Heineken Cup Betting 2011-2012
The Heineken Cup is one of the most sought after trophies in rugby union. The competition is rugby's equivalent of the Champions League and allows the best teams in Europe to battle against each other for the highly coveted prize.
Heineken Cup betting 2011-2012 covers a vast variety of betting markets that stretch from the winners of the trophy back to the individual pool matches. There are 24 teams that compete for the Heineken Cup split into six different pools.
Leinster are the current Heineken Cup champions and they will be going all out to defend their title once the pool stage has been completed and the knock out stage starts to pick up the pace.
Heineken Cup Teams
There are 24 teams in total competing in the Heineken Cup 2011-2012. These teams are split into six different pools containing four teams each.
Pool One: Munster, Northampton Saints, Scarlets and Castres Olympique.
Pool Two: Cardiff Blues, London Irish, Edinburgh and Racing Metro 92.
Pool Three: Leinster, Bath Rugby, Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier.
Pool Four: Leicester, Clermont Auvergne, Ulster and Aironi Rugby.
Pool Five: Biarritz Olympique, Ospreys, Saracens and Benetton Treviso.
Pool Six: Toulouse, Harlequins, Gloucester Rugby and Connacht Rugby.
Format of the Heineken Cup
The format of the Heineken Cup works in a very simple way. The teams play each other home and away in the pool stage with four wins awarded for a win and two points for a draw. The format of the Heineken Cup is one of the only formats where a team can actually gain a point if they lose; a loss by less than seven points.
The format of the Heineken Cup sees the six winners of the pools progress to the quarter-final stages along with the two best performing runners up from the six groups of teams.
The format of the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, semi-finals and final work in exactly the same way as any other knock out competition with only the winner progressing each time.
Heineken Cup Favourites
Some teams thrive on the Heineken Cup because it gives them a platform on which to perform and show off. There are a few Heineken Cup favourites in the Rugby Union Betting market who are sure bets to reach at least the knock out stages of the competition.
Leinster will be one of the Heineken Cup favourites because they are the current holders of the trophy and they will be going all out to retain their title. Leinster had possibly the best balanced side last season and will be difficult to beat.
Toulouse have won the Heineken Cup a few times in the recent past and are traditionally strong in this event. Toulouse enjoy some of the most passionate support in rugby with thousands of fans travelling home and away to support the team. The French giants will be one of the strong Heineken Cup favourites.
Heineken Cup Contenders
There are only a few competitions that exist in global support that have the ability to make a supposed lesser team raise their game to new heights. The Heineken Cup is one of them. There are some Heineken Cup contenders in Heineken Cup Rugby Union Betting who have a strong chance of causing an upset.
Northampton are strong outsiders and a one of the best Heineken Cup contenders. Northampton will rely on having a solid home record and if they can stay strong at home then there is no reason why they won't go into at least the last eight.
Saracens are also going to be one of the Heineken Cup contenders because they will carry a lot of confidence into the event. Saracens beat Leicester to lift the Premiership title last season and this will give them the belief that they can beat any other team in Europe in one 80 minute match situation.
Heineken Cup Free Bets
Heineken Cup free bets are now very common because the competition has increased in stature over the last two to three years. Free Bets can be used in any way the customer sees fit but some bookmakers may only release Heineken Cup free bets for specific market such as pool winners or winners of the entire competition.