Gloucester v Leicester – Round 2
A lovely evening in store for us in the west country as Gloucester will hope to pick up from last week where they played well in short bursts but in the end, Northampton proved too hard to pin back as Gloucester never had their heads in front and despite last week’s host down to 14 men for the remaining 10 minutes of the match.
Leicester arrives with a spring in their step with continued form from last season on full display as they dispatched Exeter with relative ease 34-19. Their challenge will be to bring their impressive home form and make their away showings consistently better.
Betting Angle – Round 2
Leicester landed us a tidy profit last week and will go well this season, their away form has been their Achilles heel in recent times though and it will be interesting to see how they fair here. They find themselves slight favourites and the betting looks about right.
Patchy’s Pick: Leicester look a team to follow this season but their away form needs to improve, I’m tempted to have a nibble on the 7/10 to win the match but instead will go with 4 units the under 49.5 points at 4/5 available at Hollywoodbets.
Bath vs Newcastle – Round 2
Bath have their first home game of the season and after trailing 17-3 at the break away to Sale last week they were unlucky losers failing in just a point going down 20-19.
Newcastle have one day less of rest and were caught out by some free flowing backline moves from Quin’s. It was hard work for them, and a late penalty ensured they secured a losing BP.
Betting Angle – Round 2
Bath showed some decent resolve last week and might have improved somewhat from last season. However, the jury is not quite convinced just yet. The Falcons were woeful on their travels last season winning just 2 from 9 when beating Bath and Wasps coincidently. But overall they were poor away from home.
The handicap seems well set as the season is still quite early and the Falcons will want to keep their confidence and attitude as positive as possible and getting at least a bonus point here would be viewed as a good achievement.
Patchy’s Pick: Just an interest here on the Falcons plus 7.5 with 1 unit at 17/20
Exeter v Northampton – Round 2
Exeter were taken to the sword last week by a dangerous looking Leicester side in the first half. The second half was better, but the damage had been done. Granted they were missing several key players and will have to do without them again this weekend.
Northampton have started the season a heck of a lot better than they did the last one and were decent value in their win over Gloucester. With 14 men they secured a late 4 try bonus win and in doing so placed me in the poor house as I had managed plus 7.5 in running Gloucester.
Betting Angle – Round 2
Exeter were exposed last week by Leicester and like Bristol will expect a bounce back in front of their home crowd.
Meanwhile the Saints will take plenty confidence after winning a tight affair at Sandy Park last season 12-13 and getting their season off to a decent start against Gloucester last week.
With team selections delayed it’s hard to be too confident with a pick but I do feel Exeter could still be vulnerable and don’t expect a big as improvement as Bristol are expected to.
Saints can go close here if playing to their best.
Patchy’s Pick: 3 Units Saints plus 10.5pts at 10/11 at Hollywoodbets.
Harlequins v Worcester – Round 2
Quin’s have continued their title defence in good fashion, making the trip up to Newcastle and managing a 5 point 4 try bonus point victory. Despite a few missing players it appeared business as usual as they threw the ball around in gay abandon.
Worcester managed to turn the weekend into a small profit after showing they will be a more resilient outfit this season in turning over London Irish 36-24. There is still a fair amount of improvement to come and will need to up their defence somewhat when facing some of the harder fixtures and in particular this one.
Betting Angle – Round 2
Quins will continue to throw that ball around and with the Warriors intending to be more attack orientated I think this game screams points. I also feel the improved Warriors side will be able to keep the scoreboard ticking and think they are a decent bet to stay within the cap.
Patchy’s Pick: I like the look of Worcester on the plus here, 5 units at plus 16.5 pts at 17/20 with Hollywoodbets. Sadly, no points spread at time of writing but anything over 52.5 I would be on the overs for 2 units.
Wasps v Bristol – Round 2
Wasps get their season underway in Coventry when they host a very disappointing Bristol side who were completely outplayed at home last Friday night by Sarries. Bristol will have been read the riot act and one would expect a huge improvement to come in this fixture. Wasps are an inconsistent side and could well push Bristol once again but the cap at this stage looks well placed.
Betting Angle – Round 2
Initially I was quite confident of the Bears covering this cap, however I won’t put any loot on that call, perhaps at my peril. Instead, it’s a match I’m happy to sit back and watch.
Patchy’s Pick: No pick suggested.
London Irish v Sale – Round 2
Sunday’s stand-alone fixture is at the Brentford Community Stadium where the hosts welcome Sale Sharks. The Exiles were outplayed by the Warriors last week but did produce a better second half. Their attack minded battle plan needs to be complimented by a better defence and may find themselves a little constricted by what is normally a sound Sale defence.
Sale ground out a win against Bath last week but were guilty of taking their foot off the peddle and almost allowed Bath to come back and steal it. Sale have won the last 9 fixtures both home and away and the hosts will do well to scramble a win here.
Betting Angle – Round 2
London Irish will be so desperate for a win here. And the cap has shortened from plus 4.5 to a measly plus 2.4. A stand-alone fixture with all eyes on the home side.
Sale have a good record to maintain against Irish but didn’t like the manner they switched off against Bath last week.
Slightly different take here. I feel the cap is well priced but will look to get on a better London Irish plus in running. Sale have a bad habit at times of just doing enough and if they manage to score early, I’ll look to get on the hosts.
Pre match though I’m on the unders as I’m expecting a tighter match with Irish going for a win and reining in their all-attack strategy and Sale defending. And a small plus Irish to start with.
Patchy’s Pick: Being Sunday, the markets are still quite narrow and there will be more possibly tomorrow afternoon. It could end up being an important match in the get out stakes and will be focused in running.
But for now, 2 units plus 2.5 pts at 17/20 and will look at unders at 49.5 pts or so closer to kick off with 3 Units.
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