After chalking up a first home win of the United Rugby Championship season last weekend the Lions are favourites to go in again when they host the Scarlets in Johannesburg on Sunday
Lions v Scarlets, Suday 4th December, Johannesburg, KO 13:30 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Christopher Allison (South Africa)
TMO: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Weather Forecast – Johannesburg
Lions:
The Lions took on the Dragons last Sunday, they were 15.5 point favourites on the handicap and they won the game 33-25 with both sides scoring 3 tries.
That was the Lions first home win of the season whilst on tour they had a fine time, beating Edinburgh (22-19), they were 31-18 winners in Cardiff and they also beat the Ospreys 28-27 in Swansea.
The Lions have played 7 matches and they have 4 wins and 3 defeats to show for their efforts so far. The Lions are in seventh spot with 19 log points, 4 better off than the Sharks and 10 behind the Bulls and the Stormers (Note the Sharks have played just 6 matches, the Lions and Stormers have played 7 and the Bulls 8).
Scarlets:
The Scarlets were 13.5 point underdogs for their clash with the Stormers in Cape Town last week and they went down 36-19. The Scarlets were losing 29-7 at half time and were never really in the contest.
The Scarlets remain second bottom in the standings with 9 log points and they have 1 win, 1 draw and 6 defeats against their name. Their only win came at home to Zebre (36-12) and that draw came in a Welsh derby at home to the Ospreys, 23-23 in the opening round.
On tour last season the Scarlets lost 37-20 at the Sharks and 57-12 at the Bulls but they did boast a home win over the Lions, 36-13 early in the competition.
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Darrien Landsberg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis
Scarlets: Johnny McNicholl; Tom Rogers, Jonathan Davies (capt), Scott Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Taylor Davies, WillGriff John, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Aaron Shingler, Dan Davis, Blade Thomson.
Replacements: Shaun Evans, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Sione Kalamafoni, Tomás Lezana, Dane Blacker, Rhys Patchell, Steff Evans
The Betting - Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Lions -11.5 points at 9/10
Scarlets +11.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
The Lions performance last week was a frustrating one especially like me you were on over 34.5 points. I guess they can be forgiven for being a bit rusty after a bit of a break and hopefully they can lift the standard this week against a Scarlets side that has really struggled this season.
I am leaning towards the Lions on the handicap here, but those who followed my previews over the years know that I am more of a points punter than a handicap player and I am going to go for the Lions to make amends and score 32 or more.
BET: 5 Units Lions over 31.5 at 9/10 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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