Heineken Cup Betting 2009-2010

Otherwise known as the European Rugby Cup when Heineken aren't weighing in with their sponsorship tuppence, is to the world of rugby union here in the northern hemisphere what the UEFA Champions League is to association football. As good as. Comprising leading club rugby teams representing six European nations – the same sextuplet that contest the Six Nations every year – the Heineken Cup is the organisational and administrative responsibility of the European Rugby Cup board. England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy – as members of the International Rugby Board (IRB) - provide regional and provincial teams to compete in both the Heineken Cup and the second tier championship, known as the European Challenge Cup. Which in itself provides a rich source of additional interest for those punters looking to indulge their Heineken Cup betting 2009-2010 passion in an online capacity.

The 2009-2010 Heineken Cup will be the 15th successive running of the premier pan-European rugby union club competition, and gets under way in October 2009. The final is pencilled in for the 22nd May 2010, and will be staged at Paris's Stade de France.

Brought kicking and screaming (and that's just the players) into existence as of 1995 by the (as then) Five Nations committee, the aim of this new European Rugby Cup was to perpetuate what was started (and then brought to an abrupt halt roughly six weeks later) by the Five/Six Nations tournament itself. And so in foster the relationships and level of competition enjoyed and experienced by the pitting of pan-European rugby union clubs. Qualification for the individual teams differ from participating country to participating country, yet the established criteria once the teams are selected remains the same; whereby 24 teams contest the initial pool stages in six pools of four clubs. All of which makes for a far reaching cross-section of Heineken Cup betting 2009-2010 markets in which to try your hand at each and every stage of the competition.

Heineken Cup Betting 2009-2010 Not Just Limited To Outright Win Markets

From an unashamed Rugby Union Betting perspective, alongside the most popular outright team to win the Heineken Cup 2009-2010 wager, there are a host of additional bets to whet the internet punter's appetite still further. Top try scorer, Teams To Reach Final, Winning Nationality, English Team To Progress Furthest, French Team To Progress Furthest, Irish Team To Progress Furthest, Scottish Team To Progress Furthest, Welsh Team To Progress Furthest, Italian Team To Progress Furthest, Cup Pools 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 Win markets and so on and so forth. Concentrating on the Heineken Cup betting 2009-2010 outright victory though, and with the lion's share of online bookmakers it's difficult to see past Toulouse to add to their hitherto impressive record. According to the plethora of virtual bookies showing an active interest in the 2009-2010 Heineken Cup, Toulouse are anything but, if you pardon the unfortunate pun. Lose that is. Sorry, a cheap shot.

Our friends over at Paddy Power, Stan James, SkyBet, Coral and Boylesports have Toulouse priced as 4 - 1 favourites to take the title next year in Paris, and admittedly it's difficult to see past them given their recent rich vein of form across rugby union competitions. Glancing at the betting odds tables provided by the internet bookies, and French teams all figure highly in this season's virtual bookmaking estimation, with Stade Francais, Biarritz and Clermont Auvergne accounting for three of the top six places. Elsewhere, and the full Heineken Cup betting 2009-2010 run-down looks a little like this;

Toulouse 4/1 favourites with Paddy Power

Munster 5/1 with Ladbrokes

Stade Francais 11/2 with Stan James

Leinster 8/1 with Coral

Biarritz 8/1 with SkyBet

Clermont 9/1 with Betfred

Leicester 10/1 with SportingBet

Ospreys 10/1 with Blue Square

London Irish 20/1 with William Hill

Perpignan 33/1 with Paddy Power

Northampton 33/1 with Ladbrokes

Cardiff Blues 33/1 with Boylesports

Llanelli Scarlets 40/1 with Bet365

Ulster 80/1 with Victor Chandler

Gloucester 100/1 with Coral

Sale 100/1 with Extrabet

Heineken Cup Team Entry Based On Most Recent Rugby Union Performances

The teams are determined based on previous form and their most recent competitive rugby union performances, and according to the country in which they challenge on all league and cup fronts, the following route to annual membership of the that particular season's play of the European Rugby Cup applies;

England: 6 teams are put forward, generated by performances in the Guinness Premiership and EDF Energy Cup.

Scotland: 2 teams are elected, based on their Magners League records of achievement.

Wales: 3 teams are accepted, again judged on their Magners League endeavours.

Ireland: 3 teams represent, dependant on their Magners League performances.

France: 6 teams are allocated a place, effective from their Top 14 Championship rankings.

Italy: 2 teams receive the nod, specifically acknowledged via their Super 10 Championship records.

The outstanding two places in that season's Heineken Cup are resolved by way of 1) which team from France, England or Italy progressed furthest in the previous season's competition and 2) The winner of a play-off between the best placed team in the Magners League and the best placed semi-finalist in the Italian's Super 10 Championship.

Toulouse Remain The Heineken Cup Betting 2009-2010 Team To Beat According To Internet Bookies

The first team to emerge victorious in the inaugural Heineken Cup year (1995-1996) was French rugby union side, Toulouse who defeated Cardiff by 21 - 18. On a purely club front Toulouse stand as the most successful of all the sides in the competition's relatively short history, having accumulated some three wins as well as being runner-up on two further occasions. Whilst nationality-wise, England have produced the most rugby union teams to have won the Heineken Cup since its inception, claiming six eventual winners as their own and having provided three runners-up, and although French sides have only two less European Rugby Cup honours in their favour, they boast a far greater record of fielding runners-up, with no fewer than eight. Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup for their first time in 2009, after beating Leicester Tigers at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium.

English teams gunning for Heineken Cup glory in 2009-2010 include last year's beaten finalists, Leicester Tigers (2), Harlequins (23), London Irish (14), Gloucester (10), Bath (5), Sale Sharks (16) and Northampton Saints (15), while from Scotland we see Edinburgh (26) and Glasgow Warriors (24). Wales provide the Ospreys (13), Cardiff Blues (8), Scarlets (18) and Newport Gwent Dragons (21), while Ireland front defending champions Leinster (3), Munster (1) and Ulster (20). France meanwhile promote Perpignan (11), Toulouse (4), Clermont (17), Stade Francais (9), Biarritz (6) and Brive (29), and Italian representation in the European Rugby Cup comes courtesy of Benetton Treviso (28) and Viadana (36). All-in-all, 79 rugby union matches will be contested between all of this season's participants. In terms of current European Rugby Club Rankings as of the start of the 2009-2010 campaign, the figures in brackets gives Heineken Cup betting fans additional clues as to the potential staying power of their picks ahead of the new season.

Pool 1 - Northampton Saints, Benetton Treviso, Munster and Perpignan

Pool 2 - Biarritz, Gloucester, Newport Gwent Dragons and Glasgow Warriors

Pool 3 - Clermont, Leicester Tigers, Ospreys and Viadana

Pool 4 - Stade Francais, Ulster, Edinburgh and Bath

Pool 5 - Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale Sharks and Harlequins

Pool 6 - Scarlets, London Irish, Leinster and Brive