The Lions host the Sharks in a United Rugby Championship catch up game in Johannesburg on Saturday, an opportunity for either side to move into the play off spots.
Lions v Sharks, Saturday 21st February, Johannesburg, KO 14:00 (South African time)
Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Zoe Naude (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Weather Forecast - Johannesburg
Lions:
The Lions most recent URC outing came at home to the Bulls at the end of January and they crashed and burned in a 52-17 defeat.
That leaves the Lions with a record of 4 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats and with 24 points they have slipped down to 10th position, level on points with the Sharks, 1 point behind the Bulls and the Stormers remain the top SA side in third spot with 36 points. The Lions do have this game in hand over a number of other play off contenders from Europe.
In earlier SA derby matches the Lions turned the Bulls over (43-33) at Loftus they went down to the Stormers (34-27) in Cape Town and they edged out the Sharks (23-22) in Durban.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Lions are 150/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Sharks:
The Sharks have an identical W/D/L record to the Lions and are ninth on the log, also with 24 points. That puts them just 1 point behind the 2 sides directly above them although there is a significant gap to bridge to the top 6.
They come into this game having completed back to back bonus point wins over the Stormers, ending their rivals 100% record with a 30-19 win in Cape Town and following up with a 36-24 win in Durban. Two other SA derby matches, both in Durban saw the Sharks beat the Bulls 21-12 and lose 23-22 to the Lions.
In terms of the SA Shield standings, the Sharks have 16 points, the Lons have 10, the Stormers have 9 and the Bulls have 7.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Sharks are 16/1 with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Eddie Davids, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Erich Cronjé
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Jurenzo Julius, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Thomas Dyer, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Phatu Ganyane
Replacements: 16, Eduan Swart, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Emile van Heerden, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Yaw Penxe
The Betting,
Updated 21 Feb 10h50
Lions -4.5
Sharks +4.5
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 20 Feb 16h10
There has been money for the Lions who opened slight underdogs but are now -4.5. I have not seen any points lines yet and bets will be posted late tonight or tomorrow morning.
You can catch the betting chat from last nights show on this match by clicking here
Overs in Joburg
Posted 21 Feb 10h53
There is some cloud about but I think conditions will be good for this one. I expect the teams to take 3 pointers and that keeps the scoreboard ticking and the over 51.5 in striking distance when the game hopefully opens up.
BET: 2 units over 51.5 points at 0.89/1 at Pokerbet
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