The Sharks host Munster in the United Rugby Championship in Durban on Saturday and the home side are looking to make it back to back wins in front of their own supporters.
Sharks v Munster Saturday 26th October, Durban, KO 16:00 (South African time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Weather Forecast – Durban
Sharks:
The Sharks first home game of the season saw them beat the defending champions Glasgow Warriors 28-24 last week. The margin of victory was just shy of where the main handicap line had settled, the Sharks scored 3 tries and had pulled clear on the scoreboard but 2 late scores from the Warriors saw the visitors pick up 2 bonus points.
The Sharks first 3 matches of the tournament came overseas. In Round 4 they crashed to a 38-10 defeat to Benetton in Trevisio, scoring just the 1 try and conceding 5. The Sharks needed an 85th minute try to come away from Newport with a 33-30 victory over the Dragons in Round 3 and their first action of the URC season came away to Connacht in Round 2 and they went down 36-30.
With 10 log points the Sharks can be found in thirteenth position in the standings, the same number of points as the Stormers and remember the South African sides all have a game in hand on the Europeans.
In the outright betting the Sharks are 16.5/1 to win the URC title with BoyleSports.
Munster:
Munster were in Cape Town to take on the Stormers last week and they left empty handed after going down 34-19. They were in the game heading into the closing stages when the Stormers found some daylight and they finished Round 5 in eleventh position with 2 wins and 3 defeats for 11 log points.
Their wins both came on home turf, edging out Connacht (35-33) in Round 1 and seeing off the Ospreys (23-0) in Round 3. They were on the wrong end of a shock result in Round 2 when they were beaten 42-33 away to Zebre Parma and they also went down 26-12 away to log leaders Leinster.
In SA last season Munster beat the Bulls (27-22) at Loftus and followed up with a win (33-13) over the Lions at Ellis Park.
In the outright betting Munster are 87/10 to win the URC title with BoyleSports
Team News
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 John Ryan
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 Ronan Foxe, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Ruadhán Quinn, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Alex Kendellen
The Betting,
Update 25 Oct 16h21
Sharks -7.5 points at 9/10
Munster +7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 25 Oct 16h21
The Sharks let me down badly last week when despite leading by 16 points going into the last minute they somehow conceded twice and butchered the -18.5 handicap and my 10/1 newsletter acca.
They have kept their Boks in the mix and I am going for them on the handicap once again. I have not been impressed with Munster this season and I reckon the home team hit their straps and win well.
This handicap has been -8.5 all week but is starting to edge up.
No points lines up locally at the time of posting but I will add any additional plays to the rugby forum thread as well as this preview.
BET: 5 units Sharks -8.5 at 9/10 at HollywoodBets*
*If you are not signed up yet, please use this link to open your account at Hollywood
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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