The Bulls host the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship at Loftus on Saturday and in recent weeks it’s the home side who have been in the better form.
Bet 2: Points Overs
Posted 14 March 11h24
1.5 units over 55.5 points at 0.93/1 at Betxchange
The points line is 55.5 and although there is some cloud about I think conditions will be ok. I reckon this game opens up and am going to have an additional nterest on the overs.
Papier is a late withdrawal for the Bulls and the revised teams are in the preview below.
Bet: Bulls v Stormers
Posted 13 March 20h42
2 units Bulls -7.5 at 0.88/1 at Pokerbet
Money has come for the Bulls, with -8.5 now available in places, so I am going to grab some of the remaining -7.5.
The Stormers have lost their way and while improvement can be expected, the home side seem to have found their groove under the new management and could pull clear.
I will be back in the morning with further comment and possibly a bet on the points line, which is 55.5.
Full Preview Below
Bulls v Stormers, Saturday 14th March, Pretoria, KO 14:10 (South African time)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
The Bulls find themselves in eighth position with 6 wins alongside 5 defeats and with 30 log points they are 9 shy of a top 4 spot although they do have a game in hand on a number of play off rivals.
In their most recent URC action came at the end of February they thrashed the Sharks 41-12 at Loftus whilst their previous derby delivered a 52-17 win over the Lions in Johannesburg. Three earlier SA derby matches didn’y go to plan, defeats at home to the Lions (43-33) and away to the Sharks (21-12) and the Stormers (13-8).
In terms of the SA Shield standings, the Lions have wrapped up top spot with 19 points, the Sharks will be second with16, the Bulls currently have 12 and the Stormers 9.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are 13/2 shots with Hollywoodbets
Stormers:
After leading the way for much of the first part of the season the Stormers have slipped to fifth on the log and their record now comprises of 8 wins and 3 defeats for 36 log points. That puts them in range of Munster (39 points) and Cardiff (40 points), they are 5 points behind second placed Leinster and 9 behind the leaders Glasgow Warriors although they have played one game fewer than the 4 sides above them.
After reeling off 8 straight wins the stormers have lost their last 3 games, back to back derby matches against the Sharks where they went down 30-19 in Cape Town and 36-24 in Durban and most recently they went down 24-10 to the Lions in Johannesburg
Over the festive season the Stormers won back to back SA derby matches in Cape Town, against the Lions (34-27) and then the Bulls (13-8).
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are now 6/1 third favourites with Hollywoodbets with Leinster topping the boards at 19/20 and Glasgow Warriors are 4/1.
Team News
Revised Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Zak Burger, 23 Willie le Roux.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Paul de Villiers, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Wandisile Simelane
The Betting,
Average early show
Bulls -7.5 points at 9/10
Stormers +7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
To follow
Bets: To follow
Brent Graham's plays for Round 5 of Super Rugby will be available here.
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