Schmidt tries to even up odds

BOOKMAKERS do not often get things wrong but if you were going to make one wager with them today it is that Joe Schmidt will not have enjoyed seeing punters paid out on a Leinster win two days before kick-off.

So high are the levels of expectation on Leinster to go out at the Millennium Stadium in this evening’s Heineken Cup final and put the hammer on Northampton Saints that the province’s coach is putting all his efforts into levelling the playing field.

Rightly so, for this is a Northampton side with nothing to lose and smarting from a domestic semi-final defeat to their arch rivals Leicester last weekend.