The report is here.
Before the Lions report from Robert Kitson, here is Gerard Meagher’s story from England 70-14 Canada:
And that concludes this evening’s live blog. Robert Kitson’s match report will be along shortly. Well done to the Lions. Thanks for reading and emailing! And see you again soon.
Dan Biggar, who notched 8/11 kicks, speaks: “We were probably a little bit loose in the first half ... we perhaps overplayed a little bit ... we stuck to the plan more second half and scored some really good tries. We know we’re going to have to improve, as a squad, and as individuals. We know it will be a huge step up [in the Tests] ... we just gave them a sniff in the first half, a bit of belief, a bit of fire ... it’s a good run-out but we can’t kid ourselves, we know we’re going to have to be a lot better.”
There will be varying interpretations of that Lions performance. While there was some good stuff, I think on balance, I would come down the side of saying it wasn’t good enough, certainly from a defensive and discipline point of view. You are not going to come close to winning a series in South Africa while leaking as many points as that.
The caveat, of course, is that the Test team will be different. Partly perhaps as a result of some people playing themselves out of contention this evening.
Gatland did not look impressed and I feel the same. The red card helped, poor discipline, and the lack of ambition with that last penalty is very poor; another opportunity in a match to try something squandered. Tries are great but they will be so undercooked. #LionsRugby
— Bedwyr Gullidge (@BedwyrG) July 10, 2021
Jamie George, who scored two of the Lions’ 11 tries, speaks: “Look, fair play to the Sharks, the way they fronted up ... we’ve got to give them a lot of credit ... the way the boys fronted up towards the end and there’s a lot we can take away from that and be proud of, and there’s certainly some stuff we need to work on.
“They brought much higher intensity than they did on Wednesday and that probably took us a bit too long to react to and that was disappointing ... We could have brought a lot more control to that first half ... we got too flustered, too early.
“It was an incredibly emotional day [to be captain] ... I’m very very proud.”
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Daly was the Supersport player of the match. Van der Merwe was the player of the match as voted for by Lions fans on social media.
“Errors like that would be a disaster against better opposition,” observes Sir Ian McGeechan on pundit duty with Sky Sports.
Full-time! Sharks 31-71 British & Irish Lions
All over. A handsome win for the Lions in the end: and the smoke coming off my keyboard is an illustration of how many tries were scored. The scrum-half Hendrikse’s red card obviously made all the difference - the Sharks defence became hopelessly stretched after that. The Lions played some nice stuff, and scored some good tries, but conceding 30+ points will be a concern.
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78 min: Try! Sharks 31-71 Lions (Watson)
That is fantastic pace and footwork from the England and Lions wing. He is up against a tired, stretched defence, but it’s still a phenomenal finish, taking the ball from deep on his own into miles and miles of space after skipping away from one tackle and then jinking away from a couple of other challenges. Daly tries to drop-kick the conversion, and pulls it to the right.
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76 min: Daly, now playing at No 9 in the absence of Murray, is named player of the match! That will silence the doubters. (It won’t.)
74 min: The scrum-half Conor Murray tries a bit of counter-rucking with the Sharks camped near the Lions line, and puts his shoulder in, and is swatted off like an annoying fly. He is promptly sent to the sin-bin by Wayne Barnes.
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72 min: “All Lions have to do now is pass it wide to score,” says JMTR on Twitter. “Thanks Hendrikse for ruining the game.”
67 min: Try! Sharks 31-66 Lions (Curry)
The England back row has just come on to field, and Watson, who bursts into tonnes of space up the middle, offloads to the Sale Sharks man and he sprints over for his first Lions try with the defence missing in action. Biggar converts. Bundee Aki comes on for Harris.
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66 min: Sam Simmonds, Wyn Jones, Kyle Sinckler, Ken Owens, Conor Murray and Tom Curry are the replacements for the Lions, so far.
Try! 64 min: Sharks 31-59 Lions (Beirne)
The Sharks defence is all over the shop. The Lions run hard up the middle, through Van der Merwe. He’s held up short but Murray spins a pass to his countryman, Beirne, who has plenty of space to fall over the try line.
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“Sheer idiocy by Hendrikse,” writes John Ryan of the sending off. “That’s the game over, and takes away any relevance or praise from the Lions running amok now.”
Try! 58 min: Sharks 31-52 Lions (Watson)
Chris Harris affects a turnover. Van der Merwe takes on a few defenders. Biggar has hands on the ball a few yards from the line. He offloads to Watson on his right and it’s a try for the England wing on his first start of the tour. Biggar slots the conversion. Good stuff from the Lions but the Sharks, a man down, are struggling and face a tough final 20 minutes.
