After a heartbreaking defeat in the Currie Cup final last week the Lions begin their United Rugby Championship campaign with a home fixture against Ulster in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Lions v Ulster, Saturday 28th September, Johannesburg, KO 12:55 (South African time)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Henru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Weather Forecast – Johannesburg
Lions:
The Lions switch focus to the URC after narrowly losing the Currie Cup Final (16-14) to the Sharks in Johannesburg last weekend. They lost just the one game in the domestic season but went down to a last gasp penalty from the Sharks in the final.
The Lions just missed out on a play off place in the URC last season, it went down to the wire but their record of 9 wins and 9 defeats was just short of what was required for an extended stay in the tournament.
These teams met in Belfast in Round 5 last season and Ulster ran out winners, 24-17.
In the outright betting the Lions are 90/1 shots to win the URC with BoyleSports.
Ulster:
Ulster made a winning start to their season when they edged out defending champions Glasgow Warriors 20-19 in Belfast. Both sides scored 3 tries a piece and two of Ulsters came on 72 minutes and then from the final play of the game.
Last season Ulster finished sixth on the log, winning 11 and losing 7 but they fell aat the first play off hurdle when they were beaten 43-20 away to Leinster. They were in South Africa for Rounds 12 and 13 where they lost to the Sharks 22-12 and the Stormers 13-7.
In the outright betting Ulster are 22/1 shots to win the URC with BoyleSports.
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruben Schoeman, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Henco van Wyk
Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 John Cooney,8 Nick Timoney,7 Sean Reffell, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Alan O’Connor (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Corrie Barrett, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 James McNabney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Mike Lowry, 23 David McCann
The Betting,
Lions -6.5 points at 9/10
Ulster +6.5 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 pretty stable at Lions -6.5.
I was initially leaning Ulster but have lost confidence and will have a points bet instead. The line is 56.5 and in what should be good conditions I am going to bet that we get a high paced game with plenty of tries.
The only time these sides met in Johannesburg there were 76 points scored.
BET: 4 units Over 56.5 points at 9/10 at WSB
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.
