The Bulls first action in a three match United Rugby Championship tour sees them take on the Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday
Ospreys v Bulls, Saturday 12th October, Swansea, KO 20:35 (South African time)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)
Weather Forecast - Swansea
Ospreys:
The Ospreys have played in each of the first three rounds of matches, they have 1 win and 2 defeats against their name and they have earned 6 log points.
The victory came against South Africa opposition in Round 2 when they came out on top 37-24 against the Stormers at Bridgend, scoring 4 tries to 2 in a game they started as marginal underdogs. Either side of that the Ospreys were edged out 23-21 away to the Dragons in a local derby in the opening round, conceding the crucial score in the final minute and last weekend they went down 23-0 away to Munster.
When hosting South African sides in 2023/24 the Ospreys beat the Sharks 19-5 in Round 3 and the Lions 36-21 in Round 13. Their stand out result came against the Stormers in Cape Town in Round 14 when they came away with a 27-21 victory but they were hammered 61-24 by the Bulls at Loftus a week later.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Ospreys are 160/1 outsiders with BoyleSports.
Bulls:
The Bulls have played two home matches so far and they have a 100% record. They started with a 22-16 win over Edinburgh in Round 2, coming short of landing a bonus point (3 tries to 1) or covering the main handicap line of around -11.5 points.
Last weekend they saw off Ulster 47-21 at Loftus, scoring 7 tries (all through different players) whilst conceding 3 and given they were 18.5 point favourites the cap was reasonably accurate.
After this the Bulls will visit the Scarlets and Benetton and in the outright betting to win the URC title the Bulls are 59/10 second favourites with BoyleSports who make Leinster (0.76/1) the team to beat.
Team News
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Will Greatbanks, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Luke Scully, 23 Jack Walsh
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (co-captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi
The Betting,
Update 12 October 09h31
Ospreys +7.5 points at 9/10
Bulls -7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
I handicapped this game Ospreys +5.5 and after opening +8.5 it has settled at +7.5.
Looking at the side the Bulls have named I think they are likely to beat this handicap but in what looks like being clear of somewhat breezy conditions I prefer a Bulls overs play at 28.5.
BET: 4 units Bulls over 28.5 points at 9/10 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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