The Sharks are still looking for a first win in the new United Rugby Championship season and they face the toughest of tasks in Round 3 when they take on Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday
Leinster v Sharks, Saturday 11th October, Dublin, KO 18:30 (South African time)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland) & Dan Carson (Ireland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Leinster:
Leinster face South African opposition for the third successive week after a tour of SA in the first 2 rounds saw them go down to the Stormers in Cape Town and then the Bulls in Pretoria.
Leinster failed to get the scoreboard moving as they crashed 35-0 to the Stormers in Round 1. It was only 6-0 at half time but the Stormers ran in 4 second half tries to seal a bonus point win. In Round 2 they were much improved at Loftus in a high scoring encounter, fighting back from 12 points down at half time and threatening to go on and win but they eventually finished beaten 39-31, conceding 6 tries and scoring 4 to take away a bonus point.
Leinster are second bottom on the log and it's in stark contrast to last season when they won 16 and lost 2 of their matches before the play offs. They pretty much had top spot wrapped after starting with 12 straight wins and they went on to be crowned champions. When visiting South Africa last season Leinster edged out the Sharks 10-7 in Durban.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Leinster remain 13/20 favourites with Hollywoodbets
Sharks:
Condition were horrible in the Sharks 19-19 draw with the Dragons in Newport in Round 2. They were 17-14 in front at half time but failed to add to that tally in the second half, the Dragons squared things up on 66 minutes and there was no further scoring, both sides scored 2 tries a piece.
The Sharks were missing a whole host of first choice starters for their Round 1 clash with the Warriors in Glasgow and they finished beaten 35-19. The Sharks, who were very much in the contest until the later stages, scored 3 tries whilst conceding 5 and they left Scotland empty handed.
After this the Sharks return home for a Round 4 clash with Ulster and they come into Round 3 down in eleventh position with 2 log points.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Sharks are 8/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 James Lowe, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Fintan Gunne, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Josh van der Flier (c), 6 Alex Soroka, 5 Ryan Baird, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Paddy McCarthy
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 James Culhane, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Hugh Cooney, 23 Joshua Kenny
Sharks: 15 Edwill van der Merwe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Bathobele Hlekani, 20 Nick Hatton, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter
The Betting,
Average early show
Leinster -26.5 points at 9/10
Sharks +26.5 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 3 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.