South Africa ‘A’ v British and Irish Lions Match Preview

KO 7.00pm at Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Wednesday 14th July 2021
Live on Sky Sports Action

The last time that the Lions took on South Africa ‘A’ (then named Emerging Springboks) Ross Ford and Nathan Hines played and Mike Blair was an unused sub. Just three of the 22 players on the South African development team would go on to win 10 or more full caps for their country. By contrast, in the 25-man squad named for Wednesday’s game, 17 players have already won 10 or more full caps. This is an extremely strong selection for the home side – a Test team in all but name with a little bit of experimentation thrown in.

Tale of the tape

BACKS
49   Test tries   76
90kg   Average weight   94kg
245   Test caps   387
29.9   Average age   28.9

FORWARDS
925kg   Pack weight   898kg
11   Test tries   30
277   Test caps  431
28.5   Average age   29.1

SUBSTITUTES
197   Test caps   313
31   Test tries   50
28.4   Average age   28.2

Teams

Scot Watch

Two Scots in the matchday squad are the fewest for any game so far on tour. It’s still an improvement on 2017 though – outwith the Test matches there were three occasions on the tour to New Zealand when there was a solitary Scottish player in the matchday 23.

Chris Harris will be the first Scottish back to play against South Africa ‘A’ since Jim Renwick and Andy Irvine in 1980. He will be making his third start of this tour – the most by any Scot for the Lions in the centres in the pro era. Robbie Henshaw’s continued absence from the midfield has really opened up the contest for the 12 and 13 jerseys – although if the Irishman is fit to play this Saturday he almost certainly fills one slot for the Test series. All Chris can do is continue to play the way he has so far in South Africa and put his hand up for selection as the defensive leader at outside centre.

Zander Fagerson will make his third appearance of the tour and has potentially one final big opportunity to stake a claim for a Test match place. It will require a huge shift in the loose and a powerhouse scrummaging performance to oust either Kyle Sinckler or Tadhg Furlong from the 23. Zander will probably face off against South Africa’s replacement loosehead, Coenie Oosthuizen – a player Fagerson has some previous experience against from when Sale travelled to take on Glasgow in the Champions Cup a couple of years back.

South Africa ‘A’ scouting report

Having held their squad back from playing for their provincial sides during the Lions’ early fixtures on tour, Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus have decided to let it absolutely rip in this game. The squad of 25 named includes 18 World Cup winners, 12 of whom played in the RWC final victory against England. Handre Pollard and Makazole Mapimpi are the only starting backs missing from that famous night in Tokyo.

Uncapped players:

With many in this side being very familiar figures on the international stage here’s an opportunity to look at the players in the South Africa ‘A’ lineup who came into this summer uncapped and rate their chances of featuring in the Test series to come.

Joseph Dweba should be well known to followers of the PRO14 – the hooker hoovered up tries and Player of the Match awards during his time with the Cheetahs. Now with Bordeaux-Begles in the Top 14, he is an awkward customer to put down and always liable to make yards. As things stand he’s unlikely to displace the top two choices at hooker – Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx – but 25 is no age for a front row forward and his time will surely come.

Jasper Wiese is another former Cheetah but perhaps one who didn’t stand out quite as much as Dweba during his time in the PRO14. It took a move to Leicester to really unlock his potential and he has found the perfect home in a Tigers’ squad who have auditioned any number of back row forwards in recent years but who have struggled to find a player who performs at a consistently high level week in week out. Wiese has filled that gap as an abrasive ball carrier with a huge appetite for work. Having already edged Marcel Coetzee out for selection to the 47-man Springboks squad – and with Duane Vermeulen nursing an injury – Wiese now finds himself in pole position for the number 8 jersey

Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg played for South Africa under 20s back in 2014 when two of his teammates were Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe! The big lock might have been tempted to throw in his lot with France, having been based there since 2016 with Montpellier but his patience has been rewarded. Given the injury issues surrounding RG Snyman and Lood de Jager, van Rensburg could well have a shot at a bench spot and a full cap against the Lions.

Extremely tenuous Scottish rugby connection:

Excluding matches against New Zealand and Australia, Frans Steyn has tasted defeat in just 4 of 47 appearances for South Africa, with Scotland accounting for one of those defeats (he also managed 2 wins against the dark blues). That loss came at Murrayfield when starting fly half, Morne Steyn, was played off the pitch by Dan Parks who scored all 21 of Scotland’s points. The other defeats for Steyn came against England (10 wins); Ireland (no wins); and the Lions (2 wins).

Officials

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

The warm-up refereeing group continues (seriously – imagine the ref chat and Dad jokes taking place in that bubble) and Mr Peyper returns to the centre of attention. Local fans didn’t seem too impressed with his last outing when the Lions’ tackled the Cell C Sharks for the first time. With a number of Test candidates on show, Warren Gatland will be hoping his team avoids any serious troubles with the officials.