Champions Cup Odds: Northampton Saints 12/1 following Bulls triumph

Northampton's crushing win over Bulls on Saturday has seen them cut to 12/1 for Champions Cup glory.

Saints ran in nine tries in another scintillating display to eliminate the South Africans and, after another thrilling weekend, joined Leinster, Toulouse and Harlequins as the last four standing.

Quins, the sole team left yet to lift the trophy, delivered a heart-stopping performance in a 42-41 thriller at Bordeaux. With drama from start to finish, Bordeaux's scrum-half Maxime Lucu missed a late conversion for victory. 

However, it was more straightforward for the other teams. Leinster avenged their previous heartache with a 40-13 victory over La Rochelle, while Northampton made the most of Bulls' travel issues to win 59-22 and Toulouse outclassed Exeter 64-26.

There is a bit of everything left in the draw, with the two English sides being the outsiders yet unpredictable enough to go all the way, while Leinster have lost the last two finals and are aiming to match Toulouse's benchmark of five European Cups.

The semi-finals take place on the opening weekend of next month, before the final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25th May.

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Leinster

Here we go again. Leinster, beaten finalists in the last two years, are two matches away from a fifth trophy. Perhaps crucially, they reached this stage by beating La Rochelle, the side who have defeated them in those two finals. 

True, they got the better of Ronan O'Gara's side in the pool stages, but knockout rugby is where it is at and they were excellent at the Aviva and subsequently been cut from 15/8 to 1/1.

There were some coming-of-age performances, with Ross Byrne brilliant at 10 as he continues to emerge from Johnny Sexton's shadow, while they also showed physicality that has been missing in the past.

Leinster will now face Northampton across town at Croke Park. They are 1/6 to win on 4th May and will feel they have nothing to fear from any of their rivals, having beaten Toulouse in last season's semis.

Toulouse

Toulouse, 7/4 favourites ahead of the weekend, look to be Leinster's biggest challenger and, while the Dubliners will take confidence from last season's meeting, the record five-time winners, most recently in 2021, may already have forgotten it.

They were incredible at times against Exeter, with Jack Willis and Francois Cros dominating the breakdown and providing a platform for those behind to enjoy themselves.

Blair Kinghorn scored two tries and kicked five conversions and a penalty, and after joining from Edinburgh in December, could prove to be the signing of the season.

With Romain Ntamack back after injury and looking to make up for missing the World Cup, coach Ugo Mola's approach when it comes to using the fly-half Kinghorn and Thomas Ramos could define his team's season. 

All have the talent to occupy different roles and with Antoine Dupont also firing, the 21/20 Les Rouge et Noir are hardly in a tough spot.

Northampton Saints

The build-up to Northampton's quarter-final with Bulls was dominated by visiting coach Jake White's frustrations at the South African team's travel arrangements, leaving 11 of his big guns at home and Saints took full advantage.

Phil Dowson's side ran in nine tries to record a 59-22 success and with them also top of the Premiership, things are looking good at Franklin's Gardens after recording their 13th win in their last 14 outings.

The excellent Fin Smith, who was perfect from the tee, again spent the evening luring the opposing defence into traps and putting his runners through the resulting gaps, while Tommy Freeman looked sharp at 13 after moving in from the wing.

Northampton's Champions Cup odds have mimicked their Premiership prices - previously outsiders, they are gradually edging in and are now 12/1.

After beating Munster in both the pool stages and the last 16, they are 4/1 to upset another Irish province and their ability to score tries in quick succession makes the 1999/2000 winners incredibly dangerous.

Harlequins

Finally, Quins, who were incredible at times in Bordeaux and will return to France to face Toulouse in their own backyard.

It is an unenviable task, but the Londoners will take great confidence from already beating a star-studded French side and, like the Saints, can pile on the points when required.

They are the 33/1 outsiders to win this tournament for the first time but were 6/1 to beat Bordeaux and may not fear the 13/2 quoted for victory at the Stadium de Toulouse on 5th May.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.