Oyonnax – Ulster

US Oyonnax and Ulster will square off in Pool 1 of the European Rugby Champions Cup, with Ulster still very much in the race for qualification ahead of this 4th group game.

The hosts are already out of the competition, losing all three games so far and only gaining 1 defensive point. It has been a season to forget for Oyonnax, which also played disastrous in the Top 14, posting 3 wins and 9 losses, including a 42-17 destruction at the hands of a mediocre Grenoble team in their last match. The roster is not bad, but this season it just isn’t working out for Oyonnax.

Ulster will not win the group, as Saracens is just too strong and far ahead, but the visitors have a good chance to finish as one of the best second placed teams and advance to the next stage. A win today would put Ulster in that select group of best placed second placed teams, while a loss will pretty much end their hopes for qualification. The Irish giants only lost to Saracens in this group, they are playing pretty well domestically and look very solid overall right now.

Bet on Oyonnax – Ulster with the highest Rugby Champions Cup odds at 1xBet.com.

Team news & lineups:

Both teams will mix it up a bit as far as the starting lineups are concerned.

Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne, 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Uwa Tawalo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Julien Blanc, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Maurie Fa’asavalu, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Fabrice Metz, 4 George Robson, 3 Marc Clerc, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Laurent Delboulbès.

Ulster: 15 Craig Gilroy, 14 Sammy Arnold, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Kyle McCall.

Ulster has the quality, the motivation and the form, so it’s very hard to argue against them ahead of this match. I believe it will be a comfortable bonus point win for the visitors. They have the best tackle success rate in the Champions Cup this season, while Oyonnax has the worst tackle success rate, so this matchup will be a big problem for the hosts – who also don’t have anything to fight for.

Expect Ulster to come out strong for the start, as they really need the win and a bonus point would be pretty important as well – so they will keep pushing to win by as many as possible. Also look for their Irish players to be extra focused due to their desire to impress ahead of the national team Six Nation selection. My tip is Ulster to win and cover the 12,5 point handicap. Odds are dropping. Prediction: US Oyonnax – Ulster 13 – 32.

Pick: Ulster -12,5
Odds: 1.91 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.28
Event date: 10 January