Lions grab double over much-improved Sharks

The British and Irish Lions grabbed a second win over the Sharks in their tour of South Africa, as a red card hampered the Durban outfit’s much improved effort.

Earlier this week the Sharks had been thoroughly outplayed by the Lions and were handed a golden opportunity to have a second go at the visitors and redeem themselves. Stepping in for the Covid-hit Bulls, the Sharks stepped up their physicality and intensity and found themselves in the lead at certain stages of the first half.

Their valiant effort was deflated by an unfortunate red card incident, likely fueled by the passion of the fixture, as scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse’s evening was ended after he was caught striking a Lions player with his elbow.

The match then shifted dramatically in favour of the visitors who quickly ran away with a comfortable result and scoreline.

Even-stevens at half time

Duhan van der Merwe continued his impressive tour to his country of birth with a lethal counter-attack from a Sharks exit. The wing scythed through the Sharks forward-laden midfield and found support from Chris Harris who sprinted away to score. 

The Sharks hit back soon afterwards with their first try of the game as Werner Kok pounced on a dropped ball. Some good hands from the Sharks found the ball in the outside channel and Anthony Volmink ran in the try. 

Lionel Cronje, who returned to the Sharks in recent weeks after spending five years in Japan, provided the magic that saw the South African outfit go ahead. The flyhalf grubbered the ball into the left corner before it was dotted down by a flying Thaakir Abrahams. 

The visitors scored their second try of the game from a routine driving maul inside the Sharks 22, with skipper Jamie George scoring from the base to mark his first match as captain of the Lions. The try was unconverted, leaving the sides level 12-12.

The visitors drew level soon again soon after as Lions flyhalf Dan Biggar took the ball to the line and drew in a couple of defenders deep in the Sharks half. A flick out the back of the hand found Van der Merwe who had a simple run in over the try line. 

A mistake from the Scotland international sparked the Sharks’ fourth try, as Abrahams snapped up the loose ball and drew the last man in front of him allowing Volmink to streak away over the tryline. Cronje converted to give the Sharks a 26-19 lead.

For a third time, the Lions hit back to level the scores. Irish flank Tadgh Beirne spotted a gap at a ruck inside the Sharks’ 22 and dotted down, before Biggar converted to make it 26-all as the sides went into the sheds for half-time shortly after the restart.

The entire complexion of the game was changed five minutes after the break as Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was shown a red card. The half back had thrown a late elbow in a tackle and the blow to the opposition’s head warranted a red card. 

The Lions then took advantage of their numerical supremacy and scored two tries in quick succession. Jack Conan was added to the try-scorers list as he bulldozed over the line after a number of pick-and-goes from the Lions pack near the Sharks line. Elliot Daly then scored a try from a break in the midfield.

Werner Kok kept the Sharks within a shout as he managed to regathered a charge down and score. But the Durbanites conceded soon after, as the Lions captain George scored his second try of the evening running a hard line to crash over the white wash.

Right wing Anthony Watson brought up 50 points on the scoreboard as he cut through the line running off Biggar’s inside shoulder to score. The Lions flyhalf converted making it 52-21. Beirne grabbed a second try of the match and that was followed by a runaway try from Tom Curry. The tenth try saw the Lions go ahead 66-31.

Watson brought down the curtain on proceedings as he ran in his second try of the night, which wrapped up a 71-31 victory for the Lions.