United Rugby Championship action returns this weekend and the Stormers face a tough task on Friday when they take on top of the table Leinster in Dublin.
Leinster v Stormers, Friday 24th March, Dublin, KO 21:35 (South African time)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Keane Davison (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Weather Forecast - Dublin
Leinster:
With 3 rounds of the regular season to go Leinster are 12 points clear of the second placed Stormers at the top of the log with Ulster a further 5 points in arrears.
With a record comprising of 15 straight wins Leinster have been on top all season and in the outright betting to win the tournament they top the boards at around 5/10. In Round 4 they beat the Sharks 54-34 in Dublin and after this they head to South Africa to face the Lions and the Bulls.
With Ireland having just completed the 6 Nations Grand Slam the Leinster team sheet will be worth looking out for.
Stormers:
The Stormers are already assured of top spot in the SA Shield and their realistic target before the play offs will be to seal the runners up spot. Their most recent matches comprised of derby wins against the Bulls and Sharks and after this they host Munster and then Benetton.
In earlier matches against Irish opposition the Stormers beat Connacht 38-15 in a Round 2 home fixture and 1 of 3 defeats this season (alongside 11 wins and 1 draw) came away to Ulster in Round 13 when they went down 35-5.
In the outright betting to win the tournament the Stormers are 15/2 joint second favourites with Munster.
Team News
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 John McKee, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Will Connors, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
The Betting - Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Leinster -5.5 points
Stormers +5.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
This handicap has moved from Leinster -15.5 to -5.5 on the back of team news with the Stormers pretty much as full strength. The depth of Leinster rugby is beyond doubt but I do believe that this Stormers side can inflict their 1st defeat of the season. I am not going to get involved on the handicap and will go for a straight win on the board - I will probably add a points bet in our forum closer to kick off
Bet: 3 units Stormers win at 37/20 at Betway*
*Please support Goodforthegame by using this link to open your Betway account - promo code GFTG
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
THE HANDICAP
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15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 John McKee, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Will Connors, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee
