European Rugby Champions Cup betting tips & predictions
Best bet
Harlequins -18 vs Bayonne
Premier Sports 1, 1pm
2pts 10-11 BoyleSports
Northampton to win by 11-20 points vs Bulls
Premier Sports Rugby, 3pm
1pt 3-1 bet365
European Rugby Champions Cup preview
The second round of pool matches is often tough to judge as clubs shuffle their line-ups and form from the opening weekend can be misleading.
Harlequins chose to rest some frontline players for their trip to face Leinster last week and, as a result, were on the end of a 45-28 defeat.
However, back on their own patch a week on they make six changes, including returns for internationals Marcus Smith and Fin Baxter, for the visit of French side Bayonne, who opened their European campaign with a home defeat to the Stormers.
Quins showed their attacking strength by coming back from Dublin with a bonus point for a try and they are likely to have too much for Bayonne.
The French side are riding high in the Top 14 but they have lost four of their five away matches – the exception being a win at basement boys Perpignan – and all of those defeats came by 20 points or more.
Bayonne have rung the changes to their line-up, naming Tom Spring, usually a winger, at fly-half, and like many travelling French sides, they may not be fully invested in this clash.
In contrast to Harlequins, Bath will face a much tougher battle against a French side when they go to Toulon, who did the double over them in the pool stage three seasons ago.
Hosts Toulon are narrow favourites in a clash between two strong sides that could go to the wire.
A high seeding in the pool stage proved a big help for Northampton as they reached the final last season, and a key factor in that was picking up an away win at South African side the Bulls.
The teams meet again at Franklin’s Gardens and, after a high-octane defeat to holders Bordeaux last week, the Bulls have left most of their backline, including Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard, out of the side.
There is still a big pack to deal with and a handicap in the mid-teens looks high, although backing a travelling South African team at odds-on in a handicap market always carries a risk. Backing a Saints win by 11 to 20 points may offer better value.
In Sunday’s other games, Castres are 12-point favourites at home to Edinburgh while hosts Bristol give up 21 to Pau.
Want more top sports betting advice? Make sure you take a look at Racing Post Sport’s tips for more of the latest picks from our experts.
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