Rugby Union: Heineken Cup Betting Preview
A disappointing weekend for us. We backed Rebecca Adlington for Sports Personality at 10/3, who was just 4/7 on the night. The winner, Chris Hoy, drifted like a barge out to 7/1! 7/1 JLS put in a great performance on Saturday night, but finished 2nd.
Still if you followed our advice to ‘lay Man U at 1.93 on Betfair’ you won’t have done too badly. Nor if you backed the ‘Big 4′ all to draw at accumulated odds of 366/1. Tonight there’s Charlton v Derby and Motherwell v Kilmarnock if you’re looking for a bet, but today we’re previewing the Heineken Cup.
The biggest story from this weekend was Dan Carter‘s successful debut for Perpignan, helping them to overcome Leicester 26-20. You can’t really call the result a shock, as Perpignan are 3rd in the French Top 14. The result saw the Tigers get pushed out to 12/1 from 10s, although they still head Group 3 thanks to a losing bonus point.
The main benefactors are the 16/1 Ospreys who must now fancy their chances of progressing. They’ll meet the Tigers at the Liberty stadium in January, in what’s set to be a crunch tie. London Wasps, also 16/1, are in a similar situation, in that they face 9/1 Leinster in a crucial tie at Twickenham next month.
7/2 Toulouse are pretty well fancied, and they dominated Newport this weekend to maintain their 100% record. Skrela picked up an injury, but he should only be out for a month. Vincent Clerc should be back in action soon after his 8 month injury. Toulouse are 4/11 to win their group, but may rue not picking up a bonus point this weekend.
66/1 Sale lost at Montauban, even though they thrashed them 36-6 last week. They are now out to 9/2 to win their group, which includes last year’s winners, 5/1 Munster. Munster struggled against Clermont on Saturday, needing 2 late tries to win.
With Munster unconvincing, it’s no surprise to see support for unbeaten sides Harlequins and Cardiff. The Blues are flying the flag for Wales, in a tournament that is usually dominated by the big guns of European rugby. They were originally priced at 28/1, but their odds have tumbled after each victory.
Quins were originally 66/1, but are now into 8/1 following 2 upsets against 33/1 Stade Francais. They showed great compusure in the game, and only won with a drop goal scored in the dying seconds. If Stade get 10 points in their next 2 games, they could well escape the group. Group winners all progress to the next round, along with the 2 best runners-up. Take a look at the current teams lying 2nd in their group, and only Stade and Leicester have 2 seemingly simple fixtures.
SkyBet have a market for the Winning Nation, although the odds are fairly prohibitive. Ireland are the 15/8 favourites, with England available at 2/1 and France at 9/4. Wales are the 5/1 outsiders, having been 10/1 in October.
Recommendation:
1pt 33/1 Stade Francais
Heineken Cup Winning Nation Betting
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