Bulls LoftusThe Bulls host the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship in Pretoria on Saturday and the home side are looking to seal second spot in the regular season standings

 

 

 

Bulls v Dragons, Saturday 17th May, Pretoria, KO 15:00 (South African time)

 

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

 

Weather Forecast – Pretoria

 

 

Bulls:

 

The Bulls have moved up to second place in the standings with a record of 13 wins and 4 defeats. They have a tally of 63 log points which is 4 better than Glasgow Warriors and they 9 behind Leinster.

 

The Bulls put Cardiff away 45-21 at Loftus in Round 17 and that came on the back of 2 big wins overseas, a 16-13 victory over Munster in Round 15 and they beat the Warriors 26-19 in Glasgow in Round 16

 

In the outright betting to win the URC title they are 9/2 second favourites with WSB.

 

Dragons:

 

The Dragons remain rooted to the foot of the standings and finished the previous round all of 20 points adrift of second bottom Zebre Parma. They have won just 1 game all season, losing the other 16 and earning just 9 log points.

 

Round 17 saw them go down 48-12 to the Stormers in Cape Town. The sole victory came at home to the Ospreys in Round 1 although they did run South African opposition close in other home games, going down 33-30 to the Sharks in Round 3 and 23-19 to the Lions in Round 4.

 

Team News

 

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Ruan Nortje (captain), 6 Nama Xaba, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Devon Williams

 

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (cc), 14 Harry Rees-Weldon, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Huw Anderson, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter (c), 4Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths

Replacements: 16 Lewis Morgan, 17 Jamie Hughes, 18 Paula Latu, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 Evan Minto, 21 Che Hope, 22 Ewan Rosser, 23 Ashton Hewitt

 

 

The Betting,

 

Updated 16 May 17h29

Bulls -42.5 points at 9/10

Dragons +42.5 points at 9/10

 

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

 

Betting Angle

 

Posted 16 May 17h30 

The Bulls went from -39.5 to -42.5 after team news. 

The Dragons look weak but the Bulls have a habit of stepping off the gas. 

I am going to wait for points lines and will be back later tonight or Saturday morning. 

 

Posted 17 May 09h39

We are still waiting for points lines and I have had to put morning plans on hold. 

Saw a forum post from Wager Warlock which caught my eye 

 

BET: Market: 1st try Back or Forward): 1 unit 1st try a forward at 7/2 at WSB

 

Posted 17 May 11h59 

The points line is 58.5 and my bookies have not quoted team points yet or many half time markets (I fancy a fast Buls start) and I am going to settle on the -39.5 still on offer. 

 

BET: 4 units Bulls -39.5 at 0.88/1 at Betxchange 

 

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MAIN BET: to follow

 

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

 

 

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