After edging their way into the United Rugby Championship play off places last weekend the Stormers now face another rival in the shape of Benetton in Cape Town on Saturday
Stormers v Benetton, Saturday 26th April, Cape Town, KO 18:15 (South African time)
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron, Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Craig Evans (Wales)
Weather Forecast Cape Town
Stormers:
The Stormers finished the previous round in 8th position in the standings with a record of 7 wins and 8 defeats and a tally of 40 log points. Only 6 points separates the teams from 5th to 12th so it remains very congested in the race to secure a play off spot.
Last weekend the Stormers edged out another play off rival Connacht with a 34-29 home win and after this they finish up with further home games against the Dragons and Cardiff.
In the outright betting to win the URC title the Stormers are 28/1 shots with WSB.
Benetton:
Benetton come into Round 16 in fifth place in the standings with a record of 8 wins, 1 draw and 6 defeats. They have 41 log points and the gap to the fourth placed Sharks stands at 8 points and as mentioned earlier there are a whole host of chasers on their heels.
Last weekend Benetton upset the Lions in Johannesburg with a 42-31 bonus point victory. Other recvent URC form comprises of narrow home wins over Edinburgh (21-18) and Cardiff (20-19). Earlier in the season they beat the Sharks 38-10 in a Round 4 home fixture and in Round 6 they lost 17-15 at home to the Bulls.
In the outright betting Benetton are 65/1 to win the URC title with WSB.
Team News
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 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 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Brok Harris, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg
Benetton: 15 Leonardo Marin, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Eli Snyman, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Rhyno Smith
The Betting,
Stormers -10.5 points at 9/10
Benetton +10.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 24 April 23h41
I handicapped this game -11.5 Stormers and after opening -8.5 it has shifted to -10.5 where it has been stable.
Benetton were impressive last week but although in 5th place are only 4 points ahead of 11th and with Glasgow (h) and Munster (a) to come they cannot afford to take this game lightly.
The Stormers cost me alot of multiples last week when they only scored 12 2nd half points (I was on the over 38.5) and I am going to wait for teams and points lines before returning with a bet.
Click here for the URC betting blog with weather links and bets on the games not featuring SA teams.
Posted 26 April 09h25
We have teams and points lines.
The teams were as expected and the handicap is stable at -10.5.
The points line is 53.5 and in what looks like mild, cool and dry conditions I am looking at the overs which would have arrived comfortably in the Stormers last 2 home games (Connacht 63 points last week and Bulls 65 points back in Feb)
This is a possible bet for my newsletter which will be sent out later this morning - click here to make sure it lands safely in your inbox
BET: 4 units over 53.5 points at 9/10 at Pokerbet
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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