Heineken Cup Betting – Quarter Final Places Up for Grabs

Rugby Union’s Heineken Cup heads into the final round of Group Matches. The Heineken cup is the premier European Club competition, which is the equivalent of football’s Champions League. The format of the tournament goes like this. There are six groups, and the winners will naturally progress to the quarter finals. That leaves two spots up for grabs, and they will go to the two best runner’s up. There is quite a race for those second spots, which we will look at below. The points system is worth watching out for as well, as there are 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, plus 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries, and one for losing by 7 points or less. Yes, there is potential to lose and get two bonus points, but you are going to be a bit unlucky to run in four tries and lose.

Pool One: With Group One matches being played on Friday night, with both Munster and Northampton having qualified with ease, there are plenty of spots up for grabs with the round of matches on Saturday. Munster ran out comfortable winners in their clash against second placed Northampton on Friday night, securing themselves as winners of the Group. The Saints did manage to pick up a bonus point though, which moves them onto nineteen, and a potential runners-up spot.
Final Standings: Munster 24pts, Northampton 19pts, Perpignan 11, Treviso 5pts

Pool Two: French site Biarritz have already won the group convincingly, but second placed Gloucester will need to ensure that they push on and put in a high scoring game against Newport-Gwent Dragons, if they are to ensure that they can grab one of the second places up for grabs. Gloucester only just about squeezed out a victory against the Welsh side when they met earlier in the Group, and while they are having a poor season by their standards, Gloucester gained a win of huge importance over Group Two leaders Biarritz on the last match day. Gloucester can potentially end up with 17 points if they can pick up a bonus point as well as the victory.
Current Standings: Biarritz 18pts, Gloucester 12pts, Glasgow 9pts, Newport 6pts

Pool Three: There are three teams with the chance of still winning the group going into the final day. English side Leicester have a slender one point advantage at the top of the league over Ospreys and Clermont. The big clash on Saturday comes down to Ospreys v Leicester. This is a strong group and in all likelihood, one of the runner’s up spots will be filled from this pool. Clermont, level on points with Ospreys on 16, should be able to pick up the maximum five points by beating bottom side Viadana who have not recorded a single point in the competition so far. That would leave Clermont on 21 points which should be enough to secure at least second spot in the Group. The loser out of the Ospreys and Leicester clash would be demoted down into third and out of the tournament.
Current Standings: Leicester 17pts, Ospreys 16pts, Clermont 16pts, Viadana 0pts

Pool Four: Stade Francais are leading the way in this pool, with a four point lead over Irish side Ulster. They take on third placed Edinburgh, who, even with a win and bonus point, won’t get through as a runner up. Ulster, who take on Bath, are in with a shout if they can pick up maximum points. They will however still need to rely on things going their way in other groups if they are to get through as one of the two best runner’s up.
Current Standings: Stade Francais 17pts, Ulster 13pts, Edinburg 9pts, Bath 7pts

Pool Five: Toulouse have everything wrapped up nicely here as group winners, and cannot be caught. That leaves the battle for second place between Sale Sharks and Cardiff Blues, who are both on 13 points. It is those two who go head to head on Sunday in the big group clash. A win with a bonus point for either side will leave them on 18 points, and close to the threshold on being a runner up. This is one of the big clashes of the weekend, and the previous match between the two produced a classic, in which the English side won by a score of 27-26. Sale have proved to be quite potent in running in the tries in the tournament.
Current Standings: Toulouse 19pts, Sale 13pts, Cardiff 13pts, Harlequins 2pts

Pool Six: Leinster have cruised their way to the top of table, thanks to a tight defence and explosive attacking play. The play second placed London Irish on Saturday, and a good result for London Irish, could put them level on points with Leinster at the top of the league. That would probably guarantee whoever finishes second, a place in the next round. If London Irish lose though and third placed Scarlets can beat point-less Brive, then they could potentially steal second place, as long as they pick up the bonus point in their win.
Current Standings: Leinster 20pts, London Irish 15pts, Scarlets 13pts, Brive 0pts

Second Place Chase Potentials: (potential maximum points achievable by teams finishing in second position only)
Pool One: Northampton 19
Pool Two: Gloucester 17, Glasgow 14
Pool Three: Leicester 19, Ospreys 21, Clermont 21
Pool Four: Stade Francais 19, Ulster 18, Edinburgh 14
Pool Five: Sale 18, Cardiff 18
Pool Six: Leinster 22, London Irish 20, Scarlets 18

There all sorts of permutations here of course, Leicester for example, have 17 points at the top of their Pool, but could lose to Ospreys, but gain a bonus point or two, leaving them on 19, which wouldn’t be enough if Clermont win. So the four teams which can finish as highest runner’s up are Northampton, Ospreys, Clermont and Leinster. That doesn’t mean it will end up anything like that, those are just the potential points (including the bonus points) should things pan out and the teams finish in second place. So it is just a guide.

Big Weekend Heineken Cup Matches
London Irish to win: 6/4 at Sporting Bet
Draw: 22/1 at Expekt
Leinster to win: 4/6 at William Hill

Ospreys to win: 5/6 at Bwin
Draw: 20/1 at ExtraBet
Leicester to win: 5/4 at SkyBet

Sale to win: 2/1 at Stan James
Draw: 20/1 at BetFred
Toulouse to win: 1/2 at Coral

Harlequins to win: 8/13 at Totesport
Draw: 22/1 at Expekt
Cardiff Blues to win: 5/3 at Sporting Bet

Heineken Cup Outright Winner Odds
Munster – 7/2 at ExtraBet
Leinster – 4/1 at ExtraBet
Toulouse – 9/2 at Boylesports
Clermont – 6/1 at Bet365
Biarritz – 10/1 at Totesport
Stade Francais – 11/1 at Totesport