- Saints to score more than 0.5 tries in each half v Leinster (2/1, Paddy Power)
- Sale Sharks -7 on the h'cap at home to Edinburgh (10/11, widely available)
- Ulster to beat Gloucester at Kingsholm (1/2, Bet 365)
All eyes will be on the two opposing 10s when Leinster take on Northampton Saints at the RDS Arena.
Harry Byrne is preferred over his brother Ross at fly-half and gets his first European start for Leinster, while George Furbank switches from his usual position at full-back into the main playmaking role for the visitors.
Furbank has been talked up of late by England boss Eddie Jones as a possible fly-half moving froward and it’ll be interesting to see how he goes in what is only his second-ever outing there.
Even with such a rookie half-back partnership of Tom James and Furbank, Saints should be good enough to score some points in what has typically been a high-scoring match in recent years.
Admittedly most of those points have gone to the Dubliners, but Saints’ matchday 23 isn’t as experimental as was predicted earlier in the week and that has resulted in the bookies slashing their handicap from +42 to +32.
Now that the value has gone there, we recommend Saints to get at least one try in each half, which is a 2/1 shot with Paddy Power.
Yellow peril
Munster are unbeaten this season but this weekend’s test will be unlike anything that has come before.
Clermont Auvergne were on fire at Bristol last weekend, racing into a 21-0 lead before putting a half-century of points on Pat Lam’s side.
If Les Jaunards can come anywhere close to that sort of form and can eradicate some of the defensive lapses which saw Bristol also bag a bonus point for tries scored, then the nine-point handicap against them should be overcome fairly easily.
Sharks back to rediscover their bite
With just two wins from seven matches, Edinburgh travel to Sale Sharks decidedly off colour.
Edinburgh’s best hope is that the Sharks shoot themselves in the foot by handing Scotland new boy, Jaco van der Walt, plenty of shots at goal.
The Sharks have given away far too many penalties for their liking this season and that has stymied their best efforts in attack thus far.
Nine tries in four outings is below-par for a side that possesses such attacking talents as Denny Solomona and Marland Yarde. But we reckon Saturday will be the day when it all comes together.
Burns back to haunt Glos
Our final pick is for Ulster to beat Gloucester, at odds of 1/2.
But for a few bad bounces of the ball going against them, Ulster could easily have beaten a very good Toulouse side, and they should be too strong for the Cherry & Whites who are adjusting to life without Danny Cipriani.
At the end of the day, Ulster – and their captain and former Gloucester player Billy Burns – will want this one more.
