After making a perfect start last week the Sharks face a stiff test in Round 2 of the United Rugby Championship when they host defending champions Leinster in Durban on Saturday
Sharks vs Leinster, Saturday 3rd October, Durban, KO 18:30 (South African time)
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU), Jonathan Lottering (SARU)
TMO: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Weather Forecast – Durban
Sharks:
The Sharks opened up at -12.5 points for their opening match at home to the Ospreys last week. That shortened to -10.5 but all minus backers were in the money as the Sharks came out on top 41-24 (Half Time 28-14). Hatton, Manu Tshituka, Giliomee (twice) and Bester ran in 5 tries for the Sharks, Moto landed 4 conversions and 2 penalties, and the Sharks are on the board as 1 of 5 teams who earned a bonus point win in Round 1.
After this the Sharks visit the Stormers and in Rounds 4 and 5 they will be overseas to take on Cardiff and then Munster. In the outright betting to win the URC title Hollywoodbets have the Sharks priced up as 22/1 shots
Leinster:
Leinster began the defence of the title they won last season against the Lions in Johannesburg last week. The betting opened up with Leinster as 6.5 point favourites but by kick off they were (+) 3.5 point underdogs on the main handicap line and they lost the game 27-26. Fintan Gunne scored a hat trick of first half tries for Leinster who led 19-17 at the break but the Lions came on strong and it needed a fourth try late on from Stephen Smyth for Leinster to earn a second bonus point as an additional consolation.
Last season Leinster put the Bulls away 36-7 in a Dublin final. They also beat the Stormers in the semi-finals and the Lions in the quarters whilst in the regular season they beat the Sharks 31-5 in Dublin.
In the outright betting to retain the URC title Hollywoodbets have Leinster topping the boards at 16/10.
Line Ups:
Sharks: 15 Luan Giliomee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Lili Bester, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Manu Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Esethu Mnebelele, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 23 Ethan Hooker
Leinster: 15 Todd Lawlor, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Caspar Gabriel, 9 Fintan Gunne, 8 Josh Ericson, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Alan Spicer, 4 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Rónan Kelleher (captain), 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Alex Usanov, 18 Niall Smyth, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Diarmuid Mangan, 21 Oliver Coffey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Hugo McLaughlin
The Betting,
Average early show
Sharks +6.5 points at 9/10
Leinster -6.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Bets:
Tips, more news and betting angles for the URC matches will be available on Brent Graham's betting blog which is available here.
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.
