Compiled by Ranjika Perera
THE TWO TEAMS
South Africa ‘A’:
Willie le Roux; Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am (Capt.), Damian de Allende, Sbu Nkosi; Morné Steyn, Faf de Klerk, Steven Kitshoff, Joseph Dweba, Trevor Nyakane, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Marco van Staden, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Jasper Wiese
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Coenie Oosthuizen, Vincent Koch, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies, Jesse Kriel, Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, and Elton Jantjies
Lions:
Anthony Watson; Louis Rees-Zammit, Chris Harris, Bundee Aki, Josh Adams, Dan Biggar, Conor Murray (Capt.); Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Iain Henderson, Josh Navidi, Tom Curry, and Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Zander Fagerson, Adam Beard, Tadhg Beirne, Sam Simmonds, Gareth Davies, and Elliot Daly
[caption id="attachment_149347" align="alignnone" width="454"]
Connor Murray (on left) will lead in the absence of tour Captain Alan Wyn Jones[/caption]
Tour Captain Conor Murray leads the British and Irish Lions for the first time against a strong South Africa ‘A’ team in Cape Town today (14). There are 12 changes to the side that played against Cell C Sharks on Saturday (10), with only Anthony Watson, Chris Harris, and Dan Biggar retained.
Murray, speaking before the match, said, “It is going to be pretty much a Test match. It is almost a fourth Test. It is only going to sharpen our focus more. It is a massive challenge and good prep for what is to come.”
South Africa ‘A’ has a few stars from their World Cup-winning side. Faf de Klerk and Pieter-Steph du Toit are among the stars starting for hosts. South African Rugby Federation have requested Lions’ Coach Warren Gatland to play another fixture against the South African ‘A’ on coming Saturday (17). Gatland has rejected the request and stood firm against any change regarding fixture dates.
Today’s game goes ahead despite a Covid-19 outbreak in the South African camp taking the total number of cases to over 20 since the Lions’ tour began. South Africa Captain Siya Kolisi is the latest to test positive, two weeks before the first Test against the British and Irish Lions.
Dan du Preez, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Scarra Ntubeni, and Makazole Mapimpi, plus three of the management team too, have also tested positive for coronavirus during the weekend. However, a group of Springboks players will return to training on Sunday (18) after six-days of isolation.
South Africa’s second Test against Georgia was cancelled because both teams had Covid-19 cases. The three-Test series against the touring Lions takes place on consecutive weekends from 24 July, while the reigning world champions having only played one game since their triumph.
=== === ===
Argentina tie with Ireland; English thump Canada Rugby July Internationals [caption id="attachment_149345" align="alignnone" width="455"]
Aaron Wainwright of Wales (in red t-shirt) tries to find a way through, as they had to settle for a 20-20 draw against Argentina at the Principality Stadium on Saturday (10)[/caption]
* England 70 - 14 Canada
Debutant Adam Radwan and Jamie Blamire both scored hat-tricks as England racked up 10 tries to thump Canada at Twickenham. The hosts had six tries in the first half, three of which came from driving mauls, with two of them finished by Blamire, and another a penalty try. Joe Cokanasiga added two more to tries to his tally while debutant Radwan showed his pace to run over for his first for the night.
Canada scored all 14 points in the first half through two converted tries. First came through scrum-half Ross Braude, who sprinted through England’s defence to cross the whitewash. Second try came after, England Captain Lewis Ludlow was shown yellow for kneeing Canada’s Jake Ilnicki in the head during a ruck, and the visitors made the most of the extra man, shifting the ball nicely to send Kainoa Lloyd over.
After the break, Radwan added two more tries using his pace while Ellis Genge was powered over, under the posts and for the tenth try, Blamire touched down for his treble. Marcus Smith kicked nine conversions as the young Englishman got called up to the British & Irish Lions’ squad in South Africa after the game.
* Wales 20 - 20 Argentina
Wales were forced to settle for a draw against 14-man Argentina after a spirited performance from the visitors at the Principality Stadium on Saturday (10). In the 29th minute, Los Pumas full-back Juan Cruz Mallia was sent off for a dangerous high challenge on Wales’ scrum-half Kieran Hardy. However, Argentina led in the first few minutes, before Wales scored their first points through substitute scrum-half Tomos Williams’ try. Will Rowlands scored the other try for the hosts while Callum Sheedy kicked two penalties and Jarrod Evans added a conversion for them.
For the visitors, flanker Pablo Matera and centre Jeronimo De La Fuente touched down, and Nicolas Sanchez booted two penalties and two conversions. However, Evans had the chance to win it for Wales in the final moments but he missed a long-range penalty which ended the game on 20-20.
* Ireland 71 - 10 USA
Ireland continued their winning form as they ran in 10 tries against the U.S.A. on Saturday. Robert Baloucoune and Nick Timoney got tries on their debuts, while Ronan Kelleher scored four of his own.
It all started with a penalty from Joey Carbery for Ireland. The first Irish try came from Baloucoune who showed speed to earn his first try. In response, USA got their first score on board through Luke Carty’s penalty. Immediately afterwards, a second Irish try came from Ronan Kelleher who touched down on the line to extend the lead. Ireland kept up the tempo with the third try through Nick Timoney who also scores on his debut. Minutes before the break, Ronan Kelleher crossed over for his second try of the night.
Ronan completed the hat-trick minutes into the second half. Matters got worse for U.S.A., after a ‘TMO review’ on a tackle by U.S. back-row Riekert Hattingh who goes in contact with the head of Kelleher and the visitors were reduced to 14 men for the final 26 minutes. Ronan shook off the hit and followed up with his fourth try. Towards the last few minutes, Ireland had a flurry of tries through Stuart McCloskey, Hugo Keenan, Gavin Coombes, and Finlay Bealham to round up ten tries for the hosts. U.S.A. managed to find consolation in their only try of the night when replacement scrum-half Michael Baska got the ball down.