Round 11 of the United Rugby Championship includes two more South African derby clashes, the first of which sees the Lions host Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday

Lions v Sharks, Saturday 2nd March, Johannesburg, KO 15:00 (South African time)

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa) and Christopher Allison (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Crous (South Africa)

Weather Forecast – Johannesburg

Lions:

The Lions went down 25-10 at home to the Bulls in the previous round 2 weeks ago whilst a round earlier they had run the same opposition close at Loftus (beaten 30-28) where they missed a late penalty which would have secured victory

Earlier the Lions came from behind to edge out the Sharks 20-18 in Durban, getting up with a late converted try. The Lions only other derby action this season came in the opening round when a late fightback at home to the Stormers came up just short and they were beaten 35-33.

The Lions finished Round 10 with 4 wins and 6 defeats for 24 log points which puts them in eleventh place and 5 points behind a top 8 spot. In the outright betting the Lions are 130/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports

Sharks:

The Sharks continue to battle with a 25-21 home defeat to the Stormers in Round 11 being the latest disappointment.

The Sharks have now lost 4 consecutive SA derby matches. They let an 18-3 lead slip in their 20-18 defeat to the Lions in a home fixture on 6^th January and prior to that they went down 16-15 to the Stormers in Cape Town at the end of December. The Sharks other United Rugby Championship derby clash came on 2^nd December and they crashed and burned 44-10 to the Bulls at Loftus.

After 10 rounds of matches the Sharks remain at the foot of the URC standings with a record of 1 win and 9 defeats for just the 10 log points. In the outright betting the Sharks are 160/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports

Team News

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Erich Cronje

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Ethan Hooker, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Grant Williams, 8 George Cronje, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bongi Mbonambi (captain), 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu       

Replacements: 16. Fez Mbatha, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khwezi Mona 19 Jeandre Labuschagne, 20 Tino Mavesere, 21 Phepsi Buthelezi, 22 Tiaan Fourie, 23 Curwin Bosch

The Betting,

Lions -2.5 points 

Sharks +3.5 points 

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

Betting Angle

This handicap has been fairly stable all week and there is definitely support for both teams. The Lions are currently -3.5 and having initially being leaning towards them, I am starting to agree with The Understaker that Sharks could turn up for this one. At the end of the day though that is irrelevant to me though as my main bet here will be over 49.5 points, a line that I simply cannot resist in Johannesburg conditions.

BET: 6 Units over 49.5 points at 9/10 at Pokerbet*

*Pokerbet are generally 1^st to market with rugby points lines – click here to open an account

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

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