The Sharks took on the British & Irish Lions at Emirates Park on 7 July 2021 in the second match of their tour to South Africa. The B&I Lions rewrote the record books with their biggest win (margin) over the Sharks with 54-07.
The B&I Lions was forced to make ten changes to their matchday squad to play the Cell C Sharks due to COVID19 positive tests and protocols. These changes were only announced one hour before kick-off.
The Lions outplayed the Sharks in every facet of the game. The Sharks were willing but unfortunately found themselves outplayed completely. The Sharks made too many mistakes to challenge the Lions.
02:38 Josh Adams scored his 5th try on the South African tour to give the Lions an early lead, (00-07).
06:03 Duhan vd Merwe score an easy try for the Lions. The speed at what the Lions play early on already too much for the Sharks, (00-14).
20:00 The Lions started the match like a house on fire and scored two early tries. The Sharks came back in the second quarter of the first 20 minutes, however, basic mistakes by the Sharks cost them several promising try-scoring opportunities.
26:33 The Lions' Farrel kicked a brilliant grubber which Duhan vd Merwe fell on to score his second try of the match. Strangely the Sharks had no fullback to cover behind their backline, (00-19).
38:58 A super pick up and drive from Bundee Aki resulted in the Lions 4th try of the match, (00-26).
40:00 Although the Lions already had a commanding lead of 26-00 the Sharks was by no way out of the game. The Sharks were still guilty of making basic errors on defence as well as attack. The Sharks refused three easy convertible penalties to go for the corner, strange but true.
50:19 James Venter score the Sharks first try of the match after several players handled the ball, (07-26).
56:15 A comedy of errors by the Sharks in their red zone had Joash Adams fall on the ball to score his second try of the match, (07-33).
60:00 The Sharks played good rugby in the third quarter, however, basic mistakes under pressure made by the Sharks allowed the Lions to score their 5th try to lead 33-07 with 20 minutes to go.
60:51 Louis Rees-Zammit scored the Lions 6th try as the Sharks' mistakes on the attack started to take its toll, (07-40).
73:21 Duhan vd Merwe scored his hat trick with another "gift" of a try, (07-47).
78:07 Josh Adams scored his hat trick, (07-54)
Scorers:
Scorers:
B&I Lions: Tries: Josh Adams (3), Duhan vd Merwe (3), Bundee Aki, Louis Rees-Zammit. Conversions: Owen Farrell (4), Finn Russel (3).
Cell C Sharks: Try: James Venter. Conversion: Curwin Bosch.
Teams:
Cell C Sharks:15. Manie Libbok, 14. Werner Kok, 13. Jeremy Ward, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Curwin Bosch, 9. Jaden Hendrikse, 8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 7. Thembelani Bholi, 6. James Venter, 5. Hyron Andrews, 4. Ruben van Heerden, 3. Khutha Mchunu, 2. Fez Mbatha, 1. Khwezi Mona. Replacements: 16. Kerron van Vuuren, 17. Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18. WiehahnHerbst, 19. JJ van der Mescht, 20. Reniel Hugo, 21. Dylan Richardson, 22. Grant Williams, 23. Anthony Volmink.
B&I Lions: 15. Josh Adams, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Ali Price, 8. Sam Simmonds, 7. Tom Curry, 6. Josh Navidi, 5. Adam Beard, 4. Iain Henderson (C), 3. Zander Fagerson, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1. Mako Vunipola. Replacements: 16. Ken Owens, 17. Rory Sutherland, 19. Tadhg Furlong, 20. Maro Itoje, 21. Hamish Watson, 22. Finn Russel, 23. Taulupe Faletau.