The Sharks will take on the British & Irish Lions at Emirates Park on 7 July 2021 in the second match of the B&I Lions tour to South Africa @ 19h00.
These teams faced each other for the first time in 1924 during the British & Irish Lions' fourth tour to South Africa when the Sharks were known as Natal. To date, the teams have faced each other 7 times with the Lions winning 6 matches and 1 match was drawn. The points difference for these matches ranges from 4 to 36 points, with the largest difference being 36 points in the last match played in 2009 when the Lions were the victors with 39-3.
The Lions convincingly beat the Sharks with 5 tries in that match. They dominated the first half however, they conceded numerous penalties at the hotly-contested breakdown area, as well as struggled to get quick ball due to stubborn and excellent Sharks defence.
The Lions finally opened the scoring on 23 minutes when England hooker Lee Mears bundled over the try line from close range after Phillips made a neat charge and offload. Kockott kicked a penalty when Jenkins was penalised but the half ended with the Lions again controlling play.
Phillips gave his side the perfect start to the second half with a try when he jinked his way over from the 22. Roberts was threatening throughout the whole match and his charge led to a penalty for O'Gara, who added another three points on 53 minutes when blind-side flanker Jacques Botes was penalised for a run of offences.
The third try was made in Ireland, O'Driscoll sprinting down the wing before passing to Fitzgerald outside him who scored. O'Driscoll was again key as the tourists scored a fourth, the Heineken Cup winner feeding a miss pass out to Byrne who fended off a tackler and then stepped to score with just 12 minutes to go. Heaslip had the final say when he scored the final try of the match.
It is 12 years later and the Sharks will want to re-write the record books with a first victory over the Lions. Unfortunately, they will be without 9 of their top players who are currently in the Springbok camp. Head coach Sean Everitt has named an unchanged team except for the return inclusion of the captain Pepsi Buthelezi after a mild concussion.
He said that despite only playing two matches in the Carling Currie Cup, that the group has been together for some time and they are looking forward to the challenge. "We have to get the fundamentals right otherwise we will be punished on the day," said Everitt.
The Lions have made some changes to the side which convincingly beat the Sigma Lions. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) and Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales) will make their Lions debuts. Ireland lock, Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland), will captain the Lions for the first time, while Tour Captain, Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland), is named amongst the replacements.
Lions Head Coach Warren Gatland said: "We feel like we're slowly building, but, as ever, there's still room for improvement in all facets of our game.
Wednesday night is another chance for us to have a look at a few more combinations. I'm looking forward to seeing how the back row goes; it's an exciting mixture and one that we hope will offer something a bit different. We expect another physical test against a side who are known for their power play and ambition".
Prediction:
The Sharks will have the advantage of learning some lessons from the Sigma Lions match on how to counter the British & Irish Lions. However, they will surely miss their more experienced players and find themselves in the same situation as the Sigma Lions, who had to face the British & Irish Lions with a far less experienced albeit very spirited team. They will rely on their forward pack to set a solid foundation for playmakers Jadin Hendrikse and Curwin Bosch, to either play a good tactical kicking game to keep the Lions pinned in their half, or to get the ball to the speedsters Thaakir Abrahamsor Werner Kok to find the gaps in the Lions’ defence.
The Lions will want to keep a spirited Sharks team at bay in the first half but will speed up the play in the second half to tire the Sharks defence. Judging from the display of superior experience, skill and fitness by the British & Irish Lions in their game against the Sigma Lions, where they ran away with the score-line in the second half, the Sharks will unfortunately not have enough bite to beat the Lions, who will most likely win with 20 points.
2021 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. Liam Williams, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Gareth Davies, 8. Sam Simmonds, 7. Tom Curry, 6. Josh Navidi, 5. Adam Beard, 4. Iain Henderson (C), 3. Zander Fagerson, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1. MakoVunipola. Replacements: 16. Ken Owens, 17. Rory Sutherland, 19. Tadhg Beirne, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Stuart Hogg, 23. Chris Harris.
2009 Teams:
Sharks: Stefan Terblanche, Chris Jordaan, Andries Strauss, Riaan Swanepoel, LuzukoVulindlu, Monty Dumond, Rory Kockott; Deon Carstens, Skipper Badenhorst, Jannie du Plessis, Steven Sykes, Johann Muller (capt), Jacques Botes, Jean Deysel, Keegan Daniel. Replacements: Guy Cronje (for Jordaan, 62), LwaziMvovo (for Swanepoel, 17), Charl McLeod (for Kockott, 70), PatricCilliers (for Carstens, 55), Craig Burden (for Badenhorst, 53), Albert van den Berg (for Sykes, 56), Michael Rhodes (for Botes, 70). Also Carstens for Du Plessis 77.
British and Irish Lions: Lee Byrne, Shane Williams, Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Luke Fitzgerald, Ronan O'Gara, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Lee Mears, Adam Jones, Alun-Wyn Jones, Paul O'Connell (capt), Tom Croft, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip. Replacements: RikiFlutey (for Roberts, 64), James Hook (for O'Gara, 78), Mike Blair (for Phillips, 71), Matthew Rees (for Mears, 69), Phil Vickery (for Jones, 69), Simon Shaw (for O'Connell, 64), Not used: Joe Worsley
Match History:
1924 Natal 3 -3 B&I Lions
1938 Natal 11 - 15 B&I Lions
1955 Natal 8 - 11 B&I Lions
1968 Natal 5 - 17 B&I Lions
1980 Natal 15 – 21 B&I Lions
1997 Natal 12 - 42 B&I Lions
2009 Sharks 3 - 39 B&I Lions
Article by Francois du Toit