The Stormers host the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday and the bookmakers pre-match handicap line is a big number
Stormers v Dragons, Saturday 10th May, Cape Town, KO 18:15 (South African time)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
Stormers:
The Stormers are up to 6th place with a record of 8 wins and the same number of defeats for 45 log points. They are just 1 point behind 5th placed Cardiff but the gap to the fourth placed Sharks is already 8 points and therefore a home quarter final would look beyond them.
In Round 15 the Stormers edged out another play off rival Connacht with a 34-29 home win and in Round 16 they thrashed Benetton 56-5, also in Cape Town.
After this the Stormers finish up with a further home fixture against Cardiff and in the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are 22/1 shots with WSB.
Dragons:
The Dragons are rooted to the foot of the standings and finished the previous round all of 20 points adrift of second bottom Zebre Parma. They have won just 1 game all season, losing the other 15 and earning just 9 log points.
The sole victory came at home to the Ospreys in Round 1 although they did run South African opposition close in other home games, going down 33-30 to the Sharks in Round 3 and 23-19 to the Lions in Round 4. In their most recent outing the Dragons were thumped 57-24 away to the Ospreys.
Team News
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 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 Joseph Dweba, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Dan du Plessis, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg
Dragons: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Harry Rees-Weldon, 13 Harry Wilson, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Angus O’Brien (cc), 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Dan Lydiate, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ryan Woodman, 4 Ben Carter (cc), 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Paula Latu, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Barny Langton-Cryer, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Ashton Hewitt
The Betting,
Updated 09 May 08h16
Stormers -32.5 points at 9/10
Dragons +32.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 09 May 08h23
This is the biggest handicap of the weekend but as Southpaw suggested in the forum it may also be the best minus of the weekend.
The Stormers are running into some excellent form and can pretty muh secure their playoff spot with a win here. The Dragons have nothing to play for and I will be interested in their team selection.
If you are thinking minus take the 32.5 as I don't see it coming in.
I will wait for teams and more specifically points lines.
Keep an eye on the weather, it looks windy and there could be rain.
Posted 10 May 00h54
The points lines is 54.5 and the handicap is stable at -32.5 Stormers. There are reports of some really bad weather hitting Cape Town and I will probably wait for a couple of hours before the game before betting.
Posted 10 May 14h37
I have been getting videos of torrential rain in Cape Town although I believe it is only drizzing now. I was looking for a Stormers over points or tries play but given the weather it is too risky.
BET: I don't like anything strong here. If pushed I would take under 53.5 given conditions.
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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