The Stormers clash with the Sharks in United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday and the home side are looking for back to back wins in local derby matches.
Stormers v Bulls, Saturday 30th December, Cape Town, KO 19:00 (South African time)
Referee: AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) and Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
Stormers:
The Stormers saw off the Bulls 26-20 in Cape Town last weekend. The money came for the Bulls in the run up to the match but although they lost the try count 3-2 the Stormers led 16-10 at half time and they had enough to see the game out.
The Stormers now have a record of 4 wins and 4 defeats, the wins all came on home turf and they lost all 4 of their tour matches. They have 22 log points and can be found in eighth spot on the log.
Aside from the win over the Bulls one other SA derby away to the Lions in Round 1 saw the Stormers edge it 35-33.
Last season's match ups with the Sharks saw the Stormers win 46-19 in Durban and 29-23 in Cape Town.
In the outright betting the Stormers are priced at 96/10 to win the URC title with BoyleSports
Sharks:
The Sharks most recent United Rugby Championship action came back on 2nd December and they crashed and burned 44-10 to the Bulls at Loftus, conceding 6 tries in total, 4 of which were scored in the first half.
That leaves the Sharks with just 1 win (and 7 defeats) against their name and the sole victory came at home to the struggling Dragons 69-14. The Sharks are second bottom of the standings with just 7 log points although they do have a game in hand on most other sides.
Since going down to the Bulls the Sharks have been in Challenge Cup action. They started with a 45-5 rout of Section Paloise in Durban but couldn't follow up in the next round when they went down 32-29 in a derby clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
In the outright betting the Sharks are 37/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Team News
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Hendre Stassen, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Jurie Matthee
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 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Joel Hintz, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 George Cronje, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Ethan Hooker
The Betting,
Stormers -7.5 points at 9/10
Sharks -7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
The Sharks have been a costly team to follow and I just cannot get my head around how a team with so many quality players can perform so badly.
In what will be my final bet for the year (warning my holiday form has been shocking) I am going to stick my neck out one more time and suggest that the Sharks can push this Stormers team all the way.
I will stop short of taking the 5/2 they win outright but will have a decent wedge on the handicap.
BET: 5 units Sharks +8.5 at 17/20 at Boylesports*
*Read why Boylesports is a must have account for rugby punters & Click Here To Open An Account @Boylesports
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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