KO 5.00pm at Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday 7th August 2021
Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action
It all comes down to this. After the phony war in the press; the pseudo Test match against South Africa ‘A’; isolation; injuries; selection battles; social media witch hunts – here we are with 80 minutes to decide the series between the Springboks and the Lions. Ultimately, it’s all on the 46 players selected for Saturday’s match. Who can get the job done?
Tale of the tape
BACKS
58 Tries 65
91kg Average weight 95kg
228 Total caps 342
29.6 Average age 28.9
FORWARDS
933kg Pack weight 917kg
25 Tries 36
362 Total caps 535
29.5 Average age 30.0
SUBSTITUTES
204 Total caps 397
22 Tries 52
28.8 Average age 28.7
Changes to the starting XVs from the Second Test
South Africa:
- 9. Reinach for de Klerk
- 5/7. de Jager for du Toit (with Mostert moving from 5 to 7)
Lions:
- 15. Williams for Hogg
- 14. Adams for Watson
- 12/13. Aki for Harris (with Henshaw moving from 12 to 13)
- 9. Price for Murray
- 1. Jones for Vunipola
- 2. Owens for Cowan-Dickie
SOUTH AFRICA
15 Willie le Roux
14 Cheslin Kolbe
13 Lukhanyo Am
12 Damian de Allende
11 Makazole Mapimpi
10 Handre Pollard
9 Cobus Reinach
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ADV Lions
ADV Springboks
EVEN
ADV Springboks
ADV Springboks
ADV Springboks
ADV Lions
B&I LIONS
15 Liam Williams
14 Josh Adams
13 Robbie Henshaw
12 Bundee Aki
11 Duhan van der Merwe
10 Dan Biggar
9 Ali Price
1 Steven Kitshoff
2 Bongi Mbonambi
3 Frans Malherbe
4 Eben Etzebeth
5 Lood de Jager
6 Siya Kolisi (c)
7 Franco Mostert
8 Jasper Wiese
EVEN
ADV Springboks
ADV Lions
ADV Springboks
ADV Lions
ADV Springboks
ADV Lions
EVEN
1 Wyn Jones
2 Ken Owens
3 Tadhg Furlong
4 Alun Wyn Jones (c)
5 Maro Itoje
7 Tom Curry
6 Courtney Lawes
8 Jack Conan
16 Malcolm Marx
17 Trevor Nyakane
18 Vincent Koch
19 Marco van Staden
20 Kwagga Smith
21 Herschel Jantjies
22 Morne Steyn
23 Damian Willemse
ADV Springboks
ADV Springboks
ADV Lions
EVEN
ADV Lions
ADV Lions
ADV Lions
ADV Springboks
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie
17 Mako Vunipola
18 Kyle Sinckler
19 Adam Beard
20 Sam Simmonds
21 Conor Murray
22 Finn Russell
23 Elliot Daly
Numbers from the Second Test
– The Lions only missed 5 tackles in the Test match. That didn’t help them stop South Africa progressing up the pitch though with the Springboks getting into position via penalties, contestable kicks and mauling dominance that only increased as the game went on.
– The Lions made 85 passes last Saturday. Scotland average 163 passes per game under Gregor Townsend. The only time the dark blues have made fewer than 85 passes in a match was 81 into the teeth of a gale and torrential rain against England at Murrayfield in 2020.
– The Springboks’ scrum halves have been responsible for 47% of their sides’ kicks in the first two Tests. There are big boots to fill for Cobus Reinach who is more renowned for his try-scoring exploits and work with ball in hand.
– Reducing their turnover count from 14 in the First Test to just 6 in the Second Test helped South Africa take control of the game. In particular, the Lions got very little change at the breakdown where the home side’s recycling efficiency meant short gains (their tight 5 made just 9 metres from 25 carries) but a regular supply of quick ball with very little chance of possession being conceded.
Scot Watch
– Duhan van der Merwe’s 7 starts are the equal most by a Scot on a Lions’ tour during the professional era alongside Tom Smith and Rob Wainwright (both South Africa, 1997 – a 13-game tour).
– Duhan and Ali Price will join Tom Smith (1997 and 2001) as the only Scots to play in all 3 matches of a Lions’ Test series in the pro era.
– If Finn Russell makes it onto the pitch then he will be the 7th Scot to play in this summer’s three Tests against the Springboks. That will be the most Scottish players to feature in a Lions’ series since 1924 when 9 Scots played against South Africa (a group who formed the core of the team that did the Grand Slam in 1925).
– Finn is in line to become the first Scot to feature in a Lions’ Test series at stand off since Gregor Townsend against South Africa, 28 June 1997 – a gap of 24 years.
Miscellany
– Between the end of the Six Nations and kick-off in the Third Test (4½ months), Liam Williams has played 248 minutes of rugby.
– Five of the South African pack and six members of their backline started the RWC final against England.
– Assuming he makes it off the bench (and the Lions have used every one of their replacements so far on tour) then Elliot Daly will be the only man to have played in all 8 of the Lions’ games in South Africa.
– Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw have started together in the centres on 27 previous occasions – 14 for Connacht, 12 for Ireland and 1 for the Lions (against Japan).
– There is a 14-year age gap between the two outside backs on the South African bench. Damian Willemse was just 6 years old when Morne Steyn made his Super Rugby debut for the Bulls.
Officials
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nic Berry (RA)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
The officials in this series have made mistakes and missed things. The same is true of any rugby match. I would be willing to bet that their error rate has been no worse than the players – possibly even lower. Contrary to social media crusades by some deluded individuals, the players do not have to deal with officials who are trying to cheat them. On the other hand, the referee and his team are coping with 46 players, the vast majority of whom will, at best, push the boundaries of the laws to their absolute limits but often just downright cheat on the off chance they get away with it.
There have been some mediocre and even downright bad performances on the pitch in the first two games. The refs’ have not been among them.