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Preview: Cheetahs v 'Canes

Cape Town - The Cheetahs will be looking to maintain their challenge for the South African Conference when they host the Hurricanes in Bloemfontein on Friday night.

Kick-off is at 19:10.

Super Rugby Weekend Teams - Round 13

The Cheetahs return from what was a much needed bye and they will be looking to build on a strong home record where they have won three in a row since the opening weekend loss to the Sharks. The players looked tired in beating the Kings by 14 points two weeks ago and while the effect of a bye can be debated I think that in this case it could only have done them good. Key to the Cheetahs high log position is an improved defence and they have only conceded five tries in four home matches although surprisingly perhaps they themselves have only scored a single four-try bonus point all season.

The Hurricanes were very poor against the Bulls at Loftus and that big defeat came on the back of a home defeat to the Stormers a run that has seen their outright price drift from 20/1 to 80/1. They have lost three from four matches on the road with the last two defeats being by 34 points against the Bulls and 22 points against the Blues.

Team news:

The Cheetahs have made just one change with Frans Viljoen starting at flank for the injured Lappies Labuschagne.

The Hurricanes are without injured skipper Conrad Smith and Victor Vito takes over as leader. Reynold Lee-Lo takes over from Smith and Tim Bateman replaces Tusi Pisi at inside centre. In a surprise move Brad Shields is benched with Faifili Levave taking his place and in another pack change Ben May replaces Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen at prop.

Head-to-Head – Cheetahs at home:

2011: 47-50 (Canes by 3, 97 points)
2010: 28-12 (Cheetahs by 16, 40 points)
2008: 10-38 (Canes by 28, 48 points)

Betting:

Cheetahs 0.38/1
Draw 28/1
Hurricanes 3/1

Handicap:

Cheetahs -7 at 1/1
Hurricanes +7.5 at 19/20

Betting angle:

There has been some initial support for the Hurricanes at +8.5 levels but this game is pretty much as I would have handicapped it which makes it a fairly tough betting heat in my opinion. We know what we will get from the Cheetahs and they will come hard for the full 80 minutes but quite where the 'Canes are at the moment I am not sure. They were really poor against the Bulls and while there may be good reason for it the benching of Shields seems a strange move.

With a great shout of making the playoffs for the first time ever I am leaning towards the refreshed home team stretching clear to win by eight or more points.

Article courtesy of Goodforthegame.co.za, who provides betting previews for all major sports events such as Super Rugby, domestic and international cricket, local PSL & English Premiership football and much more!

Get all your sports betting previews at Goodforthegame

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