Leinster and Stade Toulouse will contest the final of the European Champions Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday and the betting suggests there will be little between the sides
Leinster v Stade Toulouse, Saturday 25h May, Tottenham, KO 15:45 (South African time)
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
Weather Forecast – Tottenham Stadium
Leinster:
Leinster survived a late scare in their semi final match up with Northmapton Saints in Dublin, eventually coming out on top 20-17. They led 15-3 at half time and James Lowe went on to complete a hat trick of tries but the Saints fight back came up just short.
Leinster took revenge on La Rochelle who had beaten them in the 2 previous finals with a 40-13 home win in the quarter finals. They led 23-13 at half time and ran in 5 tries in total including a brace for James Lowe. A Round of 16 clash with Leicester Tigers in Dublin saw Leinster come out on top 36-22.
Leinster topped their pool with 4 wins from 4 with the Stormers, La Rochelle and Leicester the other sides to qualify.
With one round of the regular season to go Leinster are thirdd in the URC standings with a record of 12 wins and 5 defeats and they are now 2 points behind Munster and 1 shy of the second placed Bulls.
In the outright betting to win the Champions Cup Leinster are 0.92/1 favourites with BoyleSports
Toulouse:
Toulouse beat Harlequins 38-26 in a home semi final. They were in control by half time with a 31-12 lead and Antoine Dupont scored 2 of their 6 tries. Harlequins did fight back and scored 4 tries in total but they had too much ground to make up.
Toulouse had booked their semi final berth with a resounding 64-26 home win over Exeter Chiefs. It was 17-16 at half time and pretty much one way traffic thereafter with Toulouse running in 9 tries in total. In the Round of 16 Toulouse saw off Racing 92 (31-7) and they were foot perfect in the pool stage, winning all 4 matches.
In the French Top 14 Toulouse currently top the log with a record of 16 wins and 8 defeats and they are 3 points clear of Stade Francais.
Team News
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Will Connors, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Josh van der Flier
Toulouse: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Juan Cruz Mallia, 13 Paul Costes, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Jack Willis, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Richie Arnold, 20 Joshua Brennan, 21 Paul Graou, 22 Santiago Chocobares, 23 Thomas Ramos
The Betting
Leinster 10/11
Draw 22/1
Toulouse 11/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Leinster have had the edge over Toulouse in recent years, but as the betting suggests there is not much between these sides. I actually think this could be a high scoring Final and I am tempted by the over 49.5 and if I do get involved will place the bet in our Forum thread.
I am expecting this match to go down to the wire and I think that the French team will edge it. Leinster have been playing a lot of rugby with ball in hand but they don’t seem able to convert to tries as Leinster teams of old have done.
BET: 4 Units, Toulouse win at 11/10 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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