The Lions host Ulster in the United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on Saturday and the visitors come into the game boasting a 100% record.
Lions v Ulster, Saturday 25th October, Johannesburg, KO 13:45 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), JD Jadezweni (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Weather Forecast - Johannesburg
Lions:
The Lions had to wait for their first home game of the season to open their win account. A Round 4 clash with the Scarlets in Johannesburg saw them come through with a 29-18 victory and 2 of their 4 tries came from Brandon Morne in the final 10 minutes to secure the win and a bonus point.
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.
The Lions finished Round 4 in eleventh place with 6 log points. After the international break they will be involved in a series of SA derby matches and in the outright betting to win the URC title they are 200/1 long shots with Hollywoodbets
Ulster:
Ulster landed in SA for a Round 4 clash with the Sharks in Durban last week. Despite starting as 11.5 point underdogs they came away with a 34-26 victory and with a try count of 4-3 in their favour they also chalked up a bonus point.
That leaves Ulster as one of three sides with a 100% record although they have played only 3 matches after a scheduled Round 2 clash away to Edinburgh was postponed. A 42-21 home victory over the Dragons in Round 1 saw Ulster run in 6 tries and in Round 3 they saw off the Bulls in Belfast (28-7), scoring another 4 tries to secure a bonus point.
Last season Ulster lost both tour matches in SA, at the Lions (35-22) and then the Bulls (47-21) in Rounds 2 and 3.
Ulster have 15 log points and finished the previous round in fifth place but with a game in hand on all the teams above them.
After this Ulster will host Benetton in Round 6 at the end of November before tackling a series of Irish derby matches. In the outright betting to win the URC title Ulster are 33/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Norhnager, 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 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Kelly Mpeku
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Stewart, 6 David McCann, 5 Joe Hopes, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Sam Crean
Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Werner Kok
The Betting,
Average early show
Lions +1.5 points at 9/10
Ulster -1.5 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 5 of the URC will be available on this blog.
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