Sharks vs British & Irish Lions

[TRF_Olyy]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

CELL C SHARKS v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
15. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) #837
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) #850
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #848
4. Iain Henderson – Captain (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) #808
5. Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales)
6. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby, Wales)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England)
8. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) #849

Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
18. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839
21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
22. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844



Curry not broken!

 

[Welsh Exile]

Gwan Beard. Show em who's boss.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Liking that team.

 

[Welsh Exile]

So Curry is fine then. He's got some catching up to do to be fair.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Cell C Sharks

1. Khwezi Mona
2. Fez Mbatha
3. Khutha Mchunu
4. Ruben van Heerden
5. Hyron Andrews
6. James Venter
7. Thembelani Bholi
8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c)
9. Jaden Hendrikse
10. Curwin Bosch
11. Thaakir Abrahams
12. Marius Louw
13. Jeremy Ward
14. Werner Kok
15. Manie Libbok

Replacements
16. Kerron van Vuuren
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu
18. Wiehahn Herbst
19. JJ van der Mescht
20. Reniel Hugo
21. Dylan Richardson
22. Grant Williams
23. Anthony Volmink

 

[General Melchett]

At least Curry gets a chance at 7 from the start. I was thinking Gatland might play Navidi there and Curry at 6.

 

[big ginger 8]

First game without a big 6 and Beirne looks to be covering the secondrow from the bench.

How long do we reckon Mako will last? He looked gassed coming off the bench.

 

[Jakedood]

Herbst from his Ulster days is a prop who just loves his scrummaging, hope he gets a couple v Mako. He's hardly Vincent Koch but no walkover by any means

 

[TRF_Olyy]

hope he gets a couple v Mako

I don't think you'll have to hope too hard

 

[Jakedood]

I don't think you'll have to hope too hard

Depends if Mako can move around longer than 40 minutes at altitude

 

[retired9]

Hope Zander goes well he and Sutherland were good for Scotland in the 6N. I thought the Japan front 3 were strong with Furlong Owens and Sutherland, best lineup for me so far.

 

[dullonien]

Personally think Wyn Jones has been standout loosehead so far. Came off the bench v Japan and made an impact with a couple of jackle penalties + was good v Lions and should have had a try, but for a a transgression by Lawes. Scrum was a mess v Lions, so nothing to judge him on there, but he's a strong scrummager usually.

Welsh bias may be showing though. Sutherland has also been good, so for me those 2 should be in the 23 for the tests. Vunipola got a lot of ground yo make-up.

 

[unrated]

Ok so this is a Sharks team depleted by Springbok Callups. 11 to be exact. But with that in mind, i expect us to provide the Lions with a much more intense challenge than the Golden Lions did. The Bulls next weekend will probably be the strongest provincial side to play the Lions as they are strong and only lost 4 to the Springboks.

Breaking down the Sharks team starting with the backs

Our 15 Libbok is defensively weak, and leaks tries. He is okay on attack but we aree losing a big part of our offensive and defensive pedigree with Fassi at the Springboks. Lions can put him under pressure and he should crack quite quickly.

14. Werner Kok, offensively great in one on one situations and very fit coming from the South Africa sevens team the Blitzboks. He is trying to make a switch to 15s but you can see he is not a top dog yet. He gives more metres away on defence than an International winger although he does make his tackles and goes in very low usually. Not as dominant as Nkosi whos away at the Boks in the collisions and against a team like the Lions you want physicality all around even on the wings. He might suprise some lions defenders offensively but again they would do well to tactically negate him, as his 15s inteligence is probably not where it should be.

13. Jeremy Ward (backup to our captain Lukhanyo Am, who is also at the Boks) is a good player former sa u20/wc captain. Ultra fit, almost beat Beuden Barrets time in the Bronco. Very fast, can last a whole game, and can chase down players on the outside. But he is not chunky and might be overpowered by the big Lions players. He is not very mecurial on attack as you would expect from a 13

12. Marius Louw is a great player and future Springbok he will use this game to show people he can cut it against the best the North has to offer. Used to be a flank. Fills the whole left by Esterhuizen who departed to quins and arguably does it better. Very physical. Does not miss tackles and can break the defensive line with force. Also smart enough to make a tactical difference. Not one to target offensively from the Lions.

