The Sharks begin their Champions Cup rugby campaign on Sunday away to a Stade Toulouse side who are one of the favourites to win the tournament this season.
Stade Toulouse v Sharks, Sunday 7th December, Toulouse, KO 17:15 (South African time)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (Eng), Simon Harding (Eng)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (Eng)
Weather Forecast – Toulouse
Stade Toulouse:
This a Pool 1 clash which will also be contested by Clermont, Saracens, Glasgow Warriors and Sale Sharks.
In the Top 14 Stade Toulouse top the log with a record of 8 wins and 3 defeats and they boast a 100% record in their home games.
After this Round 2 sees Stade Toulouse in Glasgow to take on the Warriors and in January they go to Saracens and finish up at home to Sale.
Last season Stade Toulouse won all their pool matches including a 20-8 victory over the Sharks in Durban. In the Round of 16 they saw off Sale Sharks in a home fixture and then won away at Toulon before they bowed out at the semi final stage to Bordeaux who went on to win the title.
To win the Champions Cup title this season Stade Toulouse are 5/2 joint favourites (alongside Leinster) with Hollywoodbets
Sharks:
In the URC the Sharks lost 44-17 away to Connacht in Galway las week and they have just 1 win and 1 draw (alongside 4 defeats) to show for their first matches and they are third from bottom on the log with 8 points.
After this the Sharks host Saracens in Durban in Round 2 and in January they will head to Sale before they finish up at home to Clermont.
Last season the Sharks began with a home win over Exter Chiefs but they lost their next 3 matches, at Leicester Tigers, at home to their opponents here and finally at Bordeaux. That saw the Sharks finish fifth in their pool with 5 log points, they parachuted into the Challenge Cup knockout rounds where they fell at the first hurdle with a defeat away to Lyon.
To win the Champions Cup title this season the Sharks are 50/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Teddy Thomas, 12 Kalvin Gourgues, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Paul Graou, 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Leo Banos, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Joel Merkler, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Rodrigue Neti
Replacements 16 Guillaume Cramont, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Joshua Brennan, 20 Mathis Castro-Ferreira, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Paul Costes, 23 Dimitri Delibes
Sharks: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Le Roux Malan, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Nick Hatton (captain), 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Matt Romao, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Mawande Mdanda, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Simphiwe Ngobese, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Jannes Potgieter, 20 Tinotenda Mavesere, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Phikolomzi Sobahle
The Betting,
Betting updated 07 November 11h06
Stade Toulouse -46.5 points at 9/10
Sharks +48.5.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
The handicap has explaoded from an opening quote of -26.5 Toulouse and my bets on this game and other Champions Cup action will be posted 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.