The Lions host Stormers in the opening round of the United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on Saturday, the home side have failed to make the play offs in two previous attempts whilst the visitors have hosted two finals.

 

 

 

Lions v Stormers, Saturday 21st October, Johannesburg, KO 16:05 (South African time)

 

Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa) & Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

 

Weather Forecast – Johannesburg

 

 

Lions:

 

The Lions finished ninth on the log last season with a record of 9 wins and 9 defeats for 45 log points and they were 1 place and 3 points shy off the Sharks who held on to the last of the play off places. That was a slight improvement on 2021/22 when they won 8 and lost 10 and finished twelfth on the log with 41 points.

 

The Lions SA derby form last season comprised of 1 win and 5 defeats. They lost all their home derby matches including a a 33-21 defeat to the Stormers. They also went down the Stormers in Cape Town 40-8 and had to wait until Round 15 for their only derby success, a 29-25 victory away to the Bulls.

 

After this the Lions head off on tour to face Edinburgh, Benetton, the Scarlets and Ulster. In the outright betting the Lions are 150/1 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports.

 

Stormers:

 

The Stormers won the inaugural URC in 2021/22, beating the Bulls in Cape Town in the final and last season they finished as runners up. The Stormers finished third on the log in 22/23 with a record of 12 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats. They went on to win home play offs against the Bulls and Connacht but came unstuck in the final staged in Cape Town when going down 19-14 to Munster.

 

Including the play off win over the Bulls the Stormers won all 7 of their URC derby matches in 2022/23.

 

In pre-season the Stormers beat SWD Eagles (52-12) and a Sharks XV (33-21) on the Garden Route. After this the Stormers will host the Scarlets before heading off on tour where they will visit Glasgow, Benetton, Munster and Cardiff.

 

In the outright betting the Stormers are 61/10 shots to win the tournament with BoyleSports who make Leinster 0.63/1 favourites followed by defending champions Munster who are 11/2.

 

 

 

Team News

 

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Henco van Wyk, 23 Andries Coetzee

 

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Kwenzo Blose.

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader

 

 

The Betting,

 

Lions +5.5 points at 9/10

Stormers -5.5 points at 9/10

 

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

 

Betting Angle

 

This is a cracking game to get the URC going for South African sides. The Lions showed signs of improvement last season but the Stormers remain the benchmark for local sides and they look worthy favourites here. 

 

If pushed I would take the Stormers on the minus but I am rather going to focus on total points. Conditions look perfect and I expect both teams to play positive and attacking rugby. I am looking for 53 points or more in the match. 

 

Bet: 4 units over 52.5 points at 10/11 at Pokerbet*

*You can open a Pokerbet Account by clicking here

 

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

 

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