That’s your lot from me and we can all now focus on the big match next Saturday.
Cheers.
And here’s the full match report.
Here’s the moment of dancing magic from Smith for the Louis Rees-Zammit try...
The pace of @LouisReesZammit ⚡
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 17, 2021
The winger gets another try for the Lions to extend our lead in Cape Town.
#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021 pic.twitter.com/avNgz3x6Eh
Oof!
Match winning captain, Stuart Hogg, is here:
“I feel we’re in a good place. At times it was a bit scrappy, a bit loose, but that was because Stormers were a committed and good opposition. Now we’re into the big stuff for the next three weeks and a chance to create history. I’ll be nervous ahead of team selection this week, but whatever the decision I’ll be here to do my job and support the boys.”
A better second half leads to a convincing scoreline, but make no mistake this was against and increasingly knackered and outgunned Stormers as the Lions bench of plenty came into play. Marcus Smith had a lovely match and this is probably the only thing we should take from the game.
The temptation will be to read much into who replaced who and the like, but resist this as nothing we’ve seen here will have much bearing on Gatland’s teamsheet come Thursday.
FULL TIME! Stormers 3 - 49 Lions
80 mins. The clock is in the red but there is a Stormers scrum to complete on halfway. A huge shove from the Lions wins a penalty that Daly taps to himself and boots it out to end the match.
TRY! Stormers 3 - 49 Lions (Sam Simmonds)
78 mins. From their own 22 the Lions go left and offload repeatedly to go the length of the field, the last pass from Hogg finding Simmonds who runs in on a diagonal run from out left to under the posts.
Smith again adds two.
Updated
TRY! Stormers 3 - 42 Lions (Louis Rees-Zammit)
75 mins. Marcus Smith does some serious Marcus Smithing from his own 22 as he jump-steps around the defence then hitch-kicks away from the covering tackle to feed Rees-Zammit who canters in across 50 metres of open pasture.
Smith dusts himself off and kicks the conversion.
Updated
71 mins. Lions are basketball passing the ball around now as they look to put on a show in the last ten minutes, but it inevitably goes loose as the flamboyance is too much for sweaty hands.
There’s a pause while the TMO shows the ref a questionable clearout on Mako Vunipola by Andre-Hugo Venter. It looks like there’s very little to it on replay and Ref Barnes says play on.
TRY! Stormers 3 - 35 Lions (Zander Fagerson)
69 mins. Marcus Smith is coming to the fore as the game opens up against a tiring Stormers defence and he throws a long pass left to van der Merwe and a typical big carry brings the Lions into the Stormers 22. The ball is recycled through a few carries before the Scot prop drives over from short.
Smith maintains his 100% record from the tee.
Updated
66 mins. ALUN WYN WATCH!
He’s putting himself about, and has thrown his bad shoulder into about four big tackles. All good so far.
NO TRY! Stormers 3 - 28 Lions
64 mins. It was forward, no try.
However, what exactly is the touch judge doing and at what point do we accept the decision has been missed? Officials really should be doing their job in real time, not on a two minute delay with a security blanket.
TMO TRY REVIEW! Lions (Tadhg Beirne)
63 mins. Lions go all the way left through all hands. They then work it back to Smith who floats a cross kick that Beirne gathers on the right touchline to score. Or does he?
Ref Barnes wants to look at a Hogg pass from roughly 6 passes and a full phase earlier to check it wasn’t forward.
60 mins. Subs.
Sam Simmonds has replaced Conan and Gareth Davies allows Ali Price to have a breather.
58 mins. Lions take yet another tap-and-go from a close to the tryline penalty and once again it’s repelled after Beirne has a dart this time. The ball is then spilled to the Stormers and the Lions drift offside.
I have no idea how many times this tactic has to fail horribly before the Lions pack it in. We’re up to what feels like 58 times in the past two games so far.
57 mins. The subs’ first job is to repel a Stormers attack after the home side secure possession from a lineout on the Lions 22. They work it for ten-plus phases but make approximately zero metres before Swiel angles a short chip for Seabelo Senatla to chase, but Duhan van der Merwe cleans it up.
Chris Harris replaces Robbie Henshaw.
Louis Rees-Zammit on for Josh Adams.
Updated
54 mins. A scrum is trying to complete but the coverage only has eyes for who is about to enter the fray. It’s Alun Wyn Jones who is stripped and ready after his bionic shoulder recovery following dislocation a month ago.
