The first of Saturday's matches in the United Rugby Championship offers the Sharks the opportunity to bolster their place in the top 4 when they host Zebre in Durban
Sharks v Zebre, Saturday 22nd March, Durban, KO 14:45 (South African time)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Christopher Allison South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Weather Forecast – Durban
Sharks:
With 6 rounds of the regular URC season remaining the Sharks are in fourth spot with a record of 8 wins and 4 defeats for 39 log points. They are 2 points behind the third placed Bulls and 5 shy of Glasgow Warriors whilst log leaders Leinster are over the hill and faraway. Looking down fifth placed Munster are 6 points further back so the Sharks have some breathing space over the chasers.
The Sharks wrapped up top spot in the SA Shield after a string of SA derby matches in recent weeks. They edged out the Lions 25-22 in Durban in their previous outing, some revenge 38-14 defeat to the same opponent in Joburg a week earlier.
One earlier match against Italian opposition this season saw the Sharks go down 38-10 away to Benetton in Round 4. After this the Sharks host Leinster before they switch focus to the Challenge Cup and a visit to Lyon. The rest of the URC regular season sees the Sharks remain in Europe for trips to Edinburgh and Ulster before returning to Durban for games against the Ospreys and the Scarlets.
In the outright betting they are 10/1 to win the URC title with WSB.
Zebre:
Zebre have only the Dragons below them in the current standings although their record of 5 wins and 7 defeats for 25 log points means they are only 4 shy of the 8th placed Lions.
In Rounds 10-12 Zebre reeled off 3 straight wins, getting the better of Ulster (15-14) in Belfast, they won in Edinburgh (22-17) and at home to the Dragons (31-21).
In earlier matches against SA opposition they lost at home to the Stormers (36-5) in Round 3 and in Round 5 another fixture against the Lions saw them edged out 10-9. They also lost a Challenge Cup pool game against the Cheetahs which was staged in Amsterdam in January (22-18). After this Zebre take on the Bulls at Loftus.
Team News
Sharks: tbc
Zebre: tbc
The Betting,
Updated 19 March 10h02
Sharks -22.5 points at 9/10
Zebre +22.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
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Posted 19 March 10h10
I priced this as Sharks -14.5 in my Sunday forum exercise but when it opened -21.5 I had a rethink and suspect the bookies are right and I was wrong. I will wait for team news and points lines before betting.
Bet: to follow
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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