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Try! 53 min: Sharks 31-45 Lions (George)
Team gets ball. Team attacks. Team scores try. You know the drill by now. This time it’s the captain George with his second of the match, bashing through a tackler from close range and touching down smartly. Biggar converts. Ken Owens immediately comes on in George’s place.
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Try! 53 min: Sharks 31-38 Lions (Kok)
Having created a try with that quick lineout, Murray is immediately charged down when attempting a box kick near the Lions’ line. Kok, the No 13, seizes on it and dives over. Can someone please check how many tries have been scored and tell me? I’ve completely lost count. It’s an entertaining affair, but one that will make defence coaches around the world weep. Conversion missed.
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Try! 51 min: Sharks 26-38 Lions (Daly)
Murray takes a quick lineout around halfway. Phillips slides infield, in that apparently casual way of his, and fizzes a brilliantly timed pass to his right to Daly which gives his Saracens teammate forward momentum. Daly sprints onwards, having run a lovely line, and jinks inside and outside a couple of tacklers, and touches down. Nice score.
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Try! 47 min: Sharks 26-31 Lions (Conan)
Jack Conan of Leinster registers his first Lions try, grabbing the ball out of a ruck and dotting down from ultra-close range. Off the field, the recently sent off Hendrikse puts his head in his hands. Biggar hits a lovely conversion, a really pure strike, but it rebounds off the left-hand post.
46 min: Red card for the Sharks! Jaden Hendrikse
I don’t think the Sharks scrum-half can have many complaints there. Williams, who had been tackled, was on the floor clutching the ball by the touchline. Hendrikse piled on top of him and elbowed him in the head, in one of those niggly and dangerous acts that often get missed in a pile of bodies. On commentary, Owens said he would have chosen yellow, and I’d probably have done the same, but as Owens also said, it was dirty and needless.
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46 min: Hendrikse may be in trouble here for a late elbow to the head of Williams. “That’s a card for me,” says Nigel Owens. “It’s dirty and needless and he’d be lucky it’s a yellow.”
45 min: FIGHT! Well, a little one. Van der Merwe finds himself on top of a heap of bodies, getting picked on, and a couple of his teammates charge in. That followed a pop pass by Van der Merwe that was easily intercepted by the Sharks, in a training-ground move that needs a bit of work.
“Hopefully be a good lesson for the Lions,” emails Paul Greenan. “No point putting 50+ points on teams and conceding few in return. The post match video might make uncomfortable viewing for a few Test match contenders.”
That Daly error, in particular, is ammunition for those who claimed he didn’t have anything like the necessary form to justify Lions selection.
Second-half kick off!
All to play for - the Sharks have never beaten the British & Irish Lions - can they pull off a shock?
Any thoughts on that first half? Email me!
Half-time: Sharks 26-26 Lions
Fifty-two points in the first half. Count them. That was end-to-end stuff, and it’s fun to watch, but does it bode well for the Test series to see the Lions leaking so many points?
Try! 38 min: Sharks 26-26 Lions (Beirne)
The Lions carry the ball forward to within five metres of the Sharks line. Beirne picks and goes, and romps over for another try as the opposition defence falls asleep. Biggar strokes over the conversion. This is sort of fun, but it isn’t a performance that will be ingratiating the players on show to Gatland as far as defending is concerned.
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Try! 35 min: Sharks 26-19 Lions (Volmink)
Van der Merwe spills a pass from Biggar out on the wing. Abrahams pounces, quick as a flash, and he has Volmink running a lovely line inside. As with the Daly error, the unexpected mistake means the Lions defence is nowhere, and Volmink has time to run in a try under the posts. Hamish Watson was closest to Volmink before he received the pass and possibly interfered with him a little. Nigel Owens, on commentary, says if he was reffing the game he’d have a word, but it was nothing to warrant a yellow card. Anyway, this is sloppy stuff from the Lions and they need to sort it out.
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34 min: Who would win a fight between a lion and a shark? I guess it would all hinge on whether it was a ‘home’ or ‘away’ fixture for the shark.
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31 min: Surprise! No one has scored a try for the last five minutes. This has been fun so far, though. The Lions have possession and try to smash up the middle, over the halfway line. They win a scrum, but Hendrikse does superbly to spoil the Lions ball. Biggar tries a grubber for touch, but Volmink tidies up impressively.
