The Stormers clash with the Lions in the United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday, the hosts have won 6 from 6 whilst the Lions are building momentum and have already caused an upset in a South African derby this season.
Stormers v Lions, Saturday 20th December, Cape Town, KO 14:30 (South African time)
Referee: Hanru van Rooyen
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Quinton Immelman
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
Stormers:
After 6 rounds of matches the Stormers are the only side in the competition to boast a 100% record and they top the standings with 27 points, 2 clear of second placed Cardiff.
The Stormers only home games so far came in the opening two rounds where they ran out 35-0 winners against Leinster and then 26-10 victors over the Ospreys. The next 4 matches were all overseas and the Stormers made short work of the Scarlets with a 34-0 victory followed by wins at Zebre (31-13), Benetton (31-16) and a huge victory at Munster (27-21) in Round 6.
Since then the Stormers have been in Champions Cup action and their winning streak has continued with wins over Aviron in Bayonne (26-17) and last week’s 42-21 beating of La Rochelle in a game staged in Nelson Mandela Bay.
After this the Stormers next URC action is another home derby against the Bulls on Saturday 3rd January. In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are now 5/1 second favourites with Hollywoodbets
Lions:
The Lions come into Round 7 in seventh place on the log with 3 wins and 3 defeats against their name and a tally of 16 log points.
The Lions have won the only SA derby of the season so far, turning the Bulls over at Loftus (43-33) in Round 6. That was a third successive win for the Lions who came out on top in home fixtures in Rounds 3 and 4 against the Scarlets (29-18) and Ulster (49-31).
Three earlier matches overseas all ended in defeat. In the opening round they went down 33-20 at Cardiff, Round 2 saw them edged out 22-20 at Zebre and in Round 3 the Lions crashed to a 41-15 defeat at Benetton.
Most recently the Lions have been in European Challenge Cup action where they suffered 2 defeats in their first 2 pool matches, at home to Benetton (26-18) and then away to Newcastle (14-10).
After this the Lions visit the Sharks in the new year and in the outright betting to win the URC title they are 100/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adré Smith, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Darrien Landsberg, 21 Siba Qoma, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Richard Kriel
The Betting,
Average early show
Stormers -13.5 points at 9/10
Lions +13.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
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