The Bulls head to Galway to take on Connacht in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday and the betting suggests it cold be a close call.

Connacht v Bulls, Saturday 30th November, Galway, KO 19:30 (South African time)

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Erskine (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)

Weather Forecast - Galway

Connacht:

Having played 6 matches Connacht are fifth in the standings with a record of 3 wins and 3 defeats and they have earned 18 log points and in the outright betting Connacht are 58/1 to win the URC title with BoyleSports.

Their first 4 matches were all pretty close including a 36-30 home win over the Sharks in Round 2 whilst more recent home games saw them go down 33-12 to Leinster and last time out they put the Dragons away 31-7.

They now take on the Bulls who beat them 53-27 at Loftus early in last season's tournament

Bulls:

The Bulls have a game in hand on the European sides and with 4 wins and 1 defeat from their first 5 outings they finished the previous round in third spot with 19 log points, 4 shy of Glasgow Warriors and 10 adrift of Leinster.

The Bulls only defeat of the season came in Round 5 when they were edged out 23-22 away to the Scarlets. Their first tour match had delivered a 29-19 win over the Ospreys and last time out they edged out Benetton 17-15 in Trevisio. One earlier match against Irish opposition this season saw the Bulls beat Ulster 47-21 at Loftus in Round 2.

In the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are 58/10 second favourites with BoyleSports who make Leinster (0.72/1) the team to beat.

Team News

Connacht: 15 Shane Jennings, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Joe Joyce (c), 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley

Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Shamus Hurley-Langton

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni.

Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 23 Stedman Gans

The Betting,

Updated 18h16 29 November

Connacht +2.5 points at 9/10

Bulls -1.5 points at 9/10

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

Betting Angle

Posted 29 November 18h16

This line opened Bulls -2.5 and there was some money for the visitors with -3.5 available in places. Following team news it is back to -2.5 Bulls and even -1.5 in places.

The points line is 48.5 and with conditions looking like being wet I am leaning unders here and this bet would have arrived in 3 of the last 4 Connacht matches and in 4 of the 5 Bulls matches this season.

BET: 3 units under 48.5 points at 10/11 at Pokerbet*

*You can open a Pokerbet Account by clicking here

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

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