The Sharks final match in Pool 1 of the European Challenge Cup comes away to the Dragons in Newport on Sunday, the visitors top the log but may still need something from the game to stay there.
Dragons v Sharks, Sunday 21st January, Newport, KO 19:30 (South African time)
Referee: Adrien Marbot (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Benoit Rousselet (Fra) , Thomas Chereque (Fra)
TMO: Julien Castaignede (Fra)
Weather Forecast - Newport
Dragons:
This the final match of Round 4 so by kick off time both sides will have a clear idea of what is needed to not only qualify for the Round of 116 but also to secure a home draw.
Coming into the the final round of matches the Sharks top Pool 1 with 12 points and the Cheetahs have 9. Zebre Parma and Section Paloise both have 8, the Dragons have 7 and Oyonnax have fallen out of contention with 1 point.
The Dragons began with a 24-7 home win over Oyonnax before they went down 24-21 away to Section Paloise. In Round 3 they also lost narrowly away to Zebre Parma.
The Dragons were in Durban for a URC Round 6 for a clash with the Sharks as recently as the 25th November and they conceded 10 tries and crashing to a 69-14 defeat. The Dragons are second bottom in the URC standings with a record of 2 wins and 7 defeats.
Sharks:
The Sharks hit the top of the pool standings with a comfortable 38-7 home win over Oyonnax in Round 3, picking up a bonus point along the way.
The Sharks started their Challenge Cup campaign with a 45-5 rout of Section Paloise in Durban but they couldn't follow up in the next round when they went down 32-29 in a derby clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
The Sharks URC campaign has been nothing short of disastrous with the aforementioned home win over the Dragons being their only success alongside 8 defeats and they are bottom of the standings.
Team Ne
Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Harri Ackerman, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 George Young, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Joe Westwood, 23 Ewan Rosser
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Tinotenda Mavesere, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg
The Betting
Dragons +6.5
Sharks -5.5
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
No strong feel on this game but will be interested to see point and try markets and will post a bet closer to kick off
Update 21 Jan 12h50
The points quote is 36.5 so the weather is likely going to be awful – having given this one further thought I am leaning Dragons to win. They need to win to qualify and the Sharks are basically guaranteed top spot and may not have quite the same hunger
BET: 2 units Dragons win a 5/2 at Betxchange
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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