South Africa v British & Irish Lions, 31 July

First topic message reminder :

                                  
SOUTH AFRICA v BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
Saturday 31 July
KO: 18:00 SAST / 17:00 UK / 20:00 Dubai  
Cape Town Stadium (Newlands), Cape Town
Sky Sports Main Event

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker ( )

TEAMS:

SOUTH AFRICA:
15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 63 caps, 60 pts (12t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse) – 15 caps, 40 pts (8t)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 16 caps, 15 pts (3t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 48 caps, 30 pts (6t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 70 pts (14t)
10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain, Montpellier) – 50 caps, 477pts (6t, 78c, 93p, 4d)
09 – Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks) – 31 caps, 25 pts (5t)

08 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 1 cap, 0 pts
07 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers) – 57 caps, 25 pts (5t)
06 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 52 caps, 30 pts (6t)
05 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 41 caps, 5pts (1t)
04 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 87 caps, 15 pts (3t)
03 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 40 caps, 5pts (1t)
02 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 38 caps, 40 pts (8t)
01 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 49 caps, 5pts (1t)

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 35 caps, 30 pts (6t)
17 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 44 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens) – 21 caps, 0 pts
19 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks) – 46 caps, 25 pts (5t)
20 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 pts
21 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 8 caps, 5 pts (1t)
22 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 12 caps, 25 pts (5t)
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 5pts (1t)

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS:
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #824
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
09. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790

01. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
03. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
04. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) #825
05. Alun Wyn Jones – captain (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. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) #779
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #843
22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) #780
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822

PREVIEW:

TJ wrote:

There was no ignored Dangerous play.

Most of the bleating about cards comes from folk who do not understand the laws and guidance.  It was a very difficult game to referee, there are process in place to look at stuff, they followed the process properly to arrive at the right decisions.

The whineing and whinging about the ref on here is frankly pathetic

No 7&1/2 wrote:

TJ wrote:

There was no ignored Dangerous play.

Most of the bleating about cards comes from folk who do not understand the laws and guidance.  It was a very difficult game to referee, there are process in place to look at stuff, they followed the process properly to arrive at the right decisions.

The whineing and whinging about the ref on here is frankly pathetic

That's just simply incorrect.

This series to me is reminding me of those couple of Ireland NZ games. Teams not used to be being beaten just turning up the physicality and doing so illegally.

I was thinking the exact same. Very like the NZ Ireland game in Dublin after NZ lost in Chicago. NZ really should have had a few red that day. It was a disgrace Sam Cane in particular didnt get a red.

flyhalffactory wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:Beard in for Itoje, that's hilarious.

Why is it hilarious?.
Itoje has had two very good 1st 40 mins in both tests but also had a poor 2nd 40. Mostert getting more match fit has arguably had the better of him. Beard has had a very good tour, arguably better than Itoje coming up to the tests, he has more presence in the key area where we have been poor i.e. the breakdown, he will add weight to the pack and he's a proven partner to AWJ having won 2 grand slams alongside him.
Is that funny?

It's a predictable opinion, Itoje has overall been the Lions best but you're advocating dropping him as it is in line with your pre test opinions. Yes it is funny. After he played well in the first test your absence from the board was telling, you then didn't return until you felt able to criticise certain players after the second test. A rugby fan? Do me a favour.