The final match of a three game United Rugby Championship tour comes against Edinburgh on Saturday and the early betting suggests it will be a close contest.
Edinburgh v Stormers, Saturday 12th October, Edinburgh, KO 18:15 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)
Weather Forecast - Edinburgh
Edinburgh:
Having played 3 rounds of matches Edinburgh are still looking for their first victory of the season. They return from a tour of South Africa which ended with a 55-21 hiding off the Lions last weekend and virtually all the damage was done in the first half with the Lions scoring 7 tries to take a 48-0 lead into the break.
In a Round 2 clash with the Bulls at Loftus they put in a much more game performance but finished on the losing side, going down 22-16. Edinburgh started their tournament at home to Leinster and they were edged out 33-31.
On their visit to South Africa last season Edinburgh lost to the Stormers 43-21 and the Sharks 23-13. At home to SA sides they beat the Lions 17-16 and the Bulls 31-23.
Having earned 3 bonus points so far Edinburgh are in fifteenth position in the early season standings.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Edinburgh are 46/1 shots with BoyleSports
Stormers:
The Stormers came away from Parma with a 35-6 win over Zebre in Round 3. They scored 4 tries to 1 to secure a bonus point including a brace for Zas and they easily covered a -8.5 point handicap.
The Stormers start to the new campaign didn't go well as they went down 37-24 to the Ospreys in Round 2. The Stormers were in the game until the closing stages but ended up leaving Bridgend empty handed, losing the try count 4-2, a disappointing outcome considering they started the match as marginal favourites with the bookmakers.
A tally of 5 log points still leaves the Stormers outside of the top 8 but remember all the SA sides have a game in hand over the rest of the teams and after this the they return home for a Round 5 clash with Munster.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are 13/1 with BoyleSports.
Team News
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Jamie Ritchie , 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Matt Currie
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane
The Betting,
Updated 11 October 09h23
Edinburgh -3.5 points at 9/10
Stormers +4.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
EDINBURGH V STORMERS
Posted 11 October 09h25
I was well off on the handicap on this game making Stormers -3.5 when in fact it is Edinburgh who are -3.5 or -4.5 favourites. My logic was that Edinburgh might be physically and more importantly mentally exhausted after their 2 match trip to South Africa.
If anything it appears the money is coming for the home side but I am happy to buck that trend and take the Stormers to win the match.
The early points line is 48.5 and with rain about I would be leaning unders but no bet yet – if this changes I will update the preview.
BET: 3 units Stormers win at 17/10 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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