The Lions clash with Glasgow Warriors in United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on Saturday, the home side need a win to keep their play off hopes alive and the bookmakers odds suggest it will be a close contest.
Lions v Glasgow Warriors, Saturday 18th May, Johannesburg, KO 16:05 (South African time)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa) and Hanru Van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Weather Forecast – Johannesburg
Lions:
Emmanuel Tshituka scored 2 tries in the Lions 34-13 home win over Cardiff in Round 16 and the bonus point they landed keeps them in contention for a play off place.
The Lions are now in tenth place with a record of 8 wins and 8 defeats and they come into weekend 4 points off a play off spot with a visit to the Stormers still to come.
One earlier match against Scottish opposition saw the Lions edged out 17-16 in Edinburgh back in Round 2.
In the outright betting the Lions are 166/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Warriors:
The Warriors went down 40-34 to the Bulls at Loftus in Round 16, they were well behind on the scoreboard at one stage but rallied late on and the 2 bonus points they picked up helped them stay top of the standings.
The Warriors have a record of 12 wins and 4 defeats and all 4 of those losses came away from home. They are 1 point clear of Leinster, 2 in front of Munster and 4 clear of the Bulls and after this they finish the regular season at home to Zebre.
In earlier matches against SA opposition the Warriors beat the Stormers 20-9 in Glasgow in Round 3 and they also beat the Sharks 21-10 in another home fixture.
The Warriors are priced at 11/1 to win the URC title with BoyleSports
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Sibahle Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Jordan Hendrikse.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (C), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Angus Fraser, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Jack Dempsey, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Duncan Weir
The Betting,
Lions 9/10
Draw 25/1
Glasgow Warriors 11/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
The Lions may have got that bonus point win against Cardiff last weekend, but I was very disappointed in them, having been on the over 35.5 points as my Newsletter Best Bet – click here to see if I can bounce back this week.
The sight of them wasting time waiting for the shot clock while kicking for poles early in the match really grated me, when you get a visiting team at altitude you run them off their feet at every opportunity.
Glasgow played some good rugby against the Bulls where they found themselves well behind before rallying to get, what could be a very important losing bonus point. They will be up for this one as a victory would put them in a good position to top the log this season and in my opinion the Lions have tailed off a bit over the last few matches. I am going for the visitors to get the win and will also look at the points line currently 55.5 on the day of the match.
BET: 5 Units, Glasgow Warriors win at 11/10 at at Boylesports*
*Read why Boylesports is a must have account for rugby punters & Click Here To Open An Account @Boylesports
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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