The Lions head overseas for the next two United Rugby Championship matches, the first of which sees them take on Connacht in Galway on Saturday
Connacht v Lions, Saturday 23rd March, Galway, KO 19:15 (South African time)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Greg Morgan (Wales)
Weather Forecast - Galway
Connacht:
Connacht are just inside the play off places in seventh spot with a record of 7 wins and 4 defeats for 33 log points. They have won each of their last 3 matches, most recently 16-12 at Cardiff whilst their most recent home game delivered an eye catching 22-9 victory over Munster.
Connacht were in SA in Rounds 5 and 6 where they edged out the Sharks 13-12 and lost to the Bulls 53-27.
When Connacht hosted the Lions last season they ran out winners 43-24.
In the outright betting Connacht are priced at 36/1 to win the URC title with BoyleSports
Lions:
The Lions finished Round 11 with a record of 5 wins and 6 defeats for 29 log points which puts them in eleventh place and 3 points behind a top 8 spot. They thrashed the Sharks 40-10 in Johannesburg last time out, collecting a bonus point, and they have won 4 of their last 6 in the URC with 2 defeats coming home and away to the Bulls.
The Lions were on tour early in the season and they went down at Edinburgh (17-16), at Benetton (15-10) and Ulster (24-17) but they did win at the Scarlets 24-23).
In the outright betting the Lions are 110/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Team News
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (c), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Paul Boyle
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Stean Pienaar
The Betting,
Connacht -8.5 points at 9/10
Lions +8.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
The early Lions +11.5 was snapped up and the line is now +8.5 on the visitors.
They have picked a strong side but I have no firm view on the handicap.
My interest here will be low on total points. There were a massive 67 points in this fixture last season but conditions look poor with plenty of wind and likely some rain and the Lions are not a soft touch this season so it should be a tighter game.
BET: 3 units under 50.5 points at 9/10 at Pokerbet*
*Pokerbet are generally 1st to market with rugby points lines – click here to open an account
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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