After losing both their opening matches in the United Rugby Championship the Lions are badly in need of a boost when they take on Benetton in a Round 3 clash in Trevisio on Saturday
Benetton v Lions, Saturday 11th October, Trevisio, KO 16:00 (South African time)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Filipo Russo (Italy) & Luca Bisetto (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Weather Forecast -Trevisio
Benetton:
Benetton have 1 win and 1 defeat to show for their efforts so far and they have picked up 4 log points. They went down 26-15 away to Connacht in the opening round and left Galway empty handed but they put themselves on the board in Round 2 with a 16-14 home win over Glasgow Warriors. Benetton came from 14-3 down to overhaul the Warriors, sealing victory thanks to a drop goal from Rhyno Smith at the death.
At home to South African sides last season Benetton beat the Sharks 38-10 in Round 4 and lost to the Bulls 17-15 in Round 6.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Benetton are 125/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Lions:
The Lions have suffered back to back defeats in the opening rounds and have picked up just the 1 log point so far. In the opening round they went down 33-20 at Cardiff, conceding 5 tries and scoring 2. Round 2 saw the Lions take on Zebre in Parma and they hit back from 12-3 down at half time to lead 20-15 with just a couple of minutes remaining on the clock but a converted try for Zebre saw them finish beaten 22-20 and a losing bonus point will be scant consolation.
Last season the Lions lost at home to Benetton 42-31 in Round 15 which proved to be a fatal blow to their hopes of making the play offs.
After this the Lions return home for a clash with the Scarlets and in the outright betting to win the URC title the Lions are 150/1 long shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 John Bryant, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Giuliano Avaca, 23 Filippo Drago
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Jarod Cairns, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Sam Francis, 23 Manuel Rass
The Betting,
Average early show
Benetton -9.5 points at 9/10
Lions +9.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Round 3 of the URC will be available on this blog.
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