United Rugby Championship action returns this weekend and on Saturday we have a South African derby to look forward to when the Bulls take on the Lions at Loftus.
Bulls v Lions, Saturday 29th November, Pretoria, KO 14:00 (South African time)
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Sean Muller (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
The Bulls have won 3 and lost 2 of their first 5 matches which have seen them earn 14 log points and they can be found in sixth position in the standings, 6 points off a top 4 spot.
In the first two rounds it was raining tries at Loftus as the Bulls secured bonus point wins over the Ospreys (53-40) and Leinster (39-31). The next 3 games were overseas and the Bulls went down 28-7 in Ulster before edging out Connacht (28-27) in Galway. In Round 5 the Bulls went down 21-12 to the Warriors in Glasgow
After this the Bulls visit the Sharks and in the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are 5/1 second favourites with Hollywoodbets
Lions:
After losing their first 3 matches of the tournament the Lions have chalked up back to back wins and their total of 11 points sees them come into Round 6 in eighth position in the standings.
Those 2 wins both came in Johannesburg, 29-18 over the Scarlets and then 49-31 against Ulster. Three earlier matches overseas all ended in defeat. In the opening round they went down 33-20 at Cardiff, Round 2 saw them edged out 22-20 at Zebre and in Round 3 the Lions crashed to a 41-15 defeat at Benetton.
After this the Lions visit the Stormers and in the outright betting to win the URC title they are 150/1 long shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Stavino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Jj Theron, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 6 Jeandre Rudolph, 5 JF van Heerden , 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Alu Tshakweni
Replacements: 16 Jean Else; 17 Sti Sithole; 18 Mornay Smith; 19 Cobus Wiese; 20 Elrigh Louw; 21 Paul de Wet; 22 Stedman Gans; 23 Cheswill Jooste
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Franco Marai, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Gianni Lombard
The Betting,
Average early show
Bulls -12.5 points at 9/10
Lions +12.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
15% bonus on all deposits up to R30,000, 24th to 29th November at Hollywoodbets. T&C's apply
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 6 of the United Rugby Championship and the international between Wales and South Africa will be posted on this Blog.
Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.
