Ken Borland

The frustration of red cards ruining thrilling rugby matches was once again to the fore as the British and Irish Lions hammered the Sharks 71-31 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, the match turning into a one-sided affair after Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was sent off for a moment of madness.

The Sharks had produced a ferocious response to their drubbing in midweek in their first meeting with the Lions, and at 26-26 after a dazzling first half, the stage was set for a marvellous second half.

But then five minutes after the break, Hendrikse, who is generally an infuriatingly niggly scrumhalf to play against, crossed the line by hitting a Lions player on the back of the head with his elbow. Referee Wayne Barnes quite rightly red-carded him and that was the end of the contest.

The Sharks, so valiant and determined in the first 40 minutes, had the stuffing knocked out of them as the Lions roared their way to seven more tries in the second half. Hooker Jamie George, flank Tadhg Beirne and wing Anthony Watson, who showed why everyone in the UK raves about him, all came away with braces.

In the first half, the Sharks had rebounded from their mauling in midweek with a superb display of scrambling defence and they were extremely stingy with the amount of space and time they gave the Lions. The tourists, under such determined pressure, showed that they are human as well and the mistakes came.

Wings Anthony Volmink, who scored twice, and Thaakir Abrahams showed their ace finishing skills, while Hendrikse scored a fine intercept try inI the 24^th minute and lock Reniel Hugo charged down a kick for outside centre Werner Kok, who again played with great fervour, to score.

The loose trio of Phepsi Buthelezi, Celimpilo Gumede and Dylan Richardson were outstanding for the Sharks.

The second half promised so much but true rugby fans will have hated the mismatch it became. On the bright side, the Sharks showed in the first half that the dominance of the Lions and the shackles they impose can be broken.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Anthony Volmink (2), Thaakir Abrahams, Jaden Hendrikse, Werner Kok. Conversions: Lionel Cronje (3).

British & Irish Lions – Tries: Chris Harris, Jamie George (2), Duhan van der Merwe, Tadhg Beirne (2), Jack Conan, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson (2), Tom Curry. Conversions: Dan Biggar (8).

Even though the British and Irish Lions are a ruthless, top-class outfit that inflicted plenty of pain on them in midweek, Sharks coach Sean Everitt said on Friday that his team is delighted to get a second chance against them when they meet in a hastily arranged rematch at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

With the Bulls having to postpone their scheduled match against the tourists on Saturday due to Covid cases in their squad, and the Sharks having been in a bio-bubble in Johannesburg since last Friday, the KwaZulu-Natalians have agreed to step up again and ensure the Lions don’t miss out on valuable game-time before their Test series against the Springboks.

Having been hammered 54-7 at Ellis Park, the Sharks are hopeful of putting on a better show, with Everitt naming a vastly-changed side thanks to them having 36 players up on the Highveld due to Covid precautions.

“There’s massive excitement in the team, we’ve only been playing against South African teams so it’s great to have fresh opposition, even though they are a world-class outfit. It’s an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and rectify those. When we did the review, we saw the opportunities we created, but also the errors and soft moments that ruined those,” Everitt said.

Many of the Lions players who were left to rue their late omission from the first match against the Sharks have now been cleared as close contacts because one of the players’ positive tests has turned out to be a false positive. That means Anthony Watson makes his first start on the wing and the intended halfback pairing of Dan Biggar and Gareth Davies will also take the field.

The Lions have also chosen what many consider to be their first-choice props in Rory Sutherland and Tadhg Furlong, and a strong showing by them could mean the hopes of Mako Vunipola and Zander Fagerson of playing in the first Test could be in the bin.

The Sharks’ breakdown work in the first game was a pig sty, and a fresh Lions loose trio of the highly-rated Tadhg Beirne, the impressive Hamish Watson and a go-forward eighthman in Jack Conan will have them under pressure again in that department.

Interestingly, tour captain Conor Murray is once again in amongst the replacements, having yet to start a game in South Africa.

Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Mpilo Gumede, Dylan Richardson, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Wiehahn Herbst, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Khutha Mchunu, Thembelani Bholi, Juandre Labuschagne, Cameron Wright, Boeta Chamberlain, Jeremy Ward.

British and Irish Lions: Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Elliot Daly, Chris Harris, Duhan van der Merwe, Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies, Jack Conan, Hamish Watson, Tadhg Beirne, Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Furlong, Jamie George – captain, Rory Sutherland. Bench – Ken Owens, Wyn Jones, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, Sam Simmonds, Tom Curry, Conor Murray, Finn Russell.

