Until Clermont Auvergne’s 2007 victory, there had been six consecutive English winners of the European Challenge Cup. This provides us with at least two decent pointers for betting purposes. Firstly, that English club rugby is perhaps stronger than its British and European counterparts. Secondly, that English teams seem to fare well in the final of the competition – finalists from that six-year period included Narbonne, Pontypridd, Montferrand and Pau.

When trying to pick out the winner of the Challenge Cup, it’s well worth looking for teams who narrowly missed out on Heineken Cup qualification. This is the second-string European Cup and many teams will be looking to prove a point that they should be competing against more illustrious opposition.

It’s difficult to find too many trends with this contest, mainly because winning teams are likely to be playing Heineken Cup rugby the following season. The key is to back an emerging club who are likely to take the opposition by storm or a team well-versed in Heineken Cup rugby who have been squeezed out of qualifying on a particular season. Nevertheless, ensure you back a team who are motivated – something that can be gleaned simply from reading the coach’s comments.