Champions Cup: Stormers to carry South Africa’s only title hope into knockouts?
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Hollywoodbets Sharks’ knockout qualification hanging by a thread
Week 3 in the Champions Cup proved to be another disaster for the Hollywoodbets Sharks, as they head to Manchester with a second-string side to face Sale and were handed a 26-10 beatdown by their English counterparts.
Given that the Durban-based franchise had a full week’s turnaround time between games, many were surprised by JP Pietersen’s squad selection for the last match, and the result means that his side enter the final week with their backs firmly against the wall.
Sat in fifth place in Pool 1 with five points after three games, the Skarks’ knockout hopes are now out of their hands. They need to secure a big bonus point victory over Clermont Auvergne at home and will need results elsewhere to go in their favour. Check out our Hollywoodbets Sharks vs Clermont prediction.
As it stands, Toulouse, in fourth place, have a two-point advantage over the South African team and are heavily fancied to defeat Sale in France. Saracens have 10 points and sit third, but they have a massively superior points difference (86) over the Sharks (-48) heading into the final week of the group stage.
Sharks players such as Ox Nche have gone on record in recent days to reaffirm the side’s desire to win and score as many points as possible this weekend, which is possible given how Clermont have performed this season, but the permutations are still firmly stacked against the team progressing.
Stormers massive favourites against travelling Tigers
With the Vodacom Bulls' fate still hanging in the balance after last night's victory in France over Section Paloise, South Africa’s hopes in the knockout round now seem to rest on the DHL Stormers, who are coming off a bitterly disappointing result last week.
The Capetonians also sent a weakened team north last week and suffered a 61-10 hiding at Twickenham Stoop by the Harlequins, which saw them drop to third place in Pool 3 and brought an end to their 10-match win streak across all competitions.
Despite that result, the Stormers still hold their qualification hopes in their own hands, and the bookmakers have installed them as heavy favourites against the Leicester Tigers according to the latest Champions Cup betting odds, suggesting that the visitors may be under-strength for this clash.
With a four-point advantage over the Tigers, avoiding defeat will guarantee the Stormers a spot in the knockouts. A loss could complicate matters, though, as the English team have a better points difference of 21 despite only winning a single game so far.
