Cardiff host the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship on Friday, the home side are looking to seal their play off spot whilst the visitors are aiming to finish top of the standings
Cardiff v Stormers, Friday 15th May, Cardiff, KO 20:45 (South African time)
Referee: tbc
Assistant Referees: tbc
TMO: tbc
Weather Forecast - Cardiff
Cardiff:
Cardiff come into the final round of the regular season in seventh place with 50 log points, 4 shy of the fourth placed Bulls and 3 behind the Lions who are fifth. They are surrounded by Irish sides, Munster (51 points in sixth), Ulster (50 points but 1 win fewer in eighth) and Connacht (49 points in ninth) so whilst their play off place is not yet secure their destiny is in their own hands.
In Round 17 Cardiff went down 40-17 to the Warriors in Glasgow. They return home where they have picked up 7 of their 10 wins this season, including a victory over the Lions (33-20) in Round 1. In South Africa in Rounds 13 and 14 they lost at the Bulls (40-7) and the Sharks (21-15).
In the outright betting to win the URC title Cardiff are trading at 100/1 with Sportingbet
Stormers:
The Stormers slipped to second place in the standings last week. They now have 59 log points, 1 shy of Glasgow Warriors and 1 more than third placed Leinster and they can finish no lower than third on the log. With the Warriors visiting play off chasing Ulster (also on Friday night) hopes of finishing in top position are not over yet. A home quarter final is already secure but should they slip to third, hosting a potential semi final may no longer be guaranteed.
The Stormers took on Ulster in Belfast in Round 17 and they picked up 3 log points from a 38-38 draw. Their other tour matches came early in the season where they won at the Scarlets, Zebre, Benetton and Munster.
The Stormers are now 9/2 third favourites with Sportingbet with Leinster topping the boards at even money and Glasgow are 7/2.
Line Ups:
Cardiff: tbc
Stormers: tbc
The Betting,
Average early show
Cardiff +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.
Bets:
Tips, more news and betting angles for Round 18 of the URC will be available on Brent Graham's betting blog which is available here.
Brent’s plays for Round 14 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.