Even though the British and Irish Lions are a ruthless, top-class outfit that inflicted plenty of pain on them in midweek, Sharks coach Sean Everitt said on Friday that his team is delighted to get a second chance against them when they meet in a hastily-arranged rematch at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

With the Bulls having to postpone their scheduled match against the tourists on Saturday due to Covid cases in their squad, and the Sharks having been in a bio-bubble in Johannesburg since last Friday, the KwaZulu-Natalians have agreed to step up again and ensure the Lions don’t miss out on valuable game-time before their Test series against the Springboks.

Having been hammered 54-7 at Ellis Park, the Sharks are hopeful of putting on a better show, with Everitt naming a vastly-changed side thanks to them having 36 players up on the Highveld due to Covid precautions.

“There’s massive excitement in the team, we’ve only been playing against South African teams so it’s great to have fresh opposition, even though they are a world-class outfit. It’s an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and rectify those. When we did the review, we saw the opportunities we created, but also the errors and soft moments that ruined those.

“It was surprising to see how we put the Lions through their paces, normally it’s all doom and gloom when you take a 54-7 hiding, but there were actually lots of positives. I think we have a shot at redemption but we have to tidy up and cut down on the errors when we were in good positions. They were mostly unforced errors and a hard pill to swallow when they happen on the Lions’ tryline,” Everitt said.

Captain Phepsi Buthelezi retains his place at eighthman and he and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse were two of the few players to show some fire in the first match against the Lions; together with the experienced Lionel Cronje, who has replaced the misfiring Curwin Bosch at flyhalf, they will provide the backbone of the Sharks’ effort.

The Sharks will certainly need strength of character to bounce back from their Ellis Park mauling, but they also need to lift their intensity.

“The Lions tour has taught us a lot, it has showed us where we are in terms of conditioning and we need to get our ball-in-play time higher to at least 35 minutes, that’s what it takes to withstand the intensity of a team like the Lions. It make sense to give everyone an opportunity to have a taste of that, it will be a great learning experience of international rugby.

“You can see the intensity of the Lions, but until you’ve experienced it on the field and tried to match it, you don’t really understand it. But it will make us better players to see how an international team punishes your mistakes. But we did manage to keep the ball through numerous phases, we had two passages of close to three minutes, we must just not turn over the ball,” Everitt said.

Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Mpilo Gumede, Dylan Richardson, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Wiehahn Herbst, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Khutha Mchunu, Thembelani Bholi, Juandre Labuschagne, Cameron Wright, Boeta Chamberlain, Jeremy Ward.

The British and Irish Lions will remain in Gauteng until Sunday and will now be playing against the Sharks in Pretoria on Saturday, with the organisation’s managing director Ben Calveley saying he still believes it was the right decision to come to South Africa and they are okay at the moment to stick as close as they can to the original schedule.

The Lions were meant to be playing against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, until Covid breaking out in their host’s camp saw that match being postponed. The virus has also struck the Springboks, who are isolating in their rooms in Johannesburg, and Georgia squads, causing the cancellation of their second Test, to be played at Ellis Park on Friday night.

And then the Lions themselves returned positive tests, leading to their match against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Wednesday night only being confirmed two hours before kickoff. Calveley revealed on Thursday afternoon that one management member is definitely positive and they and four close contacts, including two players, are isolating. The player who initially tested positive is now believed to be a false positive and if Thursday’s negative test is repeated on Friday morning, and there are no further cases in their camp, then their match on Saturday can go ahead.

And the Sharks, because they are still in Johannesburg and have 36 players with them, have agreed to take on the Lions again.

“It is a challenge, it’s definitely not easy, but we are determined to make this tour work. We have a very strict bio-secure environment and protocols and we are as protected as we can be. The decision to play now in South Africa was made back in March and I still believe it was the right decision. There are no plans to change that and it’s not as simple as just hopping on a flight back home to play on British soil.

“There is no arbitrary benchmark in terms of the number of cases for the Test series to be in doubt, we just have to make sure we continue to demonstrate the right behaviours. I’m confident that if we do that then we have the best possible chance of making it right through the series. There are contingency plans currently being discussed with SA Rugby, but no deviation from the schedule yet,” Calveley said.

There was speculation that the Lions would move to Cape Town as soon as possible, but the desire to have more rugby action means they will stay among the largest population of Covid cases in the country until Sunday.

“We always intended to go to Cape Town on Sunday, that was the original plan and we are sticking to that. All of the squad will remain together and we won’t be splitting up. The decision to play in Pretoria was made from a rugby point of view – we need to prepare for the series against the Springboks,” Calveley said.

The Sharks were meant to be hosting the Gauteng Lions in a Currie Cup match in Durban on Saturday, but that has now been cancelled by SA Rugby. The allocation of points is still to be decided, but if either the Sharks or the local Lions miss out on the Currie Cup final because of a couple of points, that will really set the cat among the pigeons because they are doing an enormous favour for both the British and Irish Lions and SA Rugby.