He’s on for Adam Beard.
Zander Fagerson has replaced Tadhg Furlong and Mako Vunipola swaps with Sutherland.
Updated
TRY! Stormers 3 - 28 Lions (Jack Conan)
51 mins. Marcus Smith swaps sides at the ruck and demands the ball, he pops a delicious inside pass to Daly who breaks through and feeds Conan who run 25 metres in under the posts. Lovely move that.
Smith adds two.
Updated
48 mins. The Lions disrupt the Stormer’s lineout and clear the ball.
Subs have started for the Lions with Jamie George on for Cowan-Dickie
45 mins. Stormers have their first attack of note this half up the left and as they get a solid maul going Jack Conan is overeager to disrupt it and is penalised for in at the side. On the next attack they are up to the Lions five metre and the red defence is offside.
This type of penalty is a regular refrain on the tour and defence coach Steve Tandy must sort it before next week.
42 mins. Luke Cowan-Dickie finds Josh Adams with a huge throw over the top of the lineout but Adam Beard mishandles in midfield when he’s once again playing link man in attack. In his defence it was a low pass from Ali Price and he has a long way to stoop down from his height.
Updated
Second Half
40 mins. Marcus Smith kicks deep to Du Toit and the Stormers run out of their own 22 via fullback Petersen.
Half time thoughts
Not enough composure and not enough phases being put together in attack for the Lions. Adam Beard is playing his part, mind, as he’s been magnificent, playing like a 7ft Conrad Smith in midfield.
Stormers have been great value; aggressive in defence and interesting in attack when they hit the Lions half with Petersen at fullback particularly impressive.
HALF TIME!
PEEEEEEP! And that ends the half.
TRY! Stormers 3 - 21 Lions (Jonny Hill)
40+1 mins. Ali Price sends the ball into midfield from a Lions scrum in the Stormers 22. Daly has a carry before van der Merwe punches through the Stormers defence. It’s recycled by Price and Adam Beard is in the 13 channel again, finds Hogg and he pops to Hill who is out on the left wing to score in the corner.
Smith converts brilliantly from out wide.
Updated
38 mins. Some possession traded and some busy passages from both teams before Cowan-Dickie - who is having a good five minutes - rips the ball legally out of the ruck. He feeds Henshaw who pops a grubber into the left corner but it just rolls into touch before Hogg can reach it.
TRY! Stormers 3 - 14 Lions (Luke Cowan-Dickie)
35 mins. From a lineout in the Stormers 22 the Lions pivot a maul towards the touchline before Cowan-Dickie pops out and sprints over from 10 metres through some last ditch tackle attempts.
Smith converts again.
Updated
31 mins. And just like that the Lions have sprung to life. Each ruck now has a short runner at pace to take the ball and a well timed short pass from Price gets Jack Conan away but Petersen stops the attack with an attempted interception. The Stormers fullback knocks it on, but it’s definitely not deliberate.
TRY! Stormers 3 - 7 Lions (Adam Beard)
29 mins. Some decent possession at last for the Lions and Furlong breaks in midfield like a filing cabinet thrown down some stairs. The ball is recycled quickly and Beard pops up in midfield to throw a MISS-THREE PASS (!) to Adams, and then he pops up again to receive the final ball to score.
Smith slots the conversion.
Updated
25 mins. Another scrum goes against the Lions with Sutherland being penalised this time. Given him and Furlong are touted as the test prop pairing their performance thus far today does not bode well.
22 mins. Marcus Smith spills the back backwards in contact, but Hogg is there to mop up and set off on a stepping run up the right hand side of the pitch. He draws in Petersen but fails to find Josh Adams as his pass is five metres forward.
Let’s be charitable and say the match captain is working off some isolation rust...
PENALTY! Stormers 3 - 0 Lions (Tim Swiel)
20 mins. It was just to the right of the posts and the former Harlequin makes no mistake to put his side in front.
19 mins. Swiel tries to nip through a gap on the Lions 22 but the door is closed quickly by Henshaw. But the Stormers are still on the ball and up to ten phases before Hamish Watson is penalised for not releasing after he completed a tackle. Swiel fancies three points.
16 mins. It’s a penalty to the Lions in the Stormers five-metre. Learning little from midweek, Cowan-Dickie does a tap-and-go but he’s hit hard just short of the line before he wriggles over. He thinks he’s scored but Ref Barnes things he rolled over after being tackled - and what the ref thinks is far more important in these situations.
