The Lions host Connacht in the United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on Saturday and the play off hopes of both these sides have been fading over recent weeks.
Lions v Connacht, Saturday 26th April, Johannesburg, KO 16:00 (South African time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Morné Ferreira, Hanru Van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Weather Forecast – Johannesburg
Lions:
The Lions come into the round in 14th position in the standings with a record of 6 wins and 9 defeats. Their tally of 31 log points is now 9 shy of a play off place with just 3 rounds of matches to go in the regular season.
Last weekend's 42-31 home defeat to Benetton was the latest dent to the Lions play off hopes. Their only other defeat in Johannesburg in the URC this season came against the Bulls in Round 10 but they are without a win since beating the Sharks here in Round 12. .
After this the Lions finish up the URC regular season with consecutive home games against the Scarlets and the Ospreys.
In the outright betting the Lions are 500/1 shots to win the URC title with WSB.
Connacht:
Connacht are 12th in the standings, 5 points behind the 8th placed Stormers and they have won 5 and lost 10 of their matches so far.
Connacht took on the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend, a game they lost 34-29 and that was a third straight defeat in this competition. Earlier URC matches against SA sides this season include a 36-30 home win over the Sharks in Round 2 and a 28-14 home defeat to the Bulls.
In the outright betting Connacht are 150/1 shots to win the URC title with WSB.
Team News
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Rynhardt Jonker
Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Hugh Gavin, 23 Santiago Cordero
The Betting,
Lions -6.5 points at 9/10
Connacht +6.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 24 April 23h38
This handicap opened Lions -4.5 and was quickly backed to -6.5 which is where it has stayed.
The Lions only just delivered our newsletter bet last week and I don't have alot of confidence in them and will wait to see teams and points lines before getting involved.
Posted 26 April 13h28
I can confirm that the sun is shining in Joburg and conditions should be good for points despite the heavy rains in the week.
The Lions have gone -7.5 in places but I would not be backing that with any confidence and in fact I think there may be some value in Connacht to win at 18/10.
The points lines was 59.5 at one stage but it is generally 62.5 and I am hopping on the overs bus.
Bet: 4 units over 61.5 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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