Tackling the Odds: From European Rugby to Domestic Rugby

Rugby Recap

Well in case you didn’t know already, Dupont & Jamieson Gibson-Park are good at rugby! Lots of interesting games on show. Harlequins gave a spirited performance against an absolutely rampant Toulouse. Mauvaka looks out of this world good, definitely in a World XV. Northampton gave Leinster a bit of an easy run for the first 30 minutes of the other semi final. My Favourites for Europe are most certainly Toulouse – interestingly the bookies have both sides evenly matched:

Onto the 2nd tier of europe, Clermont Surprised me with a meaty performance against south Africa A side (The Sharks). The Sharks surely must be favourites to win the Challenge cup and will be desperate to bank themselves a spot in europes top tier next season. They’re up against Gloucester which will be an interesting match up. Treviso never quite got going in the other semi final – which is a real shame considering how impressive the national team were in the six nations. Safe to say the bookies are favouring The Sharks here. I have to say, I fancy Gloucester to cause an upset here however. Gloucester have not been far off in the premiership which seems a much higher standard.

The weekend ahead

Premiership

The premiership is really getting interesting and this weekend is where the run into the play-off will end for a few teams. Bath & Northampton look to be pretty much qualified with bath surely getting 5 points against newcastle this weekend. Saracens have got two tough games playing bristol away and then hosting sale next weekend. both bristol and sale have a run of top form. Harlequins are also not out of the running and will be dangerous now that they are only focusing on the premiership.

Super Rugby

Super Rugby was a real surprise last weekend. The reds did fantastically well against the crusaders. The highlanders ground out a boggy win against Moana Pacifica, not really a game to catch up on however. there are 4 more rounds to go in super rugby before the play offs so some teams towards the lower end of the table need to be making moves. I think we saw this with the australian teams such as the brumbies and the reds starting to take hold.

Top14

The Top14 continues to amaze at how strong teams are on their home patch. What you can’t tell is whether or not french teams just don’t like to travel or if losing at home is taken so seriously. That said, the top of the table is looking tight with some giants still fighting for top spot to make their play-off games ‘somewhat’ easier.

URC

The URC is also interesting with two teams still competing on both fronts. Will these teams still put out weakened teams (Leinster) despite now getting to the business end of the season where points are vital?

Predictions

In order of play:

Chiefs @1.01
Reds @1.17
Stormers @1.17
Edinburgh @1.01
Bath @1.02
Sale @1.33
Blues @1.73
Crusaders @1.36
Brumbies @1.25
Western Force @2.00
Bulls @1.13
Sharks @1.4
Ulster @1.36
Lions @1.11
Munster @1.20
Leinster @1.04
Perpignan @1.18
Castres @1.36
Racing Metro @1.20
Toulon @1.13
Pau @1.05
Bordeaux @1.36
Bristol @2.38
Northampton @1.06
Harlequins @2.10
Toulouse @1.11

In case you are not caught up on the rugby action, check out our roundup of the rugby highlights from last weekend here. Remember, we’re working in partnership with 10Bet to offer a combination of the best odds and the best new sign-up bonus for rugby union. 10Bet provide odds for all the major rugby competitions every week. Simply click the link below to benefit from a 100% sign-up bonus