Vunipola & Daly to start for Lions against Sharks
Both Mako Vunipola and Elliot Daly will start for the British and Irish Lions on Wednesday evening when the tourists take on Cell C Sharks at Emirates Airline Park (kick off 6pm BST).
The pair were both on the bench for the win against Sigma Lions on Saturday, and will now get the chance to start this week.
Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Maro Itoje are all rested after playing the majority of the match on Saturday, which they won 56-14.
Ireland lock, Iain Henderson, will captain the Lions for the first time, while Tour Captain, Conor Murray, is named amongst the replacements.
The game, which will be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports, is the second of eight Tour matches in the 2021 Castle Lager Lions Series which culminates with three Tests against World Champions, the Springboks.
“It’s a quick turnaround from Saturday, but we’ll be ready to go by Wednesday night,” said Lions Head Coach Warren Gatland.
“I’m pleased we managed to come through the weekend’s game unscathed, and the boys have rested and recovered well. We feel like we’re slowly building, but, as ever, there’s still room for improvement in all facets of our game.
“Wednesday night is another chance for us to have a look at a few more combinations. I’m looking forward to seeing how the back row goes; it’s an exciting mixture and one that we hope will offer something a