Cardiff host the Lions in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday, two sides missed out on the play offs last season who will be hoping for better this time around.
Cardiff v Lions Saturday 27th September, Cardiff, KO 20:45 (South African time)
Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Lucas Yendle (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
Weather forecast - Cardiff
Cardiff:
Cardiff finished ninth in the overall standings last season with an overall record of 8 wins, 1 draw and 9 defeats and their tally of 47 log points was just 1 shy of what was required for a play off place.
They lost 42-22 at home to the Sharks in Round 10 last season and in another home game they edged out the Lions 20-17 in Round 13. They were still in the mix for a play off spot heading into the final two rounds but defeats at the Bulls (45-21) and the Stormers (34-24) saw them fail to make the cut.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Cardiff are 250/1 long shots with Hollywoodbets
Lions:
The Lions won 8 and lost 10 of their fixtures in 2023/25 and with 40 log points they were the only South African side to miss out on the play offs.
The Lions won in Wales last season, beating the Dragons 23-19 in Round 4 but a 32-19 defeat to the Scarlets in Round 17 put an end to their play off hopes before they edged out the Ospreys 29-28 in the final round.
After this the Lions vist Zebre and Benetton before they return home for a clash with the Scarlets.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Lions are 100/1 long shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Barratt
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Ben Donnell, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Jacob Beetham
Lions: 15 Quan Horn (c), 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Sam Francis, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.
The Betting,
Average early show, to be updated
Cardiff -7.5 points at 9/10
Lions +7.5 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 Week 5 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on this Blog.
Likewise the Womens RWC Final bets will be posted in 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.