- Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues, <42.5 points (5/6)
- Edinburgh win 1-5 points (9/2)
- Ulster HT/FT v Glasgow (2/5)
Had Angus O’Brien not spared Scarlets’ blushes against Zebre on Sunday night, the Welsh regions would have been reliant on Cardiff Blues winning at Edinburgh to avoid a second consecutive blank weekend in the Guinness PRO14.
As it was, the manner of the 18-17 win at Parc y Scarlets made it feel more like a defeat than a victory.
The sad truth is that it looks like it might get worse before it gets better for Welsh regional rugby fans, as the Blues come up against an Edinburgh side rejuvenated by their first win of the season.
Okay, their 6-3 win against 14-man Scarlets was nothing to write home about but while their season looks to be finally heading in the right direction, the Blues’ is going the other way with back-to-back defeats to Munster and Ulster.
PRO14 matches played during the international windows are often low-key, low-thrills affairs and the Unders market of 42.5 points (5/6) looks decent as both teams have been hit hard by Test call-ups and will struggle to find any attacking rhythm.
10-sion!
Jason Tovey gets a rare start at 10 for Blues against his former club as Jarrod Evans is ruled out with a minor leg injury. Tovey needs 10 points to become the fourth player in PRO14 history to get to 1,000 points.
If he gets over the line, then it should coincide with a Blues victory as this fixture is typically low-scoring. In the last five meetings, the aggregate score has been 36 points or less, Edinburgh winning the last encounter 14-8. Blues scored seven points in their last outing to Edinburgh’s six.
Blues do have a decent record at Murrayfield, winning on five out of their last seven visits to Scottish Rugby’s HQ, but that stat alone isn’t enough to warrant backing them at +5 on the handicap. Edinburgh are 10/11 to cover that although our preference is for a home win by 1-5 points (9/2).
Doubling up
Ulster, with the likes of John Cooney running the show at No.9, look a banker to beat Glasgow in the other Monday night fixture.
Glasgow haven’t won in Belfast since September 2013 and travel to Northern Ireland with a callow-looking squad.
Ulster at HT/FT is 2/5.
