After suffering a first defeat of the United Rugby Championship season last weekend the Stormers bid to bounce back when they take on Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.
Benetton v Stormers, Saturday 11th November, Trevisio, KO 17:00 (South African time)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy) and Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)
Weather Forecast – Trevisio
Benetton:
Benetton finished Round 3 unbeaten with 2 wins and 1 draw and although their haul of 10 points was still only good enough for ninth spot in the standings it's worth noting the fourth placed Stormers also have the same number of points on a congested log.
In Round 3 Benetton saw off the Lions 15-10 at this venue, a margin of victory which was pretty much in line with the pre-match handicap in a scrappy game.
Benetton began with a 23-22 away win at Cardiff and in Round 2 they followed up with a 13-13 draw at home to Munster, a game they led 13-3 at one stage but the defending champions hit back late on to rescue a draw.
At home to South African opposition last season Benetton lost at home to the Bulls (44-24) and the Lions (32-28). In SA they lost at the Sharks (43-33) and the
Stormers (38-22)
Stormers:
The Stormers went into Round 3 at the top of the standings with 2 bonus point wins away to the Lions (35-33) and at home to the Scarlets (52-7). However they were unable to add to their tally in their first tour match at Glasgow Warriors in Round 3 when they went down 20-9. The Stormers were down to 13 men at one stage in the first half after a couple of yellow cards and the second half saw neither side able to add to the scoreboard and the Warriors covered a pre-match handicap of around 7.5 points.
As far as last season's form against Italian opposition is concerned the Stormers won 30-27 at Zebre and 38-22 at home to Benetton.
After this the Stormers visit Munster and Cardiff. In the outright betting the Stormers are 62/10 second favourites to win the tournament with BoyleSports who make Leinster 13/20 favourites.
Team News
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Ivan Nemer.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ben Loader, 12 Ruhan Nel, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Clayton Blommetjies
The Betting
Benetton -0.5 points at 9/10
Stormers +0.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
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This handicap opened Benetton -1.5 and the money came for the Stormers who went favourite. On the back of Benetton team news which shows some internationals returning the home team have once again edged ahead as market leaders.
I like the look of this Stormers side and think that even with the home teams returning players they can do enough to win.
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BET: 4 units Stormers win at 57/50 at Boylesports*
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Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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