The Sharks are the only team in the United Rugby Championship who are yet to earn a log point as they head to Parma for a Round 4 clash with Zebre on Friday.
Zebre Parma v Sharks, Friday 10th November, Parma, KO 19:30 (South African time)
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy) and Filippo Bertili (Italy)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)
Weather Forecast - Parma
Zebre:
Zebre also hosted South African opposition in Round 3 but they were no match for the Bulls who came out on top 54-29. Zebre conceded 8 tries but scored 4 to at least secure a bonus point but they were never in the mix to stay within a plus handicap of around 14.5 points.
Zebre went the whole of last season without a victory and they have lost their first 3 matches of the current campaign but they have managed to earn 5 log points. In Round 2 they were edged out 34-31 by the Ospreys in Swansea although they won the try count 5-4. Zebre started their tournament at home to Ulster who had to dig deep to come out on top 40-36. Both sides scored 6 tries and Ulster were hanging on at the death.
At home to South African opposition last season Zebre lost to the Sharks 42-37 and the Stormers 37-20. In SA they crashed 78-12 to the Bulls and went down 50-35 at the Lions.
Sharks:
The Sharks went into their Round 3 clash against the Ospreys at Twickenham Stoop as 7.5 point favourites on the handicap but despite scoring the first try of the game after just 3 minutes they failed to add to their tally and they finished beaten 19-5.
The Sharks began their tournament on tour in Ireland. In Round 2 they went down 34-13 to Leinster in Dublin and a Round 1 for a clash with defending champions Munster saw them beaten 31-24.
Against Italian opposition last season the Sharks beat Zebre 42-37 at this venue and they were 43-33 winners at home to Benetton.
In the outright betting the Sharks are 18/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports.
Team News
Zebre: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Lacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Taina Fox-Matamua
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 George Cronje, 7 Phendulani Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Marnus Potgieter
The Betting,
Zebre +6.5 points at 9/10
Sharks -6.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Don’t leave this page without signing up for our free betting newsletter and join us in the battle against the bookies.
I handicapped this game Zebre +10.5 and it opened +9.5 but the money has come for the home team and as I write this it is generally +6.5.
That movement is enough to get me involved in the Sharks. For all of their improvement Zebre still struggle to keep teams from scoring and I have a feeling that Boeta Chamberlain at 10 will give this backline a bit more front foot ball.
Points should flow in this one but at 59.5 the line is a bit high for my liking and I am going to back the Sharks on the cap.
Stay close to our forum thread for more bets
BET: 5 units Sharks -6.5 at 9/10 at Betxchange
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
