The first of this weekend’s Champions Cup fixtures pits four-time winners Leinster up against a Northampton Saints side that is looking to claim their first title in half a century.
The hosts for Saturday’s encounter come into this one as heavy favourites but will need to be wary of a Saints outfit that has really impressed in Europe this term.
Leinster v Northampton | Saturday 3 May | Aviva Stadium
To Win (80 Mins)
1/33 Leinster | Draw 58/1 | Northampton 10/1
The Irish outfit will be looking to have fallen at the final hurdle for the last three seasons running, going down to La Rochelle in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons and Toulouse last term.
Standing in their way of a fourth straight final appearance is a Saints side that last made a final back in the 2010/11 campaign.
These two sides have enjoyed solid runs to the semi-finals with Leinster winning all four of their pool games on the way to topping Pool 2, while Northampton suffered just one defeat – a 45-35 away day loss to Stade Francais – on the way to topping Pool 3.
The duo certainly haven’t taken the gas off the pedal in the knock-out phase either with Saturday’s hosts recording a 62-0 victory over Harlequins in the Round of 16 and then a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the quarter-finals, while the visitors beat Clermont 46-24 in the Round of 16 and Castres 51-16 in the quarters.
Looking at those aforementioned results and it’s evident that the Irish outfit have a very good defence. Not only are they yet to concede in the knock-out phase of this year’s tournament but they were also miserly in the Pool phase conceding just 54 points over 320 minutes of rugby.
Leinster’s defence is likely to be far more tested in this one, however, as the Saints know their way to the try line with Northampton’s finest averaging just under 35 points per game during the pool phase and over 48 points per game in the knockout phase.
There are some intriguing battles brewing for Saturday’s clash, with the one to keep an eye on being the battle between the back rows.
Leinster boast a loose trio packed with international experience, while Leinster have two aces up their sleeve with young gun Henry Pollock one of the standout players of this campaign and South African Juarno Augustus firing as well.
Speaking of the players, and the news coming out of the Leinster camp is that Jordie Barrett and Andrew Porter are likely to be used off the bench, while RG Snyman has recovered from an arm injury and is ready to go.
For the Saints, England international George Furbank has been ruled out with another arm injury, while Fraser Dingwall looks to have passed HIA protocols after taking a knock against the Bristol Bears this past weekend.
Verdict: Leinster (-21.5) 19/20
While I reckon the Saints will put on a solid display in the first half, I cannot see them keeping pace with this Leinster team, who have their own ‘bomb squad’ of a bench. For the adventurous out there, a half-time/full-time double of Northampton/Leinster may be worth a very small investment.
