South Africa v British & Irish Lions, 24 July

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SOUTH AFRICA v BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
Saturday 24 July
KO: 18:00 SAST / 17:00 UK / 20:00 Dubai  
Cape Town Stadium (Newlands), Cape Town
Sky Sports Main Event

Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe, Mathieu Raynal
TMO: Marius Bloody Jonker of all people

TEAMS:

SOUTH AFRICA:
15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 62 caps, 60 pts (12t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse) – 14 caps, 40 pts (8t)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 15 pts (3t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 47 caps, 30 pts (6t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 14 caps, 70 pts (14t)
10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain – Montpellier) – 49 caps, 465pts (6t, 78c, 89p, 4d)
09 – Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks) – 30 caps, 20 pts (4t)

08 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 7 caps, 5 pts (1t)
07 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers) – 56 caps, 25 pts (5t)
06 – Siya Kolisi (captain – Cell C Sharks) – 51 caps, 30 pts (6t)
05 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 40 caps, 5pts (1t)
04 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 86 caps, 15 pts (3t)
03 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 43 caps, 5 pts (1t)
02 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 37 caps, 40 pts (8t)
01 – Ox Nché (Cell C Sharks) – 2 caps, 0 pts

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 34 caps, 30 pts (6t)
17 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 48 caps, 5pts (1t)
18 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps, 5pts (1t)
19 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks) – 45 caps, 25 pts (5t)
20 – Rynhardt Elstadt (Toulouse) – 2 caps, 0 pts
21 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 25 pts (5t)
22 – Elton Jantjies (Pau) – 38 caps, 283 pts (2t, 63c, 49p)
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 5pts (1t)

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS:
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter, Scotland) #783
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #824
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
09. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #843

01. Rory Sutherland (Worcester, Scotland) #840
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter, England) #851
03. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
04. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) #825
05. Alun Wyn Jones (C) (Ospreys, Wales) #761
06. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) #826
07. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) #853
08. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839

16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) #847
21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) #780
23. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833

PREVIEW:

BigGee wrote:

Old Man wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

Old Man wrote:Gatland seems a bit serious about this series , I wonder if the stress is getting to him.

If anything, he seemed more stressed four years ago, when the NZ press were really laying into him.

I think he knows this is his last chance to beat SA, so he is pulling out every advantage he could. If a card can help, he’ll take it

To be fair, I think any team would?

Perhaps, but I suspect they would be more low key about it, if I was speaking to the referee about such issues I would tend to keep it on the down low.

Just reeks a bit of “look at these bullies, is that acceptable in your eyes, mr referee?

The fact is SA has a reputation of being physical, but I doubt they can be called the dirtiest players.

Far be it from me to defend Blockhead, but his comments could easily be read as being about technical infringements rather than dirty play

Could be, but considering his complaints about Faf I suspect there is more to it.

Anyway, whatever his tactics I think the Lions will win tomorrow, just don’t see the Boks lasting 80 minutes.

Too many players either coming back from having covid, injuries, isolation, not playing.

How soon can you recover to peak physical fitness after covid?

Sometimes you don't lose it at all, sometimes ongoing for months (possibly years). I recovered in about 2 months (far from a sporting god) someone I know who was fit and mid 20s is in a wheelchair (caught in January).

Re the match really hard to say how its going to go. The pack from a Lions perspective doesn't look great in my eyes but we're got an excellent front 3 out there and another 3 to come from the bench. Daly VDM combo really worries me, wouldn't be surprised to see that torn apart in the first half and see Farrell 12 and Henshaw. There are match winners in that back 3 and if Daly starts to tackle and doesn't drop the ball every other pass it could be good.

My eldest, Bigson, caught it right at the start of the first wave. He is very fit, captains the local fists and plays second row. He was saying at the weekend that even now if he runs 1/2 a mile he is Friar Tucked. He reaches a point were his lungs just don't keep up with him and that's that.

jimbopip wrote:My eldest, Bigson, caught it right at the start of the first wave. He is very fit, captains the local fists and plays second row. He was saying at the weekend that even now if he runs 1/2 a mile he is Friar Tucked. He reaches a point were his lungs just don't keep up with him and that's that.

I think this can be evidenced in the timing of some of the sub's by South Africa A as some of those players were struggling towards the end of the first half.

I guess it all becomes academic tomorrow night. The Lions players have played two full seasons of rugby in about a year and a half. The South African guys have not played enough rugby. It’s going to be interesting.

And no matter what, we blame the ref.

doctor_grey wrote:And no matter what, we blame the ref.

I'm sorry Doc but no matter what happens it's clearly the fault of dread Cthulu

miltonkeynesengland wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:And no matter what, we blame the ref.

I'm sorry Doc but no matter what happens it's clearly the fault of dread Cthulu

that was most unexpected!

On a side note Neil Francis is a rancid piece of racist Poopie.

What’s he done now?

Looking at the link to the video preview in the OP. Is it me or is Zebo looking a bit pale. Maybe its linked to the grossly swollen jaw?

Only hit the consciousness now hopefully because they get Frak all listeners.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/lions-publicly-call-out-irish-21128290.amp?__twitter_impression=true

I am glad the lions called that out, hopefully his newspaper will take some appropriate action.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Only hit the consciousness now hopefully because they get Frak all listeners.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/lions-publicly-call-out-irish-21128290.amp?__twitter_impression=true

What a frakker

BigGee wrote:I am glad the lions called that out, hopefully his newspaper will take some appropriate action.

Really don't know why that mofo still has a column and a platform of any kind.

Quins just weighed in as well, along the same lines.

Francis may be looking for a new job soon!

While people complain about ‘cancel culture’, Francis is precisely the brand of d!ck that needs to be cancelled.

How does his stuff get past the editor?! Surely he doesn’t just go straight to print? There’s other people accountable here too. But yes, what a chopper Francis is.

Edit: sorry just seen that it was a podcast, so live. But I think he’s written some dodgy stuff previously too. Grrrr.

It’ll be interesting to see how Independent.ie respond to this, but no doubt it will be along the lines that Francis is ‘a bit of joker’ and an ‘entertaining personality’ who often ‘goes close to the bone’. He’s got so much previous in this area but keeps picking up a pay check. You get the impression if he did this in football or athletics he would be long gone by now.

Just read that Francis has been sacked!

Good! It’s not like it’s been an isolated ‘mistake’ where he can be given the benefit of the doubt.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/irish-independent-sack-neil-francis-over-marcus-smith-comments-1.4628930?mode=amp

That’s made my week. The man was a 24 carat cockchomper and I’m delighted that I won’t need to open the window any more to let out the smell of the urine he dropped onto his publication’s web pages.

Classic cabbie’s excuse. “I may have made racist remarks but come on, that doesn’t mean I’m racist”.

Not sure if this video will play outside our geographic zone, but this is an interview with Bakkies Botha and Pierre Spies about the British and Irish Lions series

I’ve only watched the first 15 mins so far but that is a great video, Old Man. The interviewer is very good and Spies and Botha are informative and humble guests with good insights. I had no idea that Spies had become a pastor. Thanks for sharing

My pleasure.

Thought the apology from both his employers and him was bad.

Francis is a disgrace. I’ve seen some of his other comments and he shouldn’t have been asked to contribute to anything after those.

Anthony Copsey ought to receive a knighthood for this.

https://twitter.com/davesparade/status/1418593308335648775?s=21

Old Man, i’ve Watched a lot more of that video now. Good as it was it did seem to skate over the Burger ‘incident’ and go straight to how BOD should have been penalised for the high shot. Maybe a bit biased?

Well I doubt you are going to get a South African show to shame one o their own, but to be fair the Brian O’Driscoll hit was really only discussed with Mark Lawrence to compare it to today’s laws in regards to head shots.

Yeah, fair point. Different times.

RiscaGame wrote:Thought the apology from both his employers and him was bad.

Francis is a disgrace. I’ve seen some of his other comments and he shouldn’t have been asked to contribute to anything after those.

Anthony Copsey ought to receive a knighthood for this.

https://twitter.com/davesparade/status/1418593308335648775?s=21

When I read a very politically written pseudo-apology like that, it makes me certain he is not the only one in that organisation who harbours those views. He is probably just the most clumsy, and possibly the least bright.

[quote="doctor_grey"]

miltonkeynesengland wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:And no matter what, we blame the ref.

I'm sorry Doc but no matter what happens it's clearly the fault of dread Cthulu

that was most unexpected![/quote

Just when you think you know the answer I change the question...

God I cannot wait for kick off

This is one of those games where I genuinely may have to wait until I know the score to watch it.

Too tense otherwise. It's not like following Scotland where you don't actually expect to win.

I don't want to shout at my kids or throw the hamster against the wall.

Yeah, feel the same way, my stomach is already in knots about this match.

George Carlin wrote:This is one of those games where I genuinely may have to wait until I know the score to watch it.

Too tense otherwise. It's not like following Scotland where you don't actually expect to win.

I don't want to shout at my kids or throw the hamster against the wall.

Well I suppose it's better than shouting at the hamster and throwing the kids against the wall.

Another time I'm glad to wake up and see what the score is!

Think it'll be a comfortable SA win by around 15 points. Lions won't be able to handle their physicality and I expect SA dominance at the set-pieces.

Still, at least Team GB might beat SA at the field hockey, which is obviously the real contest of the day.

I wish I had your optimism, fitness is going to be a huge challenge for the Springboks, they tired after 30 minutes in the SA A match, this time round they have players who had covid and played no matches, players coming from injury with no game time, and the rest are half prepared.

Add to that a questionable starting front row with Ox Ntche and Nyakane who struggled in th3 scrums during the SA A match, a questinable Elton Jantjies, a rookie on the bench in Damian Willemse and no back up in the likes of Vermeulen, Snyman, Beast or Francois Louw.

Reports that Wyn Jones is injured - Sutherland to start

RDW wrote:Reports that Wyn Jones is injured - Sutherland to start

And Vunipola to be up against their best scrummagers.

Gutting for Wyn Jones. I’m sure Rory Sutherland won’t let anybody down though. Be interesting to see how long he is asked to go for now.

Hopefully Mako Vunipola is keen to prove a point off the bench.

Well good luck everyone. Like the 6N it's mixed emotions that this happens in the middle of the night in Australia. You lose all the stress, but you also loss all the excitement!

My guess is SA 16 Lions 24....

Rory Sutherland is living his own Hollywood movie. Lazarus would be impressed. IF he plays as well as he can then we're in the game. Hopefully he lasts 65 minutes and he's replaced by the Vinupola of the last time out and not Mako The Walking Mattress from the earlier matches.

Prediction is that Kolisi and AWJ both come off early, Hamish Watson on at that stage with Lawes moving up to the second row with curry at 6. Am worried Daly’s defence could expose the 13/wide channel and duhan will cop the flak for it, otherwise very excited to see how it all goes. Genuinely exciting stuff. I feel bad for Wyn Jones at the 11th hour too, gutting for him.

I wonder how bad the injury is? Will they put the call in to Marler?

lostinwales wrote:I wonder how bad the injury is? Will they put the call in to Marler?

Bit late in the day for that, 14 day quaranteen and he would be too late to play