The Bulls host Zebre in the United Rugby Championship at Loftus on Saturday and the bookmakers pre-match handicap is a big number.
Bulls v Zebre, Saturday 9th May, Pretoria, KO 13:45 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistants: Griffin Colby (SARU), Dylen November (SARU)
TMO: Adam Jones (WRU)
Weather Forecast – Pretoria
Bulls:
After the Round 16 results the Bulls nudged up one place to seventh position in the standings with 10 wins alongside 6 defeats. They have 49 log points, 5 points better off than ninth placed Connacht and 2 more than eighth placed Ulster, the only sides currently below them who can finish in one of the 8 play off spots. Looking up the Bulls are only 4 points behind Leinster and the Lions who are third and the fourth in home quarter final positions.
The Bulls are back from tour where their two URC matches delivered wins at the Dragons (47-7) and then at the Scarlets (23-21). Their two most recent home games saw them beat Cardiff (40-7) and Munster (34-31) and they now go in search of a fifth successive win in this competition.
After this the Bulls finish up the regular season at home to Benetton. In the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are now 6/1 with Sportingbet with Leinster topping the boards at even money, Glasgow are 7/2 and the Stormers 9/2.
Zebre:
Zebre are rock bottom with just the 2 wins alongside 14 defeats and given they are 9 points adrift of the second bottom Scarlets that is where they look set to finish.
Their two most recent results comprise of the narrowest of defeats at Edinburgh (31-30) and at home to the Dragons (19-18). In earlier home matches against SA opposition Zebre edged out the Lions 22-20 in Round 2 and they lost 31-13 to the Stormers in Round 4. After this Zebre finish up against the Sharks in Durban.
Line Ups:
Bulls: tbc
Zebre: tbc
The Betting,
Average early show
Bulls -29.5 points at 9/10
Zebre +29.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Bets:
Tips, more news and betting angles for Round 17 of the URC will be available on Brent Graham's betting blog which is available here.
Plays for Round 13 of Super Rugby will be available here.
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.
