Munster host the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship in Limerick on Saturday, an opportunity for both sides to strengthen their position in the play off places.
Munster v Bulls, Saturday 19th April, Limerick, KO 18:15 (South African time)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (France)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Weather Forecast: - Limerick
Munster:
Munster have won 7 and lost 7 of their matches so far and they are fifth in the standings with 39 points, 6 behind the fourth placed Sharks and with a number of teams right on their heels.
Munster;'s most recent action came in the Champions Cup. They pulled of a 25-24 victory away to La Rochelle in the Round of 16 but in the quarter finals they lost 47-29 away to Bordeaux.
In a below par start to the URC season Munster suffered back to back defeats in South Africa. They went down 34-19 to the Stormers in Cape Town and 41-24 to the Sharks in Durban but they were 17-10 winners at home to the Lions back in Round 7.
In the outright betting to win the URC title Munster are 10/1 shots with WSB.
Bulls:
The Bulls return to URC action in third place in the standings. They have a tally of 50 log points, 4 shy of Glasgow and 12 adrift of Leinster, Looking down the log the fourth placed Sharks are 5 points back.
Over the past two weeks the Bulls have been in Challenge Cup play off action in Europe. In the Round of 16 they won 32-22 in Bayonne but last weekend they bowed out at the quarter final stage after a 34-28 defeat in Edinburgh.
Back to the URC and a Round 13 home fixture saw the Bulls land an after the siren penalty to end Leinster's 100% record, edging the contest 21-20 whilst in Round 14 they thrashed Zebre 63-24, also at Loftus. .
After this the Bulls visit Glasgow before they finish up with home games against Cardiff and the Dragons.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are 11/2 second favourites with WSB.
Team News
Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Seán O’Brien, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Alex Kendellen, 7 Peter O’Mahony, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 23 Ruadhán Quinn.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Jan-hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Johann Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Izak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Stravino Jacobs
The Betting,
Munster -5.5 points at 9/10
Bulls+5.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 18 April 22h58
This handicap has been stable all week.
I am leaning to Munster -5.5 but will take a look at points lines in the morning before posting a bet.
Bet: to follow
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
