After a cracking win in Ireland last week the Lions next United Rugby Championship assignment sees them take on the Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday

 

 

 

Ospreys v Lions, Saturday 30th March, Swansea, KO 17:05 (South African time)

 

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Tom Spurrier (Wales) and Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

 

Weather Forecast - Swansea

 

 

Ospreys:

 

The Ospreys have 6 wins and 6 defeats against their name and they finished the previous round with 30 log points. That puts them in eleventh place but its very congested either side of mid table and they do top the Welsh Shield, 2 points better off than Cardiff and they are still in the mix for a play off spot.

 

The Ospreys have lost their last 2 matches, at Edinburgh (19-15) and then at home to Munster (27-17). The Ospreys were 19-5 winners against the Sharks in Round 3, a that game was staged at Twickenham Stoop rather than Swansea.

 

After this the Ospreys will head to SA for games against the Bulls and the Stormers before they visit Leinster so its a tough run of fixtures over the next few rounds.

 

At home to South African opposition last season the Ospreys lost 28-27 at home to the Lions and drew 16-16 with the Stormers.

 

In the outright betting the Ospreys are 160/1 long shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports

 

Lions:

 

The Lions put in a terrific shift to come away from Galway with a 38-14 bonus point win over Connacht in Round 12.

 

They finished the with a record of 6 wins and 6 defeats for 34 log points which puts them in eighth place.

 

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 in Wales at the Scarlets 24-23). In Round 7 the Lions thrashed the Dragons 49-24 in Joburg,

 

In the outright betting the Lions are 70/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports

 

Team News

 

Ospreys:15 Jack Walsh, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 James Ratti, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas

 

Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Max Nagy, 23 Keiran Williams

 

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 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 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dryer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Stean Pienaar

 

 

The Betting,

 

Ospreys -1.5 points at 9/10

Lions +1.5 points at 9/10

 

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

 

Betting Angle

 

The Lions were impressive last week, but The Ospreys have also turned in some good performances of their own this season. I am undecided on the match result and handicap, although if pushed would be leaning towards Ospreys -1.5. My focus for this game is going to be on the points lines and I will be back with my bet once we have some points from the bookmakers.

 

Update 09h43 30 March

The points line is 46.5 and although there is a slight chance of showers that is enough for me to get on the overs. The Lions play an expansive game and I think we could have end to end action.

 

BET: 4 units over 46.5 points at 0.93/1 at Betxchange

 

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

 

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