Heineken and Challenge Cup Preview

It’s the knock out phase of Europe’s Rugby competitions. Four French clubs, along with two each from Ireland and England, are set to battle it out in hope of being one step closer to the final in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. A pair of Ireland Vs England clashes along with two French derbies and Challenge Cup action lines up an exciting weekend of European rugby.

Leinster Vs Leicester

Leinster and Leicester meet at the Aviva Stadium in a repeat of the 2009 Heineken Cup Final where the Irish side just edged out the Tigers, 19-16. There is no doubt that revenge will be on Leicester’s agenda and with England Internationals Ben Youngs, Louis Deacon and Toby Flood returning to the scene where their Grand Slam hopes were halted three weeks ago, a bruising encounter is on the cards on Saturday. The bookies have Leinster odds on at 4/9 with Leicester at 9/4, but be under no illusions, this is far from an open and shut case. The Tigers are sitting top of the bunch in the Aviva Premiership, are on good form and will certainly put it up to the 2009 champions. Leinster are coming off the back of a one point loss to close rivals Munster last weekend. While Joe Schmidt’s men ran riot in the opening half, Ronan O’Gara kicked Munster to victory in the second period leaving Leinster dejected. The game in Thomand Park is sure to have taken its toll on the Leinster men but they will want to bounce back immediately on their quest for two Heineken Cups in three years. They are the in form side in Europe, they have home advantage and with Healy, Heaslip, Sexton, O’Driscoll and Nacewa all in form its difficult to look beyond them. I see this being a closely contested battle but fancy Leinster to live up to the favourites tag. They are priced at 13/10 (Bet365) to win by 1-12 points and I also like them at even money (Boyle Sports) for Half Time / Full Time.

Northampton Vs Ulster 

Ulster will travel to Northampton as they seek a seventh straight will in all competitions. They have displayed true grit over recent weeks with four out of six of the victories being by three points or less and will have to show similar determination on Sunday if they are to overcome a Northampton side who are the only team to progress to the knockout stages with a 100 per cent record. The bookies really fancy Northampton in this one, some pricing them as short as 1/8. Ulster are best priced at 4/1 (Victor Chandler) for the win but I’d expect no more than a converted try to be between the two sides come the final whistle so the very sensible Ulster +10 option at even money seems the more appealing punt.

 Brive Vs Munster

In the aftermath of an epic victory over Leinster last weekend in the Magners League, celebrations were cut short for Munster with news of Ian Dowling’s premature retirement and Paul O’Connell’s likely season ending injury surfacing. However, Tony McGahan’s team go to France on Saturday in good form. Last time Munster took to French soil they were dumped out of the Heineken Cup by Toulon but since then have registered six wins from seven and have won all of their last five games. 1997 Heineken Cup winners Brive eased their way to this stage of the competition with six wins from six but their domestic form leaves much to be desired with only La Rochelle and Bourgoin below them in the Top 14. I can’t see beyond Munster in this one. Though they are without O’Connell, Mick O’Driscoll is an experienced and capable replacement. They are 4/9 (Paddy Power) which I think is generous. They are also priced at 9/5 (Paddy Power) -7 points which for me is a very likely outcome.

My Tips

2pts Leinster Win 1-12 Points

1pt Leinster HT/FT

2pts Munster (-7)

1pt Ulster (+10)

 3pts on Leinster and Munster Double

2011 Rugby Betting Stats

Staked = 11pts

Returns = 14.76pts

Profit/Loss = +3.76pts

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