After two home wins in the United Rugby Championship the Stormers head off on tour where their first assignment comes against the Scarlets in Llanelli on Friday.
Scarlets v Stormers, Friday 10th October, Llanelli, KO 20:45 (South African time)
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales) & Carwyn Sion (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
Scarlets:
The Scarlets scheduled Round 2 clash away to Connacht was postponed so they have played just the 1 game so far and that saw them go down 34-21 at home to Munster in the opening round.
When hosting South Africa sides last the season the Scarlets edged out the Bulls 23-22 in Round 5 but they lost at home to the Stormers 29-17 in Round 13. At the tail end of the tournament they beat the Lions 32-19 in Johannesburg before losing 12-3 to the Sharks in Durban. They reached the play offs where they fell at the first hurdle away to Leinster.
The Scarlets come into Round 3 at the bottom of the log and the only side in the competition who have yet to open their points account but they have played jus the 1 game.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Scarlets are 250/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Stormers:
The Stomers have made the most of 2 home games so far. They began with a 35-0 victory over defending champions Leinster in Round 1, picking up a bonus point. In Round 2 they took on Welsh opposition in the shape of the Ospreys and came out on top 26-10. They were 10-8 down at half time last week but turned things around in the second half. The try count finished 3-2 in the Stormers favour but there was to be no bonus point and the margin of victory was slightly greater than where the main handicap line settled. .
On tour in Europe last season the Stormers won at the Ospreys and Zebre Parma in Rounds 3 and 4 before losing at Edinburgh in Round 5. Later in the season they lost at Leinster and Ulster but won (29-17) at the Scarlets.
The Stormers finished Round 2 in second spot on the log, 1 of 3 teams with 9 points to their name and they are 1 point shy of the Bulls who set the early pace.
After this the Stormers will visit Zebre, Benetton and Munster.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are 9/1 with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams (c), 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Tristan Davies, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replancements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Archer Holz, 19 Steve Cummins, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Macs Page
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Ruhan Nel (c), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Jurie Matthee
The Betting,
Average early show
Scarlets +3.5 points at 9/10
Stormers -3.5 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.
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.