Bayonne vs Leinster Prediction: Visitors to put Les Ciel et Blanc to the sword

Bottom meets top at Stade Jean Dauger in Pool 3 of the European Rugby Champions Cup on Saturday, when Bayonne host Leinster. Bayonne have lost all three matches to prop up the standings with no points, and they look likely to finish in that position given fifth-placed Leicester Tigers are five points ahead of them and they have the unenviable task of taking on Leinster.

The Irish province has won all three group games to sit at the summit, three points clear of second-placed Harlequins and a further two in front of Cape Town Stormers in third. A win for Leinster will secure first place and home advantage until a possible quarter-final appearance, and it is hard to look past anything other than a comfortable victory for the visitors. Read on for my Bayonne vs Leinster predictions.

Team News

Junior Tagi comes into Bayonne's front row after the hammering at the hands of Leicester Tigers and there is a new second row with Lucas Paulos and Ewan Johnson combining. Alexandre Fischer comes in at blindside flanker and Nika Lomidze starts at No.8.

Pascal Cotet, Rob Leota,  Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, Raphael Marchesin and Manex Ariceta are the four to make way.

Jimmy O'Brien is in at full-back for Leinster, replacing Ciaran Frawley from the win over La Rochelle, while Garry Ringrose takes the place of Rieko Ioane at centre and Harry Byrne is in for Sam Prendergast at fly-half.

In the forwards, Tadhg Furlong, Ronan Kelleher and Jack Boyle are back in the front row, with Paddy McCarthy, Dan Sheehan and Tom Clarkson dropping out, while Joe McCarthy is replaced in the second row by RG Snyman and Max Deegan is preferred to Jack Conan at blindside flanker.

Bayonne vs Leinster Odds

Bayonne can be backed at 6/1 to pick up their first win of Pool 3, with the draw priced at 28/1 and Leinster overwhelming favourites at 1/9.

Leinster -17 @ 1/1

Bayonne know their chances of finishing fifth are extremely slim and they may already have one eye on their upcoming Top 14 fixtures, as they face Castres and Racing 92, both below them in the table, in two of their next three fixtures.

Les Ciel et Blanc have lost five of their last six fixtures and they have suffered some thumping defeats during that period, going down 68-14 to Harlequins, 49-17 to La Rochelle, 62-22 at Montpellier and 57-14 to Leicester last weekend.

It has been far too easy for opposition teams to cut through Bayonne, who have conceded 151 points in Pool 3 for one of the worst defensive records in the competition.

All of this spells bad news for Bayonne as they prepare for the visit of Leinster, who are eyeing a ninth straight win in this contest.

The Irish province have secured some big wins during this purple patch of form, beating Zebre 50-26, Harlequins 45-28 and Connacht 52-17.

Leinster have covered a -17 handicap in two of those huge victories and look capable of putting plenty of points on the board against their struggling hosts.

Josh van der Flier anytime tryscorer @ 5/4

There are plenty of potential tryscorers to pick from in Leinster's side and one of those is Josh van der Flier, who looks worth backing at odds against.

The 32-year-old Ireland international crossed the whitewash in the victory over La Rochelle last weekend, making it two tries in his last three appearances.

With Leinster expected to dominate this contest, scoring opportunities should be plentiful and Van der Flier can fill his boots.

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