The Stormers host Connacht in the United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday as the race for play off places intensifies.
Stormers v Connacht, Saturday 19th April, Cape Town, KO 16:00 (South African time)
Referee: Sam Grove-White
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Weather Forecast Cape Town
Stormers:
The Stormers are one of the few sides that have not been involved in EPCR competition over the last two weeks. They come into the round in tenth position in the standings with a record of 6 wins and 8 defeats and their tally of 35 log points is just 1 fewer than Cardiff, Edinburgh and Benetton and whilst Ulster have 37 and fifth placed Munster have 39.
In the previous two rounds of the URC the Stormers saw off the Scarlets 29-17 in Wales before going down 38-34 to Ulster in Bellfast. In earlier matches against Irish opposition this season the Stormers lost away to Leinster (36-12) in Round 10 and they beat Munster (34-19) in a Round 5 home fixture.
After this the Stormers finish up with further home games against Benetton, the Dragons and Cardiff.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are 25/1 shots with WSB.
Connacht:
Connacht are 13th in the standings but only 2 points behind the Stormers. They have won 5 and lost 9 of their matches so far and before setting off to SA their coach stood down.
In contrast to the Stormers Connacht have been busy in the Challenge Cup play offs. In the Round of 16 they beat Cardiff 35-20 in a home fixture but last weekend they lost a thrilling quarter final at home to Racing 92 (43-40).
Earlier matches against SA sides include a 36-30 home win over the Sharks in Round 2 and and a 28-14 home defeat to the Bulls.
In the outright betting Connacht are 80/1 to win the URC title with WSB.
Team News
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Brok Harris, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader
Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Oisin Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Joe Joyce, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Santiago Cordero, 23 Sean Jansen
The Betting,
Stormers -17.5 points at 9/10
Connacht +18.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 18 April 22h55
The Stormers opened -12.5 but this moved quickly to -18.5 on word that Connacht were leaving some big names at home. It has touched -20.5 but appears to have settled at -17.5
I have not seen points lines yet and will return with a bet in the morning.
Posted 19 April 12h08
The points line is 59.5 and while high I think we are in for plenty of tries and points in what looks like being good conditions.
I am leaning Stormers on the handicap but prefer them to score 39 points or more.
BET: 4 units Stormers over 38.5 points at 19/20 at Pokerbet
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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