The Stormers host Sale Sharks in a vital European Champions Cup Pool 4 clash in Cape Town on Saturday and the home side are firm favourites to boost their hopes of reaching the knockout rounds
Stormers v Sale Sharks, Saturday 13th January, Cape Town, KO 19:30 (South African time)
Referee: Luc Ramos (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Rozier (Fra) , Evan Uruzmendi (Fra)
TMO: Patrick Dellac (Fra)
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
Stormers:
After 2 rounds of matches Leinster and Leicester Tigers both have 9 points, Sale Sharks and the Stormers both have 4, Stade Rochelle have 2 and Stade Francais 1.
The Stormers faced a tough task in their opening match away to Leicester Tigers and although they lost the game 35-26 a way under strength side emerged with great credit but left empty handed.
The pressure was on for a Round 2 home fixture against defending champions Stade Rochelle and the Stormers edged it 21-20 thanks to a last gasp try from Andre-Hugo Venter which was converted by Manie Libbok. After this the Stormers will finish up away to Stade Francais
The Stormers played 2 URC home matches over Xmas, edging out the Sharks 16-15 and the Bulls 26-20 in Cape Town. The Stormers have climbed to seventh on the standings with 5 wins and 4 defeats and they are level on point with the Bulls having played 1 game more.
In the outright betting to win the Champions Cup the Stormers are priced at 19.5/1 with BoyleSports
Sale Sharks:
Sale Sharks made a winning start at home to Stade Francais, pulling away in the second half but they couldn't find a fourth try to pick up a bonus point.
They faced a tough assignment away to Leinster in Round 2 and despite leading 13-11 at half time they eventually went down 37-27. conceding 5 tries and scoring 3 to leave Dublin empty handed. After this Sale finish the pool stage at home to Stade Rochelle.
In the Gallagher Premiership the Sale Sharks are in fifth spot with a record of 7 wins and 4 defeats. They are only 3 points adrift of fourth placed Exeter but are the only side in the top 8 with a negative points difference.
In the outright betting to win the Champions Cup Sale Sharks are priced at 55/1 with BoyleSports
Team News
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Sale Sharks: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Alex Wills, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Sam Dugdale, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 James Harper, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Rouban Birch, 20 Tommy Taylor, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White
The Betting
Stormers -11.5 points at 9/10 (15h40 on 12 Jan, won't last)
Sale Sharks +14.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
This handicap has been stable at -11.5 Stormers most of the week but the consensus on last nights betting show THE HANDICAP was that the Stormers were due a big performance and that they can put an often excellent but sometimes inconsistent Sale team away.
The line has pushed out as far as -14.5 in places so to grab the -11.5 you will need to move quickly
Stay close to our forum thread where I will post any additional bets and other punters share their plays
BET: 5 units Stormers -11.5 at 9/10 at Betxchange
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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