Saracens have been rocked by a 35 points deduction and fined more than £5 million over breaches of salary cap rules.
The Premiership and European champions insist they will appeal, describing the sanctions as "heavy-handed".
For the time being, however, official league tables show show Sarries rock-bottom of the Premiership on -26 points.
"Realistically, if you look at seasons gone by, they need around 60 points from 19 games and it couldn’t be a worse season for it to happen," Standard Sport's Simon Collings said, reacting to Tuesday morning's news.
"Their World Cup players, the likes of Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, they are going to need a rest. Player welfare rules state they can probably only play seven or eight, maybe nine regular season games.
"Given that is the case, Sarries’ young players from an academy which is must famed, are really going to have to step up to the plate."
Watch the full video above as Standard Sport's Simon Collings reacts to the news that has rocked Saracens' season.
