Toulouse walked away with the European Champions Cup, the top prize in club rugby, last season and the challenge from France is expected to be strong again as the tournament prepares to make its triumphant return this week.
Toulouse are the 11/4 favourites to retain their title and this competition does have a history of back-to-back winners with Leicester, Leinster, Saracens and Toulon all successfully retaining their crown this millennium.
Les Toulousains boast a squad packed full of talent and they should make a winning start to their campaign when they face a severely depleted Cardiff side on Saturday, with qualification for the knockout rounds looking a foregone conclusion having been also paired with an underperforming Wasps team.
However, that’s as straightforward as life in this season’s Champions Cup may get for Toulouse, with pretenders from England and Ireland also eyeing up the throne.
Tigers Can Show Their Claws
Leicester are looking to re-establish themselves as one of the top teams in English rugby after far too long in the wilderness and sit atop the Premiership standings with nine wins from as many matches. They are 20/1 to claim a fifth European title this season but will need to hit the ground running when they make the trip to Bordeaux on Saturday.
Bordeaux occupy first place in the Top 14 with nine wins from their first 12 matches and are 10/23 favourites to inflict a first defeat of the season on the Tigers. Bordeaux fly-half Matthieu Jalibert finished as the top points scorer (72) in last season’s Champions Cup and they have proven tough to beat at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, winning 11 of the last 12.
However, while the Girondists boast a good squad, it’s not as formidable as some of their French counterparts and a gritty Leicester side are worth backing with a 4.5-point start on the handicap at 10/11. The Tigers performed well in Europe last year, reaching the Challenge Cup final, and there’s a feelgood factor around Steve Borthwick’s side right now after their strong start domestically and the news of Handre Pollard’s signing for next season.
Exeter Won’t Have it Easy
Saturday’s other Angelo-French clash pits 2020 champions Exeter against reigning Challenge Cup holders Montpellier. The Chiefs had produced a mixed bag of results in the Premiership this season but did lay down a marker last time out when beating Saracens at home.
Exeter are very tough to beat at Sandy Park – they haven’t lost a home Champions Cup pool game since 2018 – and are well fancied to see off Montpellier. The Chiefs are the favourites from the English contingent to take the title at 15/2 and while they should make a winning start to their campaign, Montpellier shouldn’t be underestimated.
Philippe Saint-André’s men are third in the Top 14, rattling off five straight wins, and boast an excellent squad bolstered by a few notable South Africa internationals in Pollard, Cobus Reinach and Paul Willemse. French teams don’t traditionally travel well but to make them 19.5 point underdogs seems slightly disrespectful and they are worth chancing at 20/23 to cover the handicap.
Mixed Fortunes for Irish Duo
Leinster are second favourites in the betting for this year’s Champions Cup at 10/3 and should go far again having made it to the semi-finals last season. The Dublin outfit remain largely peerless in Ireland and should have no issues getting off the mark in Europe by defeating Bath.
It has been a dreadful season so far for Bath, who sit bottom of the Premiership after losing nine out of nine. They don’t tend to enjoy facing Leinster either, losing nine of their previous 11 encounters and a huge home win is expected with the hosts favoured by 32.5 points.
Perhaps Bath can draw some inspiration from Ulster, who recently won at Leinster in the United Rugby Championships just last month. The Ulstermen have started the domestic campaign well with five wins from seven and could hand a debut to Springbok star Duane Vermeulen when they face Clermont.
The French outfit are coached by former Ulster boss Jono Gibbes, who has seen his side make an average start to the Top 14 season with six wins and six draws. Gibbes has a talented squad at his disposal, including last year’s top Champions Cup tryscorer Kotaro Matsushima, and will put a tight Ulster defence to the test.
The away side has never won this fixture in six previous meetings, while Ulster haven’t won in France since 2016, and they will be hard-pressed to change their ways on Saturday.
*All odds correct at time of writing