Champions Cup Favourites for 2024

In two weeks, the European Champions Cup will enter the competition’s final four, semi-final stage.

Toulouse, Harlequins, Northampton, and Leinster remain. Toulouse looks to add to another Champions Cup to extend their lead atop the all-time winners. Leinster is in the hunt for their fifth title, Northampton hopes to reach their first final since 2011, and Harlequins have hopes of reaching their first-ever Champions Cup final.

One thing is for certain, the Champions Cup will be hoisted by a new team this year as back-to-back winners La Rochelle were emphatically dumped from the competition by Leinster in the quarter-final earlier this month.

But who are the bookies’ favorites to get past the semi-finals and go on to win the whole thing?

Harlequins

Unitbet – 33/1, Bet365 – 33/1, BetVictor – 25/1, Coral – 25/1

So far, the shock of the competition is Harlequins. They upset Racing 92 in the group stages of the competition in December. And in the quarter-final, they edged out Bourdeux in a close really game, and they did it without English Internationals Danny Care and Joe Marler.

Harlequins will now need to overcome five-time winners of the competition Toulouse, in Toulouse, on Sunday 5th May should they hope to reach their first-ever Champions Cup Final.

Outside of the Champions Cup, Harlequins have won 3 out of their last 5 matches in the Gallagher Premiership, where they currently sit in fourth place.

With the Champions Cup final being played on Harlequins’ doorstep this year, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there couldn’t be a better time for the side to reach their first final. But the bookies have them as the outside to actually hoist the Cup, with Leinster having been knocking on the door the past two years, it’s hard to see past them at this point.

Northampton Saints

Unibet, Bet365, Betvictor, Coral – 12/1

The Northampton Saints are in the hunt to return to the Champions Cup final for the first time since 2011, when they were defeated by the very team they face in this year’s semi-final, Leinster.

The Saints have to go to Croke Park on Saturday 4th May to face a very hungry Leinster team.

Getting past Leinster will be a challenging feat as the Irish side looks absolutely hell-bent on lifting the trophy this year after being edged out by La Rochelle the previous two years, who they overcame in the quarter-final earlier this month.

Northampton sit top of the Gallagher Premiership, a competition where they have won 4 of their last five games. It’s also a competition they hope to win for just the second time in their history, just like the Champions Cup.

However, all major bookies have the Saints at 12/1 to win the Cup this year.

Toulouse

Unibet – 11/10, Bet365 – 21/20, BetVictor – 11/10, Coral – 1/1

Toulouse has won more Champions Cup than any other team since its conception. They have won five times, just one more than Leinster, and finished second place twice. And they most recently lifted the trophy in 2021.

Toulouse will host Harlequins on Sunday 5th May for their chance to reach yet another Champions Cup Final.

The two teams faced off in the group stages of this competition in Twickenham in December, and Toulouse came out with a 47-19 win.

Outside of the Champions Cup, Toulouse has won three out of their last five Top 14 regular season games, where they currently sit second in the table.

Toulouse was absolutely outstanding during the group stages of the Champions Cup. They won all four games and scored 26 tries.

The bookies can’t seem to agree on the odds for Toulouse to win the Champions Cup, however, most sit around 11/10, with Coral offering 1/1 odds.

A French team has won the Champions Cup three years in a row. And a French team has featured in every final bar one, since the Champions Cup era took over from the Heineken Cup.

Leinster

Unibet – 11/10, Bet365 – 1/1, BetVictor – 1/1, Coral – 1/1

Leinster looks to be on a one-way track to winning the Champions Cup. The past two years have seen Leinster being edged out in the final by La Rochelle. This year, the Irish side got revenge and emphatically removed La Rochelle from the competition in the quarter-finals with a 40-13 hammering.

Leinster will host Northampton in the semi-finals on Saturday 4th May with the chance of playing in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the line.

Leinster have looked unstoppable in recent months, winning four of their last five United Rugby Championship games. They were also dominant throughout the Champions Cup group stages, winning all four of their games, scoring 17 tries, and achieving a plus 70 points difference.

Leinster will have all the confidence in the world after toppling La Rochelle, and should handle Northampton next month. And the bookies seem to agree as all major books have them as favourites to win the Champions Cup this year.