Ulster Rugby vs Union Bordeaux-Bègles Preview
The European Rugby Champions Cup continues this week with Ulster facing Bordeaux in an important game. The Ulstermen are in an incredibly challenging group and this fixture on December 14th won’t boost morale either. Don’t miss the kick-off at 3:15 pm this Saturday.
Ulster enters this round on the back of a chastening defeat at the hands of French outfit Toulouse. Stade Toulousain wiped the floor with the URC side with 40 points between them at the final whistle. Bordeaux-Bègles are second in the France – Top 14 behind Toulouse and will have confidence on their side after demolishing Leicester last weekend. Can the team from Belfast pull off an upset in Ravenhill?
Ulster Rugby vs Union Bordeaux-Bègles Predictions
Score Prediction: Ulster 19-25 Bordeaux
While Ulster will have the much-needed support of a home crowd, they will struggle to get points on the board against Bordeaux. The French had no trouble dispatching Leicester last week and will find Belfast a tricky venue to manage. However, our rugby prediction is for Union Bordeaux-Bègles to win by six points or more.
The Northern Irish side is on a three-game slide, having picked up defeats to Cardiff, Leinster, and now Toulouse. Although the defeats in the United Rugby Championship were by seven points or fewer, the losing margin in the ERCC was enormous. Closing that gap this weekend is crucial, but we can’t see a win this weekend.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles enters Round Two of the competition with a three-game winning streak. They have only lost two games in their last ten and sit second in the Top 14. Bordeaux traded scores with Leinster last week in the first half before blowing the Premiership side out of the water. They entered halftime seven points down and came out and deserved 42-28 winners.
Ulster has struggled this season across the length of a rugby pitch. When they have lost games, the margin has been far too great for the most part, as highlighted last week. While they registered two scores equalling 14 points, they conceded 40 in the first half. A better but mediocre second half followed, forcing Ulster to travel home after a humiliating defeat.
Rugby teams often bounce back from humiliation, but we predict a victory for the home side is unlikely. Ulster has proven far too easy to play against. Defensively, they are missing solidity amongst the troops. Just look at the highlights in the last game. Toulouse was fantastic, but without the ball in hand, Ulster fell apart. They left enormous holes for the likes of Antoine Dupont to expose, and that’s not acceptable in European rugby.
If you are going to bet on the Investec ERCC this week, taking any wager on Ulster will be rewarding, but not worth the risk. The side displays all the signs of a team to avoid, thanks to the lapses in their defensive duties. This includes players making individual mistakes, a poor set-up from the coaches, and a lack of leaving everything on the pitch. Some of this may change for this fixture, but Bordeaux should find the same gaps and win this match.
Our prediction is for a much lower points tally compared to the previous rounds for both teams. That is because Ulster will tighten up and not allow a complete capitulation on home soil. They lack the same level of threat going forward that Union Bordeaux-Bègles possesses, but they should do better at holding off the French side this Saturday.
Ulster Rugby vs Union Bordeaux-Bègles Betting Tips
Betting on rugby union matches at this point in the season is always exciting. Entering the festive period means games come thick and fast and seasons change in the blink of an eye. Right now, Ulster looks like a side that needs a refresh. Whether it’s a different approach from the coaches or a change in attitude from the players, something is not right in Belfast.
Match Result
While we have been harsh on Ulster so far, we can’t help but feel sorry for them given the tough draw they have in Pool One. Playing last season’s winners and the second-best side in France is a trial by fire in what looks like a group of death. However, the odds at our online sportsbook reflect just how much of an uphill battle it will be this weekend.
Betting on Bordeaux is the most obvious option, meaning the market has poor returns. Backing Union Bordeaux-Bègles to win is worth 2/15 at Novibet. A €10 wager returns €11.30 if the visitors win. Ulster is unlikely to get a result at home with odds worth 5/1. Usually backing the home side is a good move for rugby matches, but it is probably one to avoid this weekend.
Ulster Rugby can confirm that back three player, Aaron Sexton, has left the province with immediate effect, to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program trials for 2025 🏈
Best of luck, Aaron! We wish you every success as you take on this exciting new challenge… pic.twitter.com/nM4gIH4aef
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) December 9, 2024
Handicap
Handicap betting in rugby matches is always a good option, as this market produces better returns than an outright prediction. While it is optimistic, we predict Ulster will make Union Bordeaux-Bègles work harder to achieve the result than last week. Our score prediction is for six or more points to be the winning margin, and there is a 6.5 handicap available at Novibet.
You can bet on Ulster to cover the spread in a wager worth 2/1. That results in twice the value of your stake returned as profit if they are successful. Backing Union Bordeaux-Bègles -6.5 is the more attractive option. This market is worth 4/11, yielding €13.60 from a ten-euro bet. There are plenty of other handicap markets available, each one with larger rewards if you think Bordeaux will run away with the scoring.
Winning Margin
The winning margin offers fantastic value for punters. Unsurprisingly, our online sports betting site opted for a large gap between the teams. Given Ulster’s most recent performance, it is likely the opposition will win this game, but we think it will be closer than the odds suggest.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles to win by 1 to 7 points is worth 10/3 at Novibet. This means a €10 bet will give players €43.30. The French side to win by 8 to 14 points is worth 12/5, returning €34. We are leaning towards the first option, as Ulster will want to put on a better display for the home crowd. However, you can wait until the match has begun to size up the performance before placing a wager. Live betting can help you avoid making risky wagers by watching the match unfold.
Ulster Rugby vs Union Bordeaux-Bègles Head-To-Head and Key Stats
Looking at the previous fixtures between Ulster and Bordeaux reveals a trend many of us expected. The French side has come out on top in both meetings. The first took place in October 2016 in France. There was a clear winner even though the Ulstermen led 3-10 at halftime. It finished 28-13, a poor second-half performance cost the visitors dearly.
It was a more competitive game when Ulster hosted Union Bordeaux-Bègles in January 2017. This time it finished 22-26 and Ulster was within touching distance of a shock win. However, the pressure was too much for them to handle and the French side took the win late in the day.
Ulster’s last game was worse than expected. Everyone knew that heading into this match the current champion of the ERCC, Toulouse, was the team to beat. They wasted no time in showing off their attacking prowess, humbling Ulster in the first half. While many of the scores from Toulouse were impressive, you can pin a lot of it to bad defending.
Thanks to some magical footwork from Dupont, the first try came within two minutes. Somehow, one pass and move made it a five-on-one down the right side. Ulster was exposed and the remaining players charged in, leaving even more space. When an Ulster player finally got their hands on the ball carrier, they still could not do enough to stop the try, even though contact was made more than five yards out. This was the first of many errors that did more than cost Ulster the game. These mistakes won’t go away overnight, they underline a key issue with the entire setup.
There were moments of brilliance from the Ulster players, but too few and far between. They turned it over too regularly and too easily in poor places. Ulster lost it in the lineout, in the ruck, and they did not move quickly enough to cover the gigantic gaps. They conceded nine tries, including a penalty try while the clock was in the red. Nobody is expecting anything from the Ulstermen this weekend.
Bordeaux-Bègles played Leicester at home in the previous round. The English Premiership side started strong with a score early on, but they traded blows with the hosts. Leicester picked up three tries in the first half to Bordeaux’s two and it was 14-21 at the break. The French giants came out swinging after the restart scoring three tries in the first ten minutes without reply. The game settled down before Bordeaux scored again with seven minutes left. Leicester had a consolation try with the clock in red to leave the Stade Chaban-Delmas 42-28.
