The Bulls host the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship at Loftus on Saturday and opportunity for either side to strengthen their hand in the top four of the standings
Bulls v Sharks, Saturday 15th February, Pretoria, KO 17:00 (South African time)
Referee : Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Referees: Morne Ferreira & Sean Muller
TMO: Quinton Immelman
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
The Bulls have played only 9 matches so far and they are in third place with 35 log points, 2 behind Glasgow and 13 shy of Leinster who have both played 10. They have won 7 and lost 2 and in the outright betting to win the URC title they are 9/2 second favourites with WSB.
Last weekend in the only URC fixture to take place the Bulls edged out the Stormers 33-32 in Cape Town. In other A derby matches they beat the Lions 35-22 in Johannesburg but they went down 20-17 to the Sharks in Durban just before Christmas.
Sharks:
The Sharks most recent URC outing came on 25th January when they won 42-22 away to Cardiff. They have a record of 6 wins and 3 defeats and are fourth in the standings, 6 points behind the Bulls and in the outright betting they are 12/1 to win the URC title.
In earlier SA derby matches this season the Sharks beat the Bulls 20-17 in Durban before going down to the Stormers 24-20 in Cape Town. After this the Sharks will have back to back derby matches against the Lions in the first 2 Saturday's in March.
Team News
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (Captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi
Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Lappies Labuschagne, 20 Jannes Potgieter, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Francois Venter, 23 Jaco Williams
The Betting,
Update 15 Feb 07h28
Bulls -10.5 points
Sharks +10.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Click here for the Super Rugby Blog with a bet in each game
Bets on the URC games not taking place in SA are in this blog
Posted 14 Feb 07h28
The handicap opened -9.5, edged into -7.5 and is now back to -9.5 and even -10.5 Bulls with the Sharks having named their team which I thonk looks a decent one.
With conditions expected to be good at Loftus I am waiting for points lines and the Bulls team before getting involved.
Posted 15 Feb 07h32
Money still coming for the Bulls and i can no longer find a single figure handicap.
As I was dozing off last night I saw a points line of 52.5 and having predicted 56.5 on yesterdays betting show I should of bet there and then.
The line is up to 55.5 in places but there is still some 53.5 albeit at 17/20
BET: 5 units over 53.5 points at 17/20 at Sportingbet
Posted 15 Feb 09h04
At the risk of over exposure I really like Bulls over 32.5 points a bet which would of landed in their last 5 home matches against the Sharks
BET: 5 units Bulls over 32.5 points at 9/10 at Pokerbet
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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