Rugby Betting: Heineken Cup Round One: Wasps vs Munster

ABBA belted out the lyrics, "Money, Money, Money, It's a rich man's world" and Wasps could have the Swedes' pop-tastic voices ringing in their ears after this weekend as they give up home advantage to play Munster at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry at 5.30pm on Saturday. Munster have proved themselves past masters at eking out the road victory in the Heineken Cup and such is their pedigree in this competition that they have won seven of their last eight on their travels. That included a 21-19 victory at Welford Road in round one of last season's tournament and Leicester's lair must be one of the most difficult grounds in the world to get a result in. Quite why Wasps have moved the game to the Midlands is beyond me. I appreciate that money talks and the chance for more fans to catch a glimpse of their heroes is admirable. The reigning Heineken Cup champions however, are probably in the most difficult group in Heineken Cup history with Challenge Cup holders Clermont and Llanelli also in the section, and surely the extra gate receipts don't outweigh the positives of getting through to the knock-out stages. The last 20 minutes of their Anglo-Welsh Cup match against high-flying Gloucester last weekend apart, Ian McGeechan's squad have been playing some pretty shoddy rugby in recent weeks. Coach Shaun Edwards and McGeechan like nothing more than to prove doubters wrong but the fact remains, however, that if this match was played at Adams Park, the handicap with Stan James would be the same five-points and therefore Munster must be value. It will be difficult to tell how the former champions will react to Ireland's dreadful performance at the World Cup and many of their star performers, Ronan O'Gara in particular, will be under enormous pressure to perform. Still, Munster have proved time and again that they have the ability to come out of the block firing on all cylinders and the five-point start may be enough. In the other less glamorous ties, Treviso look to have been given a mountain of points in their match against London Irish. The Italians have the ability to make life very difficult for handicappers, purely because they score points. Last season they managed 25 against Perpignan and 22 against Castres although to be fair, they failed to register a single point against Wasps. Still, Irish have been in pretty poor form both in the Premiership and in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, and a 25-point head start in the Heineken Cup round one should be enough for the gutsy visitors. Verdict: 2pts Munster +5 @ 10/11 (Stan James); 2pts Treviso + 25 @ 10/11 (Stan James)