After suffering their first home defeat of the season last weekend the Bulls are firm favourites to bounce back when they host the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship at Loftus on Saturday
Bulls v Ospreys, Saturday 27th April, Pretoria, KO 15:00 (South African time)
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadzweni (South Africa) and Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
Despite starting last week's home fixture with Munster in the region of 10.5 point favourites the Bulls went down 27-22, a first defeat at Loftus this season.
The Bulls finished Round 14 in fourth spot with a record of 9 wins and 5 defeats and their tally of 46 log points is 2 fewer than Munster, 6 shy of Glasgow Warriors and 8 behind the leaders Leinster.
In earlier matches against Welsh opposition this season the Bulls thrashed the Scarlets 63-21 at Loftus in Round 1, they won 18-12 at Cardiff in Round 4 and 31-10 away to the Dragons in Round 12
In the outright betting the Bulls are now 15/2 third favourites to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Ospreys:
The Ospreys tour of SA began in Cape Town last week, they were 18.5 point underdogs for their clash with the Stormers but pulled off a big surprise with a 27-21 victory.
The Ospreys remain in seventh spot with a record of 8 wins and 6 defeats and they are 6 points adrift of the Bulls. In Round 13 the Ospreys were 36-21 winners at home to the Lions and in a Round 3 home fixture staged at Twickenham Stoop they beat the Sharks 19-5. The Ospreys are top of the Welsh Shield where they are 2 points better off than Cardiff.
In the outright betting the Ospreys are 105/1 long shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Team News
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Voster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Camereon Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (Captain), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Izak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Devon Williams
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Jack Walsh, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Morgan Morse, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 James Ratti, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Evardi Boshoff
The Betting,
Bulls -20.5 points at 9/10
Ospreys +20.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
This Bulls game has had me scratching my head a bit. The points line seems high at 61.5 but I find myself considering both a Bulls overs and Ospreys overs play as I think this will be a really open game.
In the end if I fancy points from both teams I may as well just back the match overs.
The match handicap has shifted slightly to -20.5 Bulls from -18.5 over the last 24 hours or so.
BET: 4 units over 61.5 points at 9/10 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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