Zurich Premiership Update

Over half of the matches in this season's Zurich Premiership have now been played, and it looks to be a two horse race to finish the regular season in first place.Leicester Tigers are in pole position, sitting eight points clear of the other clubs after securing a 28-13 win at Gloucester in Round 13. John Wells's men have proved themselves to be a formidable outfit this term, and having been knocked out of the Powergen Cup they can now concentrate on matters in the Premiership and the Heineken Cup.In the latter they have been performing superbly, especially when overcoming London Wasps in successive weekends during December. It is the same team who are their closest rivals in the Premiership too, and the Wycombe based club can be supported at a best of 4/1 to finish in first place. Their most recent game saw a 27-15 success recorded at Harlequins. Leicester are just 2/9 and the potentially crucial remaining match between the two clubs is scheduled for the final weekend of the campaign.Sale Sharks are in third place, six points behind Wasps with 37, and priced at 40/1 to top the table. The Sharks have five clubs within ten points of them and so it should be an interesting battle for the third playoff spot.Newcastle boosted their prospects with a Jonny Wilkinson inspired 30-29 win over the Sharks and are on 34 points. Bath (33), Gloucester (31), London Irish (27) and Saracens (27) are the other clubs realistically in the hunt. For all the top priority will be to secure Heineken Cup rugby for next season.The bottom of the table is even more exciting however, with four clubs separated by just two points at this stage. Harlequins are bottom on 20 points and available at 11/2 to finish in the same position, with Worcester the favourites for the drop at 1/2, despite their being one point better off than Quins.Leeds are also on 21 points and seen as 6/1 shots, with Northampton on 22 and 25/1 to finish last. Saints have begun to turn their season around after a dire few months and have now won their last two fixtures, against London Irish and Leeds.The next games in the Zurich Premiership are to be played on the weekend of 28/29/30th January.Free bets on the Rugby:VC Bet - fifty poundsBlueSquare - ten poundsBet365 - ten poundsStanleyBet - twenty five pounds