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British & Irish Lions versus South Africa A match preview

PA

Following the British & Irish Lions’ second win in four days over the Cell C Sharks on Saturday, they now turn their attention to a South Africa A side that are full of World Cup winners for their fifth match of the tour and their fourth on South African soil.

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When, where and how to watch the match
The match will kick-off at 19:00 (BST) on July 14th at Cape Town Stadium.

It will be broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Supersport in South Africa, Stan Sport in Australia and Sky in New Zealand.

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Line-ups
British & Irish Lions
15. Anthony Watson
14. Louis Rees-Zammit
13. Chris Harris
12. Bundee Aki
11. Josh Adams
10. Dan Biggar
9. Conor Murray (c)
1. Wyn Jones
2. Ken Owens
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. Iain Henderson
6. Josh Navidi
7. Tom Curry
8. Taulupe Faletau

Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Zander Fagerson
19. Adam Beard
20. Tadhg Beirne
21. Sam Simmonds
22. Gareth Davies
23. Elliot Daly

South Africa A
15 – Willie le Roux
14 – Cheslin Kolbe
13 – Lukhanyo Am (c)
12 – Damian de Allende
11 – Sbu Nkosi
10 – Morné Steyn
9 – Faf de Klerk
1 – Steven Kitshoff
2 – Joseph Dweba
3 – Trevor Nyakane
4 – Eben Etzebeth
5 – Franco Mostert
6 – Marco van Staden
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit
8 – Jasper Wiese

Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx
17 – Coenie Oosthuizen
18 – Vincent Koch
19 – Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg
20 – Rynhardt Elstadt
21 – Herschel Jantjies
22 – Jesse Kriel
23 – Damian Willemse
24 – Kwagga Smith
25 – Elton Jantjies

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Conor Murray
Conor Murray /PA

Head-to-head
The Lions have never lost to South Africa A across their five encounters, but the two sides drew the last time they met in 2009.

1955: Lions 15 – 12 South Africa A (Junior Springboks)
1962: Lions 16 – 11 South Africa A (Junior Springboks)
1980: Lions 17 – 6 South Africa A (Junior Springboks)
1997: Lions 51 – 22 South Africa A (Emerging Springboks)
2009: Lions 13 – 13 South Africa A (Emerging Springboks)

Match odds from Bet365
Bet365 have the Lions as 7/10 favourites to win this match.*

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Prediction
With the Test series drawing ever closer, Jim Hamilton feels time is running out for players to impress Gatland. He said: “With what has been a disjointed series so far we are all hoping that South Africa A offer a real strong test against the Lions, especially up front as we are less than two weeks from the Test matches themselves.

“For some players this will be the last opportunity to stake a claim to Warren Gatland and the other coaches for a place in the Test 23.”

 

*Odds accurate as of 13/07/21. BeGambleAware.org 18+ Gamble Responsibly

**New customers only. Min deposit £5. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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