British and Irish Lions

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JULY 07: Duhan van der Merwe of the British and Irish Lions during the Tour match between Cell C Sharks and British and Irish Lions at Emirates Airline Park on July 07, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images)

Sharks vs British and Irish Lions: Match preview, Kick-off times, tv, live stream

The Sharks will face off with the British and Irish Lions for the second time inside a week on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld from 18:00.

British and Irish Lions

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JULY 07: Duhan van der Merwe of the British and Irish Lions during the Tour match between Cell C Sharks and British and Irish Lions at Emirates Airline Park on July 07, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images)

The Sharks will face off with the British and Irish Lions for the second time inside a week on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.

Sharks vs British and Irish Lions: Preview

SA Rugby and the touring Lions have agreed to replace the Bulls with the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (kick-off 18:00 SAT, 17:00 BST), after the former were ruled out because of a string of COVID-19 infections.

The Lions beat the Sharks 54-7 at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Wednesday in the second match of their tour of South Africa, once again putting more than 50 points on their opponents having done the same to the Sigma Lions in the opener.

Sharks vs British and Irish Lions: Team news

England frontranker Jamie George will become the third man to captain the British and Irish Lions on this trip to date, when he leads the team out at Loftus.

“I have long been an admirer of Jamie’s leadership skills, so I am delighted to name him skipper.

“We want to pass on thanks to the Sharks boys for fronting up and going again on Saturday. The spirit of rugby and a great chance for them to have another shot at us.”

Sharks head coach Sean Everitt has made several changes to his side given the quick turnaround time. Ther Sharks will sport a new front row and lock partnership amongst the forwards. Ntuthuko Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren and Wiehahn Herbst will pack down with Le Roux Roets and Reniel Hugo forming the second row. Dylan Richardson and Mpilo Gumede make up the seven changes to the pack, with captain Phepsi Buthelezi the only starter retained.

The experienced Lionel Cronje comes in at flyhalf with Murray Koster and Werner Kok making up the centre pairing. The final two changes to the back division are Marnus Potgieter named on the wing and Anthony Volmink taking over at fullback

Teams

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Werner Kok, 12 Murray Koster, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Jaden Hendrikse; 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Dylan Richardson, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu 

Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Jeremy Ward

British & Irish Lions:15 Liam Williams, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies; 8 Jack Conan, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Rory Sutherland 

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Tom Curry, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Finn Russell

MATCH INFORMATION: WHERE TO WATCH, KICK-OFF AND LIVE STREAMING 

Sharks vs British and Irish Lions

Date: Saturday 10 July

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Kick-off: 18:00

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper (SARU), AJ Jacobs (SARU)

Television Match Official: Stuart Berry (SARU)

TV: SuperSport

Streaming: DStv Now