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Try! 25 min: Sharks 19-19 Lions (Van der Merwe)
It’s try time - again! The Lions have a bit of field position on the left. Biggar makes a dart and then offloads, basketball-style (appropriately enough for this try-fest), to his compatriot Williams. Williams has Van der Merwe in acres of space on his left shoulder. And it’s a simple finish for the Scotland international. Biggar cracks a stunning conversion through the sticks and we are back level.
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Try! 23 min: Sharks 19-12 Lions (Hendrikse)
It’s all happening. George rampages into the Sharks 22. The ball is recycled and Davies scoops a pass off the floor which is intended for Biggar. Hendrikse reads it, intercepts it, bursts away, and shows the Lions defenders a clean pair of heels, racing away almost the full length of the field to score. Daly is the closest but he can’t get there. Conversion added.
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Try! 20min: Sharks 12-12 Lions (George)
The Saracens hooker flops over after a textbook driving maul in the corner from the tourists. Biggar hits a sweet conversion attempt, but it fades just out to the right. All square.
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Try! 15 min: Sharks 12-7 Lions (Abrahams)
Brilliant score. The Lions are on the back foot. A perfect angled grubber kick from the fly-half Lionel Cronje allows Thaakir Abrahams to collect and dot down on the left, the same side as the first try. Williams tries to get across to cover, but the weight of the kick is just perfect and it sits up for Abrahams to gather and dot down. Worrying signs early on for Gatland’s men - but on the plus side, the conversion is missed by Cronje, whose boot created that try moments before.
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Try! 10 min: Sharks 7-7 Lions (Volmink)
Daly receives a nice pass from Biggar in midfield, but then immediately drops the ball. The Sharks pick it up. Hendrikse shifts the ball on well, with the Lions defence nowhere due to the error by Daly. Anthony Volmink storms over on the left wing and the conversion is added. That was a shocker for the England full-back / centre / winger.
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8 min: Lawes is penalised by Barnes for being on the wrong side after a tackle with the Sharks moving forward on the attack. On commentary, Will Greenwood points out that Hendrikse was blatantly looking for the penalty, ‘milking it’, rather than moving the ball on as he could easily have done. Anyway, it’s not kickable range, and the score remains 0-7.
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Try! 5 min: Sharks 0-7 Lions (Harris)
That was quick. Liam Williams releases Duhan Van der Merwe in midfield, who charges straight through the defensive line, offloads off his right hand to his Scotland teammate Chris Harris, and the outside centre scores his first Lions try from close range. Biggar nails a straightforward conversion.
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2 min: The Sharks get an early penalty for a high tackle ... Kok then slams into a huge tackle with Daly, and celebrates with his teammates like he’s just scored a try. Daly looks a touch dazed but OK.
First-half kick off!
Wayne Barnes gets the match under way.
Teams
Second row Maro Itoje has a stomach bug, and is ruled out, with Courtney Lawes coming in as a last-minute replacement.
British & Irish Lions: L Williams, A Watson, Daly, Harris, Van der Merwe; Biggar, Davies; Sutherland, George (capt), Furlong, Lawes, Hill, Beirne, H Watson, Conan. Replacements: Owens, Jones, Sinckler, Lawes, Simmonds, Curry, Murray, Russell.
Sharks: Volmink; Potgieter, Kok, Koster, Abrahams; Cronje, Hendrikse; N Mchunu, Van Vuuren, Herbst, Roets, Hugo, Richardson, Gumede, Buthelezi (capt) Replacements: Jooste, Majola, K Mchunu, Bholi, Labushagne, Wright, Chamberlain, Ward, Adriaanse, Jonker, Bosch
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Squad news: The fly-half Marcus Smith of Harlequins has been called up as cover for Finn Russell (Russell remains with the squad).
SQUAD UPDATE 📋
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 10, 2021
Head Coach, Warren Gatland, has called up Harlequins and England fly-half Marcus Smith as injury cover for Finn Russell, who remains with the squad.#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021 pic.twitter.com/5EmPPPc9I7
Preamble
Can this be a warm-up match if - as some fear - there isn’t even a Test series to warm up for? That’s a question that will be answered in the coming days and weeks, but with the Covid-19 situation worsening in South Africa by the day, nothing is certain about what the future holds.
Leaving that aside - as the players and British & Irish Lions staff will need to do for the next couple of hours, at least - Warren Gatland’s men now face a second meeting with the Sharks inside four days, which puts a newly bizarre twist on a tour that was already different to any other.
The first meeting was one-sided to say the least - the tourists ran out 54-7 winners with Josh Adams and Duhan van der Merwe scoring hat-tricks - but some new faces in the starting XV will be hoping to put their hands up today. Team news and more coming up.
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