP

4. Glasgow Warriors (10-3, down one)

Dave Rennie was stinging at full-time of Glasgow’s 29-22 loss to Montpellier. In the end, yellow cards to George Turner Jonny Gray and proved costly.

Domestic success, which keeps Glasgow in the top five, will have to make do for Rennie in his first season. The New Zealander will be desperate for better European returns in 2018, although Finn Russell will not be about.

Dave Rennie - Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images

3. Exeter Chiefs (10-3, down two)

Exeter had to make a mammoth 258 tackles on Sunday evening as Leinster kept possession and cycled through the phases relentlessly. Bodies and egos would have been bruised afterwards, because the Dubliners played the Devon side at their own game were good value for an 18-8 win.

Loaded with British and Irish Lions, including the awesome pair of fly-half Jonathan Sexton and tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong, Leinster outsmarted and overpowered Chiefs.

Leinster - Credit: Sportsfile
Credit: Sportsfile

2. Leinster (11-2, up two)

Intelligent, tough and driven by the game management of Jonathan Sexton, Leinster reflected the meticulousness of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland set-up. 

They will face a backlash from Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon - what a match that is - but look like compelling contenders for the title. James Lowe was not even registered.

1. La Rochelle (13-2, up one)  

What a breath of fresh air this team is. Ambitious, all-court offloading ripped Wasps apart and was a joy to watch from the moment - less than 90 seconds into the match - that 150-kilogram tighthead prop Uini Atonio flipped an one-handed, overhead pass to lock Jason Eaton.

The Top 14 front-runners racked up six tries to punctuate a 49-29 win. Wasps preyed on a few errors, but La Rochelle know turnovers are a by-product of their unstructured attacking spontaneity. It is very difficult not to enjoy watching the likes of Dany Priso rampaging around.

Dany Priso - Credit: AFP
Credit: AFP