The Sharks take on Ulster in the United Rugby Championship in Belfast on Saturday and the visitors are bidding to take another step towards securing a home play off.
Ulster v Sharks, Saturday 26th April, Belfast, KO 20:35 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Padraic Reidy, Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Weather Forecast - Belfast
Ulster:
Ulster have a record of 7 wins and 8 defeats and their tally of 37 log points puts them just outside the play off places in tenth position.
They crashed to a 41-17 defeat away to log leaders Leinster last weekend but prior to that they edged out the Stormers 38-34 in a Round 14 home fixture. Earlier in the tournament on tour in South Africa they lost at the Lions (35-22) in Round 2 and a week later they went down 47-21 to the Bulls at Loftus.
After this Ulster finish up with tough away games at Munster and Edinburgh. In the outright betting the Ulster are 200/1 shots to win the URC title with WSB.
Sharks:
The Sharks are in fourth position with a record of 10 wins and 5 defeats for 49 log points. They remain 5 points behind the third placed Bulls and 9 shy of Glasgow Warriors whilst log leaders Leinster are 18 points better off. Looking down they do have a 8 point cushion over fifth placed Benetton so a home quarter final is in touching distance.
In their most recent URC outing the Sharks edged out Edinburgh 18-17 for a vital away win. Prior to that they were beaten 10-7 at home to Leinster.
The rest of the URC regular season sees the Sharks return to Durban for games against the Ospreys and the Scarlets.
In the outright betting the Sharks are 12/1 to win the URC title with WSB.
Team News
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 James McNabney, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick,
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Kieran Treadwell, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Aidan Morgan, 23 David McCann
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Manu Tshituka, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Jurenzo Julius.
The Betting,
Ulster +2.5 points at 9/10
Sharks -2.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 24 April 23h46
Ulster are 10th on the log but only 3 points off the playoffs. They finish with away games at Edinburgh and Munster though so have it al to do to qualify and I reckon a win here is a must.
I handicapped this game at +4.5 Edinburgh and it is sitting at +2.5 and I will wait for teams and of course points lines before betting.
Click Here for the URC Betting Blog
Posted 26 April 09h45
The handicap is still +2.5 Ulster and looking at the team sheets I am warming to the Sharks. They showed some great fight to get the win last week and looking at the Ulster run in (Munster and Edinburgh away) I suspect Ulster may already feel deep down their season is done.
The points line is 53.5 and if pushed I would be on the unders in what looks humid and greasy conditions.
Bet: 4 units Sharks -2.5 at 9/10 at Pokerbet
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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