11. Abrahams (fills the void of Mapimpi) young player, only made the breakthrough to the senior team two games ago. He is in the mould of Kolbe. Might suprise a lions ot two, he has a crazy step. 2582

10. Bosch arguably the most pedigreed player remaining in the team. He will need to be on top form if we win this game. Can kick at 60m plus on the highveld.

9. Henrdikse, many felt he should have been included in the Bok team instead of the other Sharks Scrummy Nohamba, very nippy and in the mould of TJ Perenara. Will test the Lions in multiple facets

 

[Jakedood]

CELL C SHARKS v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
15. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) #837
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) #850
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #848
4. Iain Henderson – Captain (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) #808
5. Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales)
6. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby, Wales)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England)
8. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) #849

Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
18. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839
21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
22. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844



Curry not broken!

Stuart Hogg is lion #783... Is anyone lower than this in the current squad?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Stuart Hogg is lion #783... Is anyone lower than this in the current squad?

Faletau: 779
Farrell: 780
[...]
Mako: 787
Murray: 790

Guessing Faletau, Farrell and Hogg all debuted in the same game (vs Barbarians?)

 

[unrated]

Forwards

1,2,3 is currently very weak, whole first choice front row is with the Boks . We will get masacred in the Scrums i suspect. These props are not ready yet im afraid.

4 and 5 the Locks is the only part of the team untouched by the Springboks. But good reason for that as they are both ****. JJ van der mescht a youngster from the academy is on the bench and he is being groomed as a player of national interest. Van Heerden is big and physical but thats it. Their lineout skills are poor. And if you are a lock and your lineout is not functioning then what are you?

6. Venter (Kolisi would normaly start here) Venter IMO is much better than Kolisi. He is a crosfit athelete that is as ripped and fit as they come. He is a specialist poacher. In the mould of Pockock and Brussow and likes to get injured just as much as the above mentioned did. But he puts his body on the line. We will compete at the breakdowns very well with him in the team and expect a few turnovers.


7. Bholi he is a hard man signed from the defunct Kings. Great with carrying beats the gainline. Can clear rucks well and will be a defensive haven for the Sharks team. He is one of those guys who might go off with a concussion halfway through the game just because he hits everything so hard. Lets see if a Lion gets injured with him on wednesday.



8.Buthelezi young player groomed for the future. Mobile 8. Needs to develop but is showing insane potential. Lions will be a learning experience for him but as he is still a number of years off National selection i expect the Lions to keep him relatively quite. With that said as he is a comparatively unknown factor still he might pull a suprise especially on the Lions who im sure will not really have much homework on him. Not that i think the Lions would have really analysed this game too much anyway its just a warmup for them after all.


After breaking down the team i have kinda changed my mind. I think if the Lions focus on dominating set pieces such as the scrums and linouts they will give us a hiding like no other. We cant compete at set pieces with this team.

But if the Lions endear us to a fast running game, with quick breakdowns then expect a possible upset.

 

[unrated]

British & Irish Lions in Jo'burg: Thin air ... what thin air?

 

[Which Tyler]

NB, need to change the OP - kick off has been brought forwards by an hour, for no good reason

British and Irish Lions vs Cell C Sharks kick-off time next Wednesday brought forward to avoid Euros clash

British and Irish Lions tour match vs the Cell C Sharks in Johannesburg next Wednesday (July 7) has kick off time moved forward an hour to 6pm (UK time) to avoid overlap with Euro 2020 semi-finals. Watch every Lions tour match exclusively live on Sky Sports.

www.skysports.com

 

[AlRums]

British & Irish Lions in Jo'burg: Thin air ... what thin air?

From a UK perspective it's thin air, I spent a year living in South America (Colombia) in areas ranging from 5,000 to 11,500 feet. You do feel the difference