The British and Irish Lions faced off against the same club opposition two matches in a row for the first time in 111 years, when they faced the Cell C Sharks on Saturday.
Originally scheduled to take on the Vodacom Bulls, a COVID-19 outbreak in the Pretoria-based side meant that an alternative had to be found.
After beating the Sharks by 54-7 on Wednesday, the Lions made a number of changes, coming into the encounter with a more settled team than the one that was forced into a number of changes three days prior.
The Sharks came out a much stronger side than they had earlier, forcing a number of errors from the tourists.
However, the Durban-based Sharks were outdone in the second half, after losing a man to a red card, as the tourists turned up the heat on the Highveld.
British and Irish Lions Player Ratings
Rory Sutherland 6.5/10
Making up what is most likely to be the first test front row, Rory Sutherland and Tadhg Furlong made strong accounts of themselves against the Sharks' scrum. Elsewhere, Sutherlands' 10 carries did not make a lot of meters, however it was a strong all-round performance from the Scotsman
Jamie George 7.5/10
Jamie George laid down a marker for the other hookers in the Lions squad, scoring two tries in very different circumstances, while also performing his leadership duties superbly in the face of a some strong opposition in the first half.
Tadhg Furlong 6.5/10
Tadhg Furlong has his starting test jersey nailed on, and did nothing t0 alter that on Saturday. He was a powerhouse in the limited scrums that were available to him, and carried well, however he might need to get more on the ball to show his sidestep every now and then.
Courtney Lawes 6.5/10
Courtney Lawes will cause some questions for Warren Gatland heading into the test series. While he carried well, was superb in the lineouts and made a number of breakdowns, Lawes needs to make more tackles if he is to get in ahead of the other locks in the side to secure a starting place.
Jonny Hill 7/10
A definite improvement from his outing three days earlier, Jonny Hill showed that he can run a lineout at a high level, and added some of his bulk to the carries. While he was not asked to make a huge number of tackles, he too could do with upping his work rate on defence.
Tadhg Beirne 8/10
Another one throwing doubt in the mind of Gatland this week, Tadhg Beirne is surely in the running to make a test start against South Africa. His two tries showed his hunger on attack, and his workrate at the breakdown was exceptional.
Hamish Watson 8/10
A loose trio including Beirne, Jack Conan and Hamish Watson would not be what was expected heading into the tests, but on the back of their recent performances it is highly likely to be the one that Gatland goes with. The 'small' Scotsman carried well throughout the match, and was a stalwart defender against an exciting Sharks team.
Jack Conan 7.5/10
Jack Conan was the primary ball carrier from a powerful, yet mobile, Lions pack, and made a good number of meters for his efforts. Defensively strong, and always looking for work, Conan's try was the icing on top of a very decent performance.
Gareth Davies 7/10
Gareth Davies had ben in isolation following the false positive COVID-19 test during the week, and started the game off as if he was still not yet on the park, but he soon warmed up to the match and made enough of an impact to put his hand up as a potential back up to Conor Murray on the test bench.
Dan Biggar 7.25/10
Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell are battling it out for the 10 jersey, and playing the same opposition three days apart would be the ideal litmus test. While he did not have as big an impact on the game as Farrell had on Wednesday, Biggar was cool under pressure and controlled the backline well.
Duhan van der Merwe 8/10
Duhan van der Merwe is is making the most of every minute he gets in the red jersey, and it could well mean that he lines up against his country of birth in the first test. He made a mammoth 128 meters, but it was his enthusiasm to get on the ball at every opportunity that makes him an exciting test prospect.
Chris Harris 6.5/10
Chris Harris struggled to stand out in an exciting backline, with his biggest asset heading into the match, his defence, letting him down the most, as he only made half of his tackles. He made up for it with some strong carries and a brilliant line to score his try.
Elliot Daly 8/10
Elliot Daly was a deserved man of the match, being involved in everything good that the Lions did. While he made a few errors, one of which lead directly to a Sharks try, he distributed well out wide and knew when to take the gap to put his teammates in space.
Anthony Watson 7.5/10
While not the fiery performance that he has been watching the other wingers in the squad have against South African opposition, Anthony Watson eventually found the tryline twice in his first start for the tourists this year. He was the only person to have more running meters than Van der Merwe.
Liam Williams 6/10
Liam Williams needed a huge performance today to convince Gatland to overlook the performances of Josh Adams, Van der Merwe and Louis Rees-Zammit recently, and while he did little wring, he did not offer nearly as much as the others have so far. While he made over 70 meters, he did not beat many defenders, and was unable to add too much to the Lions attack that wasn't already there.
Notable Sharks players: Anthony Volmink 7/10; Le Roux Roets 7.25/10; Werner Kok 7.75/10
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