Heineken Cup Betting: Classic clashes await as the French come to town

Heineken Cup / Geoffrey Riddle / 15 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ospreys Dan Biggar in action against Leicester

"Although Clermont have been one of the most profitable teams to follow for handicap punters during 2009, the Frenchmen have an astonishing ability to get beaten on the road in this tournament. In their brief spell of dining at European rugby’s top table, Clermont have won just five of their 20 Heineken Cup away games."

Geoffrey Riddle's mouth is watering by the prospect of an almighty fixture at the Liberty Stadium - amongst many others - on a fantastic weekend of European rugby action

A Heineken Cup weekend is simply heaven for rugby punters, and over the next three days we have six live games on Sky Sports. If you've got a decent dish, you probably can get S4C and Canal+, in which case you've got another three games to add to the intoxicating mix.

It often pays best to concentrate your funds and this weekend's tastiest encounters all have a French flavour. Sunday's offering sees two giants of French rugby visit these shores. Stade Francais seem to have the trickiest assignment on paper. The Parisian dandies make a trip to the Liberty Stadium, hoping to shoot down the Ospreys, who haven't lost a Heineken Cup fixture there since December 2005. Clermont, who hail from Montferrand, quite possibly the ugliest town on the Heineken Cup beat, travel to the Georgian splendour of Bath.

The Ospreys have not been in the best form in the Magners League this season, but they got their act together just in time for the Heineken Cup with a big win over Edinburgh two weeks ago. That momentum was carried into last week's game at Leicester, where they were 26-8 ahead just before half-time. They blew that lead big time though, and a stirring Leicester fightback made the final score read 32-32. Back in the cosy confines of the Liberty Stadium, their confidence should not be so fragile, and if Clermont can't improve on their former efforts away from home, the French look up against it.

Although Clermont have been one of the most profitable teams to follow for handicap punters during 2009, the Frenchmen have an astonishing ability to get beaten on the road in this tournament. In their brief spell of dining at European rugby's top table, Clermont have won just five of their 20 Heineken Cup away games. And their victims hardly read like a who's who of European rugby with victories over Montauban, Llanelli, Swansea, Northampton and Treviso looking way short of what will be required here. Team news will be critical to all matches taking place this weekend, but on the face of it, the Ospreys probably should be something in the region of [1.55] for this assignment and there are arguments that they should be even shorter.

Bath still haven't shaken off the drugs saga that has weighed heavy on them all season, but the loss of personnel is making life hard for coach Steve Meehan. Bath aren't a side to trust inherently at the moment, but at The Rec they are pretty tough to beat. Leicester couldn't find the winners' enclosure earlier this season, and Wasps had to sweat while Bath fly-half Ryan Davies missed a last-gasp conversion to come away with a 17-15 win.

Stade have started very slowly this season, and like the Ospreys they hit form with a thumping win over Edinburgh. That was at the Stade Jean Bouin though, and the French side are easily bustled on the road - they have won just one of their last ten road games and only one of their last six in England. Four of those five defeats here were by a single-figure margin, so Bath look tailor-made for a winning margin punt. With both side's relying on free-flowing rugby, it might be one of those rare occasions this season when the total points bust high, too. In-running punters are sure to have a field day in what looks to be a close encounter.

Earlier on the Heineken Cup card, Northampton travel to the Catalan stronghold of Perpignan, while Gloucester try and rescue any pride they have got left by fronting up to the Basques in Biarritz. You'd fancy Northampton to give Perpignan a real game of it, such is the sublime form of the Saints' pack, and the distribution and vision of England centre-elect, Shane Geraghty.

Perpignan were shocked by their 9-8 defeat to Italian champions Treviso last week and back at the Stade Aime Giral, they will throw everything at Northampton. Perpignan haven't lost at home in any competition since September 2008, which is a frightening statistic for the Midlanders to overcome. If you look at Northampton's road form though, it isn't as shabby as some might think. Wins against Montpellier, Worcester and Gloucester have blended with close defeats to Wasps (twice), Sarries, Sale and London Irish. The only team to give them a thorough going over was a sublime Harlequins in January. As a result, Perpignan also look a decent winning margin wager.

Having backed Biarritz in the outright market both with the high-street layers and Betfair as a back-to-lay trade, I can't for a moment consider Gloucester to have a hope in hell down in south-west France. I make Biarritz around 14- to 15-point favourites, but with little liquidity at the time of writing I'll just have to wait and see.