There are just three URC fixtures set to take place this weekend - including two South African derbies - as the Six Nations takes centre stage.
Friday 4 February
Ulster 23/100 | Draw 24/1 | Connacht 34/10 (22:15)
Ulster can go to the summit of the URC standings with an Irish derby win over Connacht on Friday. The hosts chalked up a 27-15 victory over Scarlets at the Kingspan last week to take a sixth win from nine in the competition and keep them in third, just three points adrift of leaders Edinburgh. On the same weekend, Connacht fell 20-42 to Glasgow in Galway, with Andy Friend’s charges lying in eighth ahead of this one. The visitors did manage to claim a 36-11 win over Ulster back in October, but they should fall narrowly short here.
Saturday 5 February
Bulls | Draw | Lions (15:00) betting tba
The Bulls welcome the Lions to Loftus in the return leg of the trans-Jukskei derby on Saturday. Jake White’s men blew the Jozi boys away last week in an impressive 34-10 result and another positive one here would put breathing space between the two, with both teams having accumulated 12-points so far. Cash van Rooyen’s charges will need to find improvement fast if they are to improve on their most recent performance in which the Bulls’ forwards dominated the physical exchanges. Unfortunately for the Lions there doesn’t seem enough time to make that happen. The smart money will be on the Bulls this weekend.
Stormers | Draw | Sharks (17:05) betting tba
The Sharks will be looking to make amends against the Stormers when they head to Cape Town Stadium on Saturday. The Durbanites had many opportunities to seal a win against John Dobson’s side last week, but simply couldn’t capitalise on their momentum. To the Stormers’ credit, they did well to fight back from 3-19 down to finally snatch a 22-all draw and may have a slight advantage heading on the west coast this week. That said, back the Sharks to come good and earn another victory here.
