The Stormers finished the previous round at the top of the United Rugby Championship standings with a 100% record and their next assignment comes away to Benetton in Trevisio on Saturday
Benetton v Stormers, Saturday 25th October, Trevisio, KO 18:30 (South African time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Luca Bisetto (Italy)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Weather Forecast - Trevisio
Benetton:
Benetton have 2 wins and 2 defeats against their name and both of those victories came in their 2 home games so far. In Round 2 they came out on top 16-14 when Glasgow Warriors came to won and a week later they thumped the Lions 41-15.
They went down 26-15 away to Connacht in the opening round and last weekend they crashed 43-0 away to Edinburgh.
At home to South African sides last season Benetton beat the Sharks 38-10 in Round 4 and lost to the Bulls 17-15 in Round 6. On tour in SA they beat the Lions (42-31) in Round 15 before suffering a 56-5 hammering away to the Stormers.
After the international break Benetton will visit Ulster before back to back derby matches with Zebre.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Benetton are 100/1 with Hollywoodbets
Stormers:
The Stormers were in Parma for a clash with Zebre in Roun 4 and they came away with a 31-13 bonus point victory with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scoring 2 of their 5 tries.
That made it 4 wins from 4 for the Stormers who alongside Ulster top the standings with 9 log points, 3 clear of third placed Glasgow Warriors and now 5 better off than the Bulls who are second in the SA Shield.
After two home wins, 35-0 against Leinster and then 26-10 over the Ospreys the Stormers first tour match came in Round 3 and they made short work of the Scarlets with a 34-0 victory
After the international break the Stormers resume away to Munster in Round 6 before the series of SA derby matches. In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are now 8/1 with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Riccardo Favretto (c), 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Filippo Drago
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Adré Smith, 20 Ruben van Heerden, 21 Ruan Ackerman, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
The Betting,
Average early show
Benetton +3.5 points at 9/10
Stormers -3.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Round 5 of the URC will be available on this blog.
Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.