21-05-2022 Daily Predictions United Rugby Championship Dragons vs Lions

Dragons vs Lions

The Dragons have had another disastrous season and will be looking to end the campaign with just their third win. They are looking for their first home win of the season having lost seven and drawn one match. The Lions have not fared much better but have at least won seven matches with five home wins and four wins on the road. The home team narrowly lost their last match 19-18 against a strong Ospreys team and will be looking to go one better in this match. The Lions have selected a very young team for this match and will find it tough on foreign soil.

TIP: The Lions will need to start this match better than they have been in recent games. In their matches at home they always finished very strong mainly due to the altitude factor. If they begin slowly they will not win as coming from behind away from home is very difficult. The Dragons need to match the Lions in the scrum and if they can do this then they will win. The bookies have the Lions as favourites but I am backing the Dragons on the upset win. The best odds on this bet are as follows: Worldsportsbetting 2.40, Playabets 2.30 and Sunbet 2.35

HEAD TO HEAD STATS

Dragons vs Lions

  • This is the first ever meeting between the teams.

Latest results for both teams

The Dragons lost 19-18 to the Ospreys in their last match while the Lions beat Benetton 37-29 in their last match

PREDICTION

The Dragons showed plenty of fight in their last match and will want to give their long suffering fans their first home win of the season. The Lions will be missing Burger Odendaal and they have a new centre pairing and no doubt the Dragons will want to put the new players under pressure. The Dragons have two fantastic wingers in Rio Dryer and Jared Rosser and if they are given any space they can cause havoc. The contest that stands out is between the two flankers, Taine Basham and Vincent Tshituka. Both players are brilliant at winning turnover ball. We are predicting a Dragons win by six points.   

  • Probable Starting XVs

Dragons

15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Josh Lewis, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Ollie Griffiths (c), 7 Taine Basham, 6 Ben Fry, 5 Huw Taylor, 4 Joe Maksymiw, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Aki Seiuli

Lions

15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Matt More, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith

Odds for this bet

The best odds on the Dragons victory are as follows:

Worldsportsbetting 2.40

Playabets 2.30

Sunbet 2.35

Odds comparison on the Dragons handicap :

The complete odds on the Dragons handicap:

Worldsportsbetting (+2.5) 1.91

Sunbet (+2.5) 1.89

Playabets (+2.5) 1.81

Predictions and Odds in details

The Lions will look to flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse to control the game with his monster boot but it remains to be seen how the young ten performs with his even younger scrumhalf partner. The Dragons will look to attack down this channel and test the youngsters under pressure. The one area the Lions will have an advantage is the scrums. There are great odds on the Dragons upset win but if you are looking for a safer bet then I suggest the home team on the handicap. The best odds on this bet are as follows: Worldsportsbetting (+2.5) 1.91, Sunbet (+2.5) 1.89 and Playabets (+2.5) 1.81

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