The United Rugby Championship continues this weekend and we take a look at the 4 matches involving South African teams from a betting angle.

 

 

 

Let’s start with a look at the Outright Betting where Leinster remain firm favourites at 4/6 despite only scraping past the Dragons 7-6 in a low scoring encounter last Sunday. Their Irish rivals, Munster are 7/2 with Ulster 15/2 and you can get 16/1 and better the balance.

Click here for United Rugby Championship Outright Betting

FRIDAY

 

OSPREYS v SHARKS

The Ospreys have beaten Welsh opposition in their opening victory, a 4 point win over the Dragons away in Round 1 followed by another 4 point win over Cardiff at home last weekend.

The Sharks are still looking for their first win after been soundly put away 35-24 by Glasgow last week. That score line doesn’t reflect the dominance of the home side who led 26-7 at half-time and in the opening round the Sharks lost 42-17 to Munster on the road.

BETTING – Click here to bet

Ospreys 2/9

Draw 30/1

Sharks 4/1

Handicap: Ospreys (-10.5) at 9/10, Sharks (+10.5) at 9/10

Suggested Bet: Handicap, Sharks (+10.5) at 9/10

The Ospreys don’t strike me as a side that is going to really put opposition away and the Sharks have picked a side which looks well capable of beating the handicap.

 

SATURDAY

 

GLASGOW v LIONS

Glasgow raced into a 21-0 lead against the Sharks at home last week eventually winning 35-24 to beat the handicap of (-8.5). They were beaten in their opening match of the Tournament losing 35-29 to Ulster on the road, but the game was certainly in the balance right until the end.

The Lions are still the only South African side to win in the Tournament and they beat Zebre 38-26 in Week 1 having been 35-0 up at the break. They came down to earth last week against the Scarlets where despite been backed from (+14.5) to (+10.5) they were beaten by 23 points.

BETTING – Click here to bet

Glasgow 1/7

Draw 40/1

Lions 11/2

Handicap: Glasgow (-13.5) at 9/10, Lions (+13.5) at 9/10

Suggested Bet: Glasgow (-13.5) at 9/10

I really like the type of rugby this Glasgow side play and I think they are going to tear the Lions apart and can win this game comfortably.

 

EDINBURGH v STORMERS

Edinburgh got off to a winning start with a 4 point home win over Scarlets in their opening round, but they were disappointing last week when they went down 28-27 away at Benetton losing the match to a last minute drop goal.

The Stormers turned in probably the best half of rugby from a South African side so far this season when they led Munster 15-7 at half-time last Saturday. Munster’s bench made all the difference though and they stormed back to win 34-18, although the Stormers supporters that backed the handicap of (+23.5) at least made a profit. The week before the Stormers had led Benetton, but lost 22-18, a match they would have been disappointed not to win.

BETTING – Click here to bet

Edinburgh 1/4

Draw 28/1

Stormers 33/10

Handicap: Edinburgh (-9.5) at 9/10, Stormers (+9.5) at 9/10

Suggested Bet: Handicap, Stormers (+9.5) at 9/10

The Stormers have been the pick of the South African sides for me so far and if they can reproduce their first half display against Munster they should beat this handicap.

 

CARDIFF v BULLS

Cardiff were popular winners on the handicap in their opening week beating Connacht 33-21 at home having started (-6.5) and been fairly well backed. They were then beaten 18-14 by the Ospreys where they outscored their opponents by 2 tries to nil.

Much was expected of the Bulls heading into this Tournament, but they are really battling and despite being well backed last week they were hammered 34-7 at Connacht. The week before they found Leinster far too strong losing by 28 points and worryingly they scored just 1 try in their opening 2 games.

                                                                                                                                                   

BETTING – Click here to bet

Cardiff 7/20

Draw 25/1

Bulls 5/2

Handicap: Cardiff (-7.5) at 9/10, Bulls (+7.5) at 9/10

Suggested Bet: Handicap, Cardiff (-7.5) at 9/10

Cardiff are a side well capable of tearing the opposition apart and the Bulls morale must be pretty low after a disappointing outing in their first two games.

 

Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change