The Sharks take on the Lions in Durban in the first of the South African derby matches in the URC on Saturday, the home side start as favourites but the visitors have been competitive in their earlier derby matches.
Sharks v Lions, Saturday 3rd January, Durban, KO 15:30 (South African time)
Referee: Chris Allison (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)
Weather Forecast - Durban
Sharks:
The Sharks return to URC action with an overall record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats and with the 12 log points they are thirteenth on the log.
Last time out they got the better of the Bulls 21-12 in Durban in what was their first SA derby of the tournament. Their only other win also came in a home fixture back in Round 5 when they saw off the Scarlets 29-19. One other home game saw the Sharks go down 34-26 to Ulster in Round 4.
After this the Sharks will head back overseas to take on their namesakes, Sales, in the Champions Cup before they complete the pool stage of that competition at home to Clermont a week later.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Sharks are 22/1 with Hollywoodbets
Lions:
The Lions finished Round 8 in eighth place on the log with 3 wins and 4 defeats against their name and a tally of 17 log points.
Their most recent action saw them run the Stormers close in Cape Town in Round 7 on the 20th December, eventually going down 34-27 and they picked up a losing bonus point.
A round earlier the Lions turned the Bulls over at Loftus (43-33). That was a third successive win for the Lions who came out on top in home fixtures in Rounds 3 and 4 against the Scarlets (29-18) and Ulster (49-31).
After this the Lions return to European Challenge Cup action hosting Lyon before they close that campaign away to Perpignan
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Lions are 100/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Ethan Hooker, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Manu Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Mawande Mdanda, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Nick Hatton, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Siya Masuku
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Siba Qoma, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel
The Betting,
Average early show
Sharks -6.5 points at 9/10
Lions +6.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent will be adding all his Round 9 picks on this blog
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