Jones returns but Cowan-Dickie steals show as Lions see off Stormers
Alun Wyn Jones made a successful comeback from his dislocated shoulder as the British and Irish Lions warmed up for their series against South Africa with a 49-3 victory over the Stormers.
Three weeks after sustaining an injury that appeared to have ended his tour, Jones completed 27 minutes as a second-half replacement at Cape Town Stadium.
The Wales skipper carried and made several tackles, absorbing blows to his left shoulder, and appeared to come through unscathed to place him in contention to start against the Springboks next Saturday.
Luke Cowan-Dickie played himself into Test reckoning with a rampaging display at hooker that bristled with confrontation and was complete with turnovers, hard carries and a try before he was replaced early in the second-half.
Duhan Van Der Merwe also advanced his claim and – although the tackle-busting wing failed to get on the score sheet – he impressed with his power, footwork and appetite for work.
Scrum-half Ali Price and flanker Tadhg Beirne also gave Warren Gatland well-timed nudges given the Test team is picked on Sunday, but overall it was the least-satisfying win of the tour against opponents missing eight players on South Africa duty.
Stormers v The British and Irish Lions – Castle Lager Lions Series – Cape Town Stadium” />
The Lions engineered seven tries, but they looked more destructive against previous provincial opponents the Sigma Lions and the Sharks than on this afternoon of fragmented play that saw the forwards take charge.
Gatland’s tourists at least bounced back from their defeat to a Test-quality South Africa ‘A’ on Wednesday and were left purring over the composure shown by debutant Marcus Smith, who ripped the Stormers to shreds late on.
Beirne pilfered one turnover but was also dispossessed in a tackle soon after as part of a cagey start that was full of early promise for the Stormers.
The Lions were the first to really threaten when Elliot Daly’s booming left boot swept them downfield but just as pressure was beginning to build on the home line, Cowan-Dickie was penalised for a double movement.
Instead, it was the Stormers who drew first blood when Tim Swiel landed a penalty and the Lions found themselves in the unusual position of trailing to provincial opposition.
That changed in the 29th minute after Tadhg Furlong burst through the middle of the home defence on a turnover ball and a move taken on by Beirne and Josh Adams finished when Price sent Adam Beard over.
The Stormers were being exposed without the ball as they fell apart at a maul, enabling Cowan-Dickie to maraud forward, break a tackle and touch down with an outstretched arm.
And there was still time in the first-half for another try as the Lions pressed once more, Price and Van Der Merwe doing the initial damage before Beard and Stuart Hogg sent Jonny Hill over.
When play resumed, the tourists came under early siege that forced successive penalties for offside, but the Stormers could not capitalise on their first assault on the whitewash.
Smith and Daly used sharp passing and smart lines to conjure a try for Jack Conan at the other end, the Ireland number eight showing his athleticism to cross.
Jones and the whole new front row came on in the 54th minute and at the next scrum the Stormers won a penalty and the Lions had to wait another 13 minutes to score their next try when Zander Fagerson pounced from close range.
They saved their best for last, however, with Smith’s searing break from inside his own 22 setting up a try for Louis Rees-Zammit before Sam Simmonds finished a sweeping move.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments