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:

Hmmm looked a yellow.

Hey on the brightside that's another completed tackle.

Furlong has put in a hell of a stint.

Biggar’s hurt his spleen.

Wow. Vunipola is surprising me here.

This is going south very quickly

Are we being cute with that HIA call?

Yup etzebeth lucky.

Well just awful. Looks a try.

Why the feck do you play like that with 9 minutes left and a 2 point lead?!

Lucky. Knock on.

Can’t say he held back there, as he grabbed Daly. I think Kolbe knocked on?

Can we also say never again with Daly at 13 overall?

That’s the get out of jail played. Keep your heads now

Boks have been terrible in this half, poor aerial skills, poor discipline, no possession, no territory, no luck

Game over.

Old Man wrote:Game over.

Never game over when you're kicking to Daly.

But then Itoje.

Great steal by Itoje.

Lucky as fuxk.

CONGRATULATIONS lion supporters.

It’s the Murray and Farrell show. Great ending

Well done Lions. Commiserations South Africa.

Get in there you beauties

cowpat

What a win.

Classic game of two halves. Itoje MOTM.

Itoje again.

Get in, great second half performance

Thanks Old Man

Itoje. Yet again. Him and Lawes were immense.

So...who won that for the Lions?

Lawes man of match for me

Incredible test. Not a huge amount of quality, but so, so intense.

Seriously how many high tackles???

Wow that was a game of two halves. Massive increase in intensity in the second half though we very much rode our luck. Very lucky to have both those tries ruled out as they were 50/50 calls for me.

Backline needs to be changed up ahead of next week as I thought Daly was a liability. Gatland will be feeling very pleased with his forward selection and bench, particularly the way the driving maul game milked penalties and the crucial try from SA.

Rugby Fan wrote:So...who won that for the Lions?

Itoje was my MOTM. The aerial battle was key, Biggar and Price were vital putting up competable kicks from the start of the second half carried on by the replacement.s

When did they change the rule for tip tackles

So Boks have a lot to work on, two disallowed tries, discipline, set piece, aerial skills, handling.

LIONS LIONS LIONS LIONS LIONS LIONS........

Old Man wrote:So Boks have a lot to work on, two disallowed tries, discipline, set piece, aerial skills, handling.

Second disallow was fine, the first one was a terrible decision

protea438 wrote:When did they change the rule for tip tackles

Errrrrrrr. Pass.

Agree that Watson should have seen a yellow. Whether it would have made a difference?

Rugby Fan wrote:So...who won that for the Lions?

Furlong, Itoje, Lawes, Conan, Price. 
Hard to say anyone had a bad game although LCD had the lineout yipps. 
A superb display.

Here's a really weird thought... if Biggar is crocked and Daly isn't a 13 might we see Russell and Harris in the 23 for the next match?

AWJ was immense. Him and Itoje are incredible.

Thank you South Africa...your guys really hit it hard.

Smith over Russell.

Great win in the end.
Looking forward to next Saturday.
Hopefully wrap it up.

Real shame no fans. Would be good craic in Cape Town tonight.

miltonkeynesengland wrote:AWJ was immense. Him and Itoje are incredible.

Thank you South Africa...your guys really hit it hard.

Or invisible for most of the game.

Selection for the second test will be interesting. Lawes looks nailed on to start after that second half performance while I did think Watson in for Curry but just wonder if that tip tackle will see things stay as they are. Presumably Biggar can't play next week if he failed his HIA so Farrell in at 10 with Harris in for Daly who was really poor. With the aerial battle being so key I wouldn't rule out Adams coming in for VDM.

AWJ did well to last 80 (who woulda thought?) but not imposing. Did a decent job. Itoje, on the other hand, was brilliant.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

miltonkeynesengland wrote:AWJ was immense. Him and Itoje are incredible.

Thank you South Africa...your guys really hit it hard.

Or invisible for most of the game.

You really can’t stand it when someone praises a non-English player.

Yeah would think Harris comes in for Daly. I think Owens might start with George to bench, and Wyn Jones back in if he’s available with Mako on the bench. I would change Watson if VDM, both did really well and were dangerous with what little ball they had.

Not the best quality game, but the Lions did well to turn it around in the second half. Very much a question of whose defence and discipline would buckle first.

Itoje did well. Mako scrummaged surprisingly effectively; Sutherland didn’t. Back line looked clueless much of the time.

Jonker couldn’t resist influencing the game, and the Lions were lucky it turned their way. The Boks can feel aggrieved about the first disallowed try and the lack of a card for Watson.

Some interesting questions for next week. Will Biggar and/or Russell be recovered in time? How bad is Wyn Jones, and if so, who should they call up (if I were Gatland, I’d be on the phone to Marler by now)? Do the Lions need to actually play with the ball?