After a wide margin win in the opening round of the United Rugby Championship the Bulls head off on a tour which starts with a tough looking clash with Ulster in Belfast on Sunday.
Ulster v Bulls, Sunday 29th October, Belfast, KO 19:00 (South African time)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole, Robbie Jenkinson
TMO: Stefano Roscini
Weather Forecast - Belfast
Ulster:
Ulster started their tournament away to Zebre Parma, a team who went the whole of last season without victory and they had to dig deep to come out on top 40-36. Both sides scored 6 tries and Ulster, who were hanging on at the death, came away with 5 log points.
Against SA opposition last season Ulster beat the Lions 39-37 in Johannesburg and the Sharks 31-24 in Durban. They were 35-5 winners at home to the Stormers and 32-23 victors at home to the Bulls. They finished as distant runners up to Leinster on the log at the end of the regular season but bowed in the quarter finals, losing at home to Connacht.
In the outright betting to win the title BoyleSports make Ulster 13/1 shots.
Bulls:
The Bulls put the Scarlets away 63-21 at Loftus in the opening round, galloping their way past a pre-match minus handicap of around 18.5 points and landing a full house of 5 log points. They had 4 tries and a bonus point secured with only 25 minutes on the clock and went on to score 9 tries in total all of which were converted by Goosen.
Away to Irish opposition last season the Bulls lost 31-17 to Munster and 32-23 at Ulster.
After this the Bulls will visit Zebre Parma, Cardiff and then Edinburgh and in the outright betting they are 13/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports
Team News
Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Dave McCann, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Andy Warwick.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Mike Lowry
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (co-captain), 5 Ruan Nortje (co-captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Stedman Gans
The Betting,
Ulster -4.5 points at 9/10
Bulls +5.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
With all of the excitement around RWC I clean forgot about this one. Those who get our free newsletter - click here to join us if you don't - will know the Bulls +5.5 is the final leg of the weekly acca (19/2)
I think the Bulls can win this and am going to take the +5.5 at 1/1 with Betxchange taking advantage of their price boosts.
The points line is 52.5 and while conditions look ok at the moment there are dark clouds gathering so will not be getting involved
Bet: 4 units Bulls -5.5 at 1/1 at Betxchange (Using the Boost , 3k max, can’t use in multiples)
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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