Champions Cup Final Betting Tips: Back Leinster For Glory In Marseille

Champions Cup Tips:

• Back Leinster To Win At 2/9 with Betfair
• Back La Rochelle/Leinster To Lead At Half-Time/Full-Time at 11/2 with bet365
• Back First Half To Be The Highest Scoring Half At 11/10 with William Hill

Leinster are firm favourites on betting sites to earn a fifth star at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, but with old adversaries waiting in the wings, they will know not to take anything for granted ahead of Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup decider.

Having lost out to forthcoming opponents La Rochelle in the semi-final of last year’s competition, the Irish province will have revenge on their minds this weekend.

UK bookmakers believe Leo Cullen’s men have the wherewithal to secure a first top-tier European title since 2018, but two men in the opposite corner will be hell-bent on halting them in their tracks.

Doubling up as both head coach and Director of Rugby at La Rochelle, Ronan O’Gara was the creative force behind Leinster’s arch rivals Munster for 16 years before eventually retiring from professional rugby in 2013.

His former team-mate at club and international level, Donnacha Ryan joined his backroom team staff as an assistant for the 2021/22 campaign and he will have his own personal motivation coming into a hotly-anticipated showpiece affair.

A Heineken Cup winner with Munster in 2008, he was part of a Racing 92 team that were defeated by Leinster in a rain-soaked Bilbao 10 years later.

He also featured off the bench when Racing lost to Exeter Chiefs in the 2020 Champions Cup final, and he is hoping it will be third time lucky with a French side at this stage of the competition.

La Rochelle Rated As Outsiders Ahead Of Decider

Yet - despite their last-four victory against Leinster in 2021 - the club officially known as Stade Rochelais are expected to come up short at the final hurdle for a second year in succession, according to best betting sites for rugby union.

La Rochelle were toppled in last year’s decider by fellow Top 14 outfit Toulouse who, in the process, became the first team to win the European Cup on five separate occasions.

However, the confidence that comes with being champions only got them so far when faced with the Leinster juggernaut during the penultimate rounds this season.

Thanks to tries from James Lowe (two), Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan - in addition to a combined 20 points via the boots of Jonathan Sexton and Ross Byrne - Leinster cruised to a 40-17 triumph against a side that had previously knocked out their Irish rivals Ulster and Munster.

Their form across the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup has been largely imperious, and it comes as little surprise therefore to discover that the Blues are expected to triumph in both competitions over the coming weeks.

Sticking with Saturday’s game, Betfair are offering odds of 2/9 on Leinster adding to their previous European wins in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018.

By contrast, La Rochelle are listed at 7/2 in their quest to bag a maiden Champions Cup crown.

Return Of Skelton Gives French Side Hope

While O’Gara’s troops will need to be much better than they were in their 20-13 semi-final win over Racing 92, the return to fitness of Will Skelton in time for Saturday’s game comes as a major boost for the underdogs.

A former Australian international who stands at 6’ 8”, Skelton was a thorn in the side of Leinster at his previous club Saracens and has remained a nuisance to the Blues in the colours of his current employers.

Creating a strong set-piece platform could be the key towards a successful day at the office for La Rochelle and even if victory does ultimately prove to be beyond their reach, it is more than feasible that they might find themselves in the ascendancy at some point in the action.

Lead Could Change Hands In Marseille

With bet365 there are odds of 11/2 on La Rochelle leading the game at half-time and Leinster to do so when the final whistle is sounded in Marseille.

The prospect of the direct opposite happening is rated at 12/1 with both Betfair and William Hill, which suggests that La Rochelle will need to hit the ground running in order to come away with the top prize.

Games of this magnitude often open up the longer they progress, but given how quickly Leinster have been setting out their stall in the knockout rounds of this season’s Champions Cup, an action-packed opening period is anticipated.

Scores Could Flow In The Opening Half

The odds on the first half being the highest scoring half in Saturday’s final are rated at 11/10 by William Hill and while they are also offering 8/11 on the second half being the more prolific, it could well be worth a punt on the opening 40 minutes.

In addition to being rivals on the pitch with their respective provinces, the aforementioned duo of Cullen and O’Gara were also international colleagues for a number of years.

However, they will both be eager to claim bragging rights over one another this weekend and - as a consequence - etch their names in the annals of European rugby history.