No try, penalty Stormers to clear their lines.
14 mins. Lions have some possession in the Stormers half and the home side are offside after the tackle-line encroaches the 10 metres before the ball is out of the set-piece. Smith sends the ball to the corner and the red shirts are on the ball in the Stormers 22.
Updated
10 mins. Pretty ordinary game so far. Neither team getting anything going consistently and the Lions particularly are struggling in the face of an aggressive Stormers defence.
9 mins. First lineout of the game is claimed imperviously by the Stormers and they set up a maul that the Lions don’t allow to get moving. As the ball goes left through hands Henshaw whips it away in the tackle. This allows Smith to angle a kick and find grass behind the Stormers back three and they can do nothing but boot the ball back to the Lions.
Updated
6 mins. On a Stormer advantage, Swiel sprays a cross-kick towards the left wing. Josh Adams rises to prevent Edwill van der Merwe from winning and the Welsh wing hits the ground in ungainly fashion. He looks in a bit of pain initially, but there’s Lions relief all round as he appears to shake it off quickly.
4 mins. The first scrum of the match is a Stormers one on the Lions 10 metre line and it needs a few resets before the ball is fed to Sergeal Petersen up from fullback, but his attempted grubber-kick is blocked by Elliot Daly.
Kick off!
1 mins. Tim Swiel chips the ball in the Lions half and the game is on. Marcus Smith has his first touch for the legendary team as he gathers the kick-off and finds a good touch with his boot.
Updated
Teams are taking the field, Lions first led by Hogg followed by the Stormers.
Pre-match reading
I was talking earlier about players on tour who’ve given Gatland food for first Test thought. Here’s Ugo Monye going to bat for Elliot Daly...
Teams
The huge news for the Lions is that Alun Wyn Jones is back on tour and on the bench for this one. He will make an appearance today, likely replacing his replacement on tour, Adam Beard, who forms and enormous starting pairing in the boilerhouse with Jonny Hill.
Elsewhere it’s been quite the month for Marcus Smith: Premiership winner, try-scoring debut for England followed by same-day Lions call up and now Lions starter. The stuff of dreams, and his partnership with Ali Price has much potential snazz, pizazz and jizz-jazz.
The Stormers are a callow but talented outfit. Johan du Toit, brother of Pieter-Steph is in the backrow alongside Nama Xaba, a promising fetcher with a bright future. Former Premiership players Tim Swiel and Juan de Jongh are also in the squad.
Speaking of squads, the Stormers appear to have named every male adult in Cape Town on their curiously plentiful bench.
DHL Stormers: Sergeal Petersen; Seabelo Senatla, Rikus Pretorius, Dan du Plessis, Edwill van der Merwe; Tim Swiel, Godlen Masimla; Leon Lyons, JJ Kotze, Neethling Fouche, Ernst van Rhyn (capt), JD Schickerling, Nama Xaba, Johan du Toit, Evan Roos.
Replacements (from): 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Abner van Reenen, 23 Juan de Jongh, 24 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 25 Niel Otto, 26 Leolin Zas, 27 Cornel Smit.
Lions: Stuart Hogg (capt); Josh Adams, Elliot Daly, Robbie Henshaw, Duhan van der Merwe; Marcus Smith, Ali Price; Rory Sutherland, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tadhg Furlong, Adam Beard, Jonny Hill, Tadhg Beirne, Hamish Watson, Jack Conan.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.
Updated
Preamble
Welcome to Cape Town for this Lions tour match vs the Stormers.
That melody you can here is a song being plonked out on a piano in the last chance saloon for Warren Gatland to have a good old look before making the final decisions for the first Test a week today.
In all likelihood the Kiwi had most of his big game line-up written in biro before the plane left Edinburgh a month ago, but some performances on tour may have caused him to reach for the Tipp-Ex. The players today will want to put in a performance that sees him painting over more names he considered fixed in place.
And what of the wider fixes required? The Lions must secure more points per entry into the opposition 22 after a woeful return on Wednesday evening vs South Africa A - a good place to start may be to avoid the interminable tap-and-go penalties from five metres. Kicking out of hand has to be better also, finding grass rather than opposition player when punting and giving chasers a better chance to compete on box kicks.
However, even with all that you have to expect a easier time for the tourists than midweek and a win unless there’s a serious performance malfunction.
