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The British and Irish Lions brushed aside the chaos enveloping their tour of South Africa to crush the Sharks 54-7 at Emirates Airline Park. A match threatened by coronavirus was given the green light less than two hours before kick-off as the Lions were forced to scramble a team together after eight players went into isolation following two positive tests.
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Four starters including half-backs Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar and four replacements had to be withdrawn from the matchday squad, with only the pack escaping any changes.
Evidence of the emergency surgery performed on the team was seen in Owen Farrell and Taulupe Faletau wearing shirts with no number and Louis Rees-Zammit playing in the 10 jersey. And in a farcical situation on the bench, Finn Russell was the only recognised option to cover all seven backline spots as part of an unheard-of seven-one split.
The tour may be in danger of unravelling as the Lions search for new opponents to play on Saturday after Covid-19 accounted for the Bulls, as well as the Springboks’ clash with Georgia on Friday, but there was little evidence of anxiety on the pitch. After a brief warm-up due to the team arriving late as part of an extraordinary build-up to the second fixture on South African soil, they rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the Sharks.
Josh Adams celebrated his third start in three games with another try, while Duhan van der Merwe showed he is also a serious contender for a wing slot in the Test series by crossing twice. Bundee Aki powered over and Farrell was conducting operations with calm authority against a tenacious but outgunned Sharks team that had lost nine players to the Springboks squad, including captain Siya Kolisi.
The most worrying revelation about a crazy day on the 2021 Lions tour #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/2JP2b4NaFX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 7, 2021
Farrell departed with a possible shoulder injury and after a spell of Sharks ascendency, Rees-Zammit made his mark while Adams and van der Merwe went to complete their hat-tricks. Adams has now amassed eight tries on tour. It looked bleak for the Sharks as early as the eighth minute as Farrell pulled the strings in a high-tempo start complete with offloads and fizzling long passes.
Adams and van der Merwe went over as a 14-0 lead opened up and after weathering a bright spell from their opponents with help from a timely Tom Curry turnover, the Lions advanced downfield with a break by Elliot Daly. Luke Cowan-Dickie failed to ground the ball over the line but the third try arrived in the 26th minute when Farrell spotted an unpatrolled backfield and kicked ahead for van der Merwe to grab his second.
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Successive scrum penalties gave the Sharks a rallying point around the set-piece but it was their only meaningful foothold in the game and as Sam Simmonds surged into space they came under pressure once more. Aki powered over from close range after a line-out drive, but the Lions lost their way early in the second half as Curry knocked on with the try-line beckoning and Farrell gave the ball away.
Enterprising play from the Sharks saw James Venter touch down and provincial tails were up until bad luck at a ruck enabled Adams to hack forwards and score. Rees-Zammit switched on the afterburners to cross after Adams made headway and inevitably van der Merwe and Adams grabbed their hat-trick tries as the home defence fell to pieces.
? BREAKING:
Huge changes to the matchday squad that was initially picked on Monday #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/E52vGfDAZU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 7, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments