The Bulls host the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship at Loftus Saturday and the visitors have been foot perfect in all their SA derby matches so far this season.
Bulls v Stormers, Saturday 18th February, Pretoria, KO 17:05 (South African time)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa) & Griffon Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
The Bulls went down 37-28 away to the Scarlets in their most recent URC outing on the 27th January, a third defeat in their last 4 in this competition.
Prior to that they were given a 4.5 point handicap start for this first clash with the Stormers in Cape Town but it was not enough as they went down 37-27.
In other SA derby matches the Bulls pulled off a Round 7 win over the Sharks (40-27) at Loftus but they lost the return in Durban 47-20 in Round 11. The Bulls were 31-15 winners away to the Lions in the opening round.
The Bulls now have a URC record of 8 wins and 5 defeats and they are in fourth spot, 10 points behind the Stormers who are second and 7 points clear of the Sharks although they have played 1 game more than the KZN side.
In the outright betting to win the tournament the Bulls are 10/1 shots.
Stormers:
In their most recent URC on the 4th Feb the Stormers came away from Durban with a 46-19 bonus point win over the Sharks, scoring 6 tries to 3 to halt a 2 match losing streak from tour games in Europe.
In earlier SA derby matches this season the Stormers won 31-22 away to the Lions in Round 7 whilst in Cape Town they beat the Bulls 37-27 in Round 10 and the Lions 40-8 in Round 11.
In the URC standings the Stormers remain in second spot with a record of 9 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats and they have 50 log points, now 11 shy of Leinster.
In the outright betting to win the tournament the Stormers are 8/1 with Munster 15/2 and Leinster top the boards at 5/10
Team News
Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Harold Voster, 11 Sibusiso Nkosi, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Jacques Du Plessis, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrick Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lionel Mapoe
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
The Betting - Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Bulls -5.5 points
Stormers +5.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
On Thursday's The Handicap show @thecrowetips was confident that the Bulls would make a strong start and with two of his best bets already landed I am not going to argue. The Bulls to lead by 3 or more at the break is the call.
Bet: 4 units Bulls -2.5 points half time handicap, 9/10 with Sunbet
Sunbet, Claim your 1st deposit bonus of up to R1,000 here
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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