Like football’s Champions League, rugby union’s Heineken Cup is the prize that every player wants to win. Here you have the best teams from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy going head-to-head and providing us punters with a season-long string of betting possibilities.

The fiercely competitive nature of the Heineken Cup is reflected by the fact that we’ve had different winners in the past four seasons. You can therefore guarantee that the outright betting will be wide open, with bookmakers struggling to agree on how teams should be priced up.

Although, the 2007 final was an all-English affair with Wasps comfortably beating Leicester, previous recent finals have had a strong French influence. Until recently, Toulouse appeared to have sussed this competition out, with victories in 2003 and 2005 sandwiching a runner-up spot in 2004. Biarritz, Stade Francais and Perpignan have also featured in finals since the turn of the century, so ignore French teams at your peril. Especially given how strong the national team currently are!

Many Heineken Cup matches are particularly difficult betting propositions, with bookmakers regularly taking more money on the home-draw-away market than on the handicap. Between 2000-2006, there was no more than seven points separating the victor from the runner-up, something to bear in mind when having a bet on the final.