A preview of Saturday's United Rugby Championship clash between Glasgow Warriors and the Lions including best bets with @Olimp_SA
Glasgow Warriors vs. Lions, United Rugby Championship, Saturday 9 October 16:00
Glasgow Warriors
After two rounds competition Glasgow are 6th in the standings. They have only won one of their two matches so far, but they managed to pick up two losing bonus points as well as a bonus point win last week which means they now have seven points. They look to climb higher up the table this weekend when they take on the Lions on Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors started off their tournament against Irish side Ulster in Belfast where they were quoted as massive underdogs by the bookies. They were given roughly a 14.5 points head start and did not even come close to trailing by more than 14 points in the match. Things started badly for the Scots with an early penalty try going against them, but two tries later in the first half by George Horne and Johnny Matthews meant that they had a half-time lead of 15-14. Ulster hit back hard in the second half and managed to cross the line three times before the 60 minute mark and managed to hold on for a 35-29 win despite another score for Glasgow by Jamie Dobie.
Last week Glasgow took on the Sharks for their first home game and they went into the match with a -7.5 point handicap. Early on it was already clear that the bookies missed the mark with this handicap as the Warriors ran in three tries in the opening 20 minutes. They went into half-time leading 28-10 thanks to tries by Ross Thompson, Ryan Wilson, Jamie Bhatti and Cole Forbes. Forbes added a second try to his name early in the second half and despite a spirited fight back by the Sharks that included two tries the Warriors held on for a 35-24 win.
Lions
Just like their opponents the Lions have also won one match and lost one so far, but they only managed to pick up points in their first match and are now 11th in the standings with five points. The men from Joburg started off the tournament very strongly and are still the only South African team that have a win in the tournament.
The Lions started their United Rugby Championship proceedings in Italy against Zebre. They went into this match as slight underdogs with the bookies quoting the handicap as +1.5 points for the Lions. It was an explosive start for the away team who managed to run in five tries in the first half which included a double from Rabz Maxwane which gave them a 35-0 lead at the break. Having secured a bonus point in the first half already the Lions decided to take their foot off of the gas and it nearly ended up costing them the match. They only managed to add one penalty in the second half while their opponents hit back with four tries of their own. Although they still won by a comfortable margin in the end (26-38) and covered the handicap comfortably, it was still a very disappointing fade in the second half by the Lions.
Last Friday the Lions were in Wales to take on the Scarlets and were given round about a 10.5 head start for this match. They were not able to have an explosive start like they did in their opening match and could only manage 2 penalties in the first half, while letting in two tries. They went into the second half trailing 20-6 and despite an early score from lock Ruben Schoeman they weren’t able to build any momentum to spark a comeback. Two Ulster penalties as well as two late tries meant that the Lions missed out on covering the handicap and losing the match 36-13.
Prediction
Although the Lions had a promising start to the tournament that surprised many, for me they definitely do not have what it takes to take down Glasgow. I feel like the South African teams are already at a disadvantage with all the travel they have had to do between games and that is probably why we have seen such high handicaps in a lot of the matches so far. The handicap for this match has been set at 14.5 points in favour of Glasgow which is a touch too high in my opinion.
The Lions were not very impressive last week, but Glasgow have not been winning by massive margins and if they Lions can replicate some of the rugby they played in the first half against Zebre they might just be able to cover this handicap. With the match taking place in Scotland weather could also be a factor and there is a little bit of rain forecast for Saturday which might just keep the game close.
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