European Champions Cup Rugby Betting Tips Round 1
The pinnacle of Northern Hemisphere club rugby returns this weekend as the 2016 Champions Cup gets underway, with 20 teams competing for Saracens’ crown of best club in Europe. Betsafe have teamed up again with one of the world’s most respected rugby websites Planet Rugby to bring you round by round betting tips for the Champions Cup to help you make a more informed decision when betting on European rugby’s premier tournament.
Toulon v Saracens
A mouth-watering clash and undoubtedly the fixture of the opening round, three-time champions Toulon will host current holders Saracens as the winners of the last four tournaments meet.
Seven penalties from Owen Farrell saw Saracens complete a historic Aviva Premiership-Champions Cup double with a 21-9 victory over Racing 92 in the final last July, with the English outfit ending Toulon’s three-year reign as European champions.
Given the wealth of talent available to both sides, it is unsurprising to see the clubs priced as the two favourites to win this year’s tournament. Sarries are 3/1 front runners with Betsafe, while Toulon can be backed at 4/1.
However, both sides could start their campaign missing a number of key players. England fly-half Farrell remains sidelined for the Londoners with back and hip injuries, while predatory tryscorer Chris Ashton is in the midst of a 13-week ban. Toulon, meanwhile, are continuing to ease Wales star Leigh Halfpenny back to full fitness following a serious knee injury, and will be without their own prolific finisher in crocked France winger Vincent Clerc.
The French outfit, runners-up in last year’s Top 14, started their domestic campaign slowly this season, losing three of their opening five matches, but returned to form and caught the eye in impressive victories over Clermont Auvergne and Montpellier.
Saracens returned to their usual position at the summit of the Premiership at the weekend with an uncompromising 30-14 success over London Wasps at Allianz Park. Wasps had been the form side in England, but were dismantled by Sarries’ brute force. “We have appeared in five of the last six finals in Europe and the Premiership, which is a considerable achievement, but I do not get the sense that people here are satisfied. They want more; there is a real hunger in the group. Everything, though, is getting harder,” director of rugby Mark McCall warned the continent.
With Pool Three completed by Sale Sharks and Llanelli Scarlets – two underdogs – this clash could go a long way to determining who tops the group. Saracens are favourites to win Pool Three at 3/4, but Toulon are a dangerous outfit and are a tempting 7/5 to finish top.
Racing 92 v Munster
One of the former dominant forces in European rugby travel to the relative new kids on the block when Munster visit Racing 92.
Munster were crowned champions of Europe twice in the noughties, and finished as runners-up on a further two occasions but have underwhelmed in recent years, failing to reach the knockout stages in their previous two campaigns, which is reflected in their odds of 49/1 to win the competition this term.
Racing 92, on the other hand, did not make their first appearance in the competition until 2010, but made it all the way to the final last season, only to be edged out by Owen Farrell’s right boot. The Parisiens are expected to challenge once again, and are third favourites with Betsafe at 5/1.
The beaten finalists and reigning French champions, who have former Munster hero Ronan O’Gara among their coaching ranks, have started this season slowly and find themselves in eighth in the Top 14, having lost four of their eight matches to date, including a 47-10 hammering at Clermont Auvergne. They did, however, show their class in a dramatic 41-30 victory against Toulon, despite having a man sent off.
Munster’s promising start to their domestic season suffered a blow with the 25-14 defeat to arch-rivals Leinster, although they will be hoping to take advantage of the expected absence from Racing of New Zealand icon Dan Carter. “You look for the easy games in your pool and when you examine this group you quickly realise that you are the easy game,” said Munster’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, well aware of the size of the task which lies ahead for his team.
Competing in Pool One, the two sides have been drawn in a Group of Death alongside Glasgow Warriors and Leicester Tigers. Racing are favourites to top the group at 9/14 but know they cannot afford to slip up against the dangerous underdogs of Munster, who are 8/1 outsiders to win the pool.
Northampton v Montpellier
A clash which will see France star Louis Picamoles face the club he started his impressive career with, the two teams are on markedly different runs of form.
One of the few players to consistently perform for France over the last five years, Picamoles has made a steady start to life with Northampton since joining the Premiership outfit in the summer, albeit the results have been poor, with the Saints languishing in ninth.
Since being on the wrong end of Leinster’s stirring fightback from 22-6 down at half-time in the 2011 final, the Saints have failed to make it past the quarter-final stage. Though they have sought to smash through that glass ceiling by signing players of the ilk of Picamoles.
Their main contender for progression from Pool Four are considered to be Montpellier, who sit second in the Top 14 and are dark horses at 23/2 to win the competition. “They have a number of Springboks now and they play like South Africa, not spectacular but very physical,” Picamoles said of his former outfit.
With the wily World Cup-winning coach Jake White at the helm, Montpellier promise to be one of the most uncompromising-but-effective teams in the competition. It is a mark of the French side’s quality that they are considered favourites to top a group which also contains former champions Leinster at 4/3. Northampton’s home form will have to be perfect to stand any chance of winning the pool, which they are second favourites at 2/1 to do so.
Best of the rest
The pick of the fixtures elsewhere has to be the visit of Leicester Tigers to Glasgow Warriors in Pool One. Traditionally one of Europe’s heavyweights, Leicester have been through a barren spell both domestically and on the continent, but showed signs of a resurgence by reaching the semi-finals last year. Glasgow are a dangerous outfit on their day and will certainly have an influence on the make-up.
The Tigers are 5/2 to pip Racing 92 to the top of the pool, with Glasgow 7/1 outsiders.
Pool Five is perhaps the most difficult to predict, with Clermont Auvergne, Exeter Chiefs, Ulster all capable of topping the group. Clermont are favourites at 11/10, followed by Exeter at 19/10 and Ulster at 4/1.
Betsafe are also offering a market on which country the tournament winner will come from this term. And while Britain may have voted to leave Europe earlier this year, three of the four semi-finalists were English last season, and 6/5 is a good price for the winner to once again come from the Premiership. A team from France remains the shortest price at 4/5.
About Rob Conlon
Rob Conlon is a contributor for PlanetRugby, widely regarded as one of the biggest rugby websites in the world which offers news, previews, live scores and analysis.
