Cell C Sharks v British & Irish Lions, 7 July

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CELL C SHARKS v BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
Wednesday 7 July
KO: 19:00 SAST / 18:00 UK / 21:00 Dubai  
Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park), Johannesburg
Sky Sports Main Event

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: AJ Jacobs (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

TEAMS:

CELL C SHARKS:
1. Khwezi Mona
2. Fez Mbatha
3. Khutha Mchunu
4. Ruben van Heerden
5. Hyron Andrews
6. James Venter
7. Thembelani Bholi
8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c)

9. Jaden Hendrikse
10. Curwin Bosch
11. Thaakir Abrahams
12. Marius Louw
13. Jeremy Ward
14. Werner Kok
15. Manie Libbok

16. Kerron van Vuuren
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu
18. Wiehahn Herbst
19. JJ van der Mescht
20. Reniel Hugo
21. Dylan Richardson
22. Grant Williams
23. Anthony Volmink

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS:
15. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) #837
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) #850

1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #848
4. Iain Henderson – Captain (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) #808
5. Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales)
6. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby, Wales)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England)
8. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) #849

16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
18. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839
21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
22. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844

COMMENTARY:

Much better game today so far

Few guys playing themselves out of contention for a test place. Yes I’m looking at you Gareth. So far Biggar has also been distinctly average too.

Yeah Duhan and Adams are the form wingers.

Hamish Watson is the player of the tour so far.

Sharks showing some fight tonight, hopefully they can do it the whole 80

Cronje’s mistakes adding up

lostinwales wrote:I wonder how good Farrell's shoulder is? Russell is the one that Smith is coming in to cover, but the Lions could well be running out of FH's quickly - which will mean a lot will depend on Biggar.

Or Smith. Biggar’s not having his best game so far.

How does Hamish Watson make ground every time he gets the ball?

Not impressed by this performance so far

The passing has been awful, if they are going to play fast and loose they have got to be accurate

VDM aside, most of them look like they’re in a scratch pub side.

Well to be fair the Sharks have been much more accurate this half

An awful kick from Davies to end the first half.

He has not had a good half, but is not the only one

We had more control with Farrell at 10

Sharks need to continue the intensity and improve their aerial skills

Very scrappy game, cannot execute 2nd phase, blistered for pace. Pretty awful positioning from Watson for the second Sharks try, apart from DvdM, possibly Harris, Biggar, George and Beirne, the rest have been poor.

I'm not sure why people are surprised by this, 2 of back 3 are getting their first hit out, and both look disjointed.

Davies and Biggar havnt been great, but their ball isnt clean and solid, and Harris has been a bit of a mess at 12.

Daly making mistakes.

Infact, the tight 5 are going ok, back row a bit unbalanced (watson is looking jaded imho), it's just a mess of a backline, and they've literally given away 3 tries from areas under no pressure.

I like VDM, but his positioning is all over the shop, maybe because Daly isn't comfortable at 13, maybe because Harris looks very awkward at 12.

Either way, it won't take much to tighten up the backline, expect 50 points plus again.

That is just stupid from Hendrickse, he has been having such a good game

Some SA players still have the thuggery in their locker then.

Moronic.

Just a cheep shot, not a lot in it, but anything to and you will go these days

This game is going to be one way now

Murray on for Davies, who has not made the most of his start

BigGee wrote:Just a cheep shot, not a lot in it, but anything to and you will go these days

Two cheap shots really. Elbow and forearm?

Some northern hemisphere rugby should do the trick!

Is anyone else getting frustrated by the amount of red cards going around?

I get that this was a bit of Poopie housery, but there was no heavy impact, it's a nothing niggle like a slap, or a face rub into the grass etc...

Dirtydave wrote:Is anyone else getting frustrated by the amount of red cards going around?

I get that this was a bit of Poopie housery, but there was no heavy impact, it's a nothing niggle like a slap, or a face rub into the grass etc...

For premeditated shots to the head, no!

Dirtydave wrote:Is anyone else getting frustrated by the amount of red cards going around?

I get that this was a bit of Poopie housery, but there was no heavy impact, it's a nothing niggle like a slap, or a face rub into the grass etc...

It's not what the Lions need.  They were playing like sh!te and needed to come out firing.  Playing against 14 men won't help them improve.

Dirtydave wrote:Is anyone else getting frustrated by the amount of red cards going around?

I get that this was a bit of Poopie housery, but there was no heavy impact, it's a nothing niggle like a slap, or a face rub into the grass etc...

Its a deliberate strkie to the head. cast iron red and should be. the game is so much better now we don't see so much of this

Should Connor Murray really be our starting SH?

How good is Werner Kok?

I'm sorry guys but I disagree, a bit of pushing, winding up, the odd off the ball digs are all part of it, I get it looks bad but there's absolutely no power in the connection, there's no threat of injury etc...

Similar to the Argentina red card, these are just killing games.

I thi9nk George is now in the Test team, he has had a very good game

Eben Etzebeth was banned for simply mocking a head butt. I am against foul play, but it is getting soft.

I'm watching SA commentary, and they are very passionate about penalizing the chop tackle, swinging arms and little holding which are causing a lot of knee and ankle injuries.

They have a point, but we're going to start seeing reds for high tackles and low tackles, where does this end?

touch rugby

Good try for Watson, he has looked better this half

Courtney Lawes has been busy, but he doesn’t look like he has had a lot of punch in close quarters with ball in hand

Easy to play wide against 14 men

Watson needed that. He's been poor so far, as has Williams, but Williams has at least made a few line breaking decisions.

Waste of time to watch the rest of this match, Sharks were up against it when they had 15 men on, now it is just turning into a farce

Harris has been quietly good again, even playing out of position at 12. Good carries, turnovers and great tackling again

He is close to the test squad as well

Sharks, despite having played better tonight, are going to take a much heavier beating

Lions will be pleased with the workout though

Old Man wrote:Waste of time to watch the rest of this match, Sharks were up against it when they had 15 men on, now it is just turning into a farce

I agree. But if I stop watching I have to go outside and cut the grass.

BigGee wrote:Harris has been quietly good again, even playing out of position at 12. Good carries, turnovers and great tackling again

He is close to the test squad as well

I see where you're coming from but he's been so awkward and all over the shop at 12.

There is such a huge Gulf of quality between these teams he's looked very good ball in hand, but he'll be exploited really badly against SA!

I think he's realistically aiming for a bench spot, with gatland seeing if he can cover both centre spots as we know Aki can.

Dirtydave wrote:I'm sorry guys but I disagree, a bit of pushing, winding up, the odd off the ball digs are all part of it, I get it looks bad but there's absolutely no power in the connection, there's no threat of injury etc...

Similar to the Argentina red card, these are just killing games.

Don't do it and it doesn't kill the game.

Ken Owens has a Harry Potter scar

Rugby Fan wrote:Ken Owens has a Harry Potter scar

I spat my whiskey over my laptop screen when I read that hahahahahahahaha

Dirtydave wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:Ken Owens has a Harry Potter scar

I spat my whiskey over my laptop screen when I read that hahahahahahahaha

Calm down Dave

Pretty expensive cheap shot,

Well he be allowed to play in the next Lions tour fixture vs the Cell C Sharks ( the only covid free team in SA! )

BigGee wrote:Should Connor Murray really be our starting SH?

Price is the best form of the 3 of them but Murray deserves more game time

TJ wrote:

BigGee wrote:Should Connor Murray really be our starting SH?

Price is the best form of the 3 of them but Murray deserves more game time

Murray, you would imagine will start the next game, with Price on the bench.

That may well be the test line up as well, but i would agree that Price has been the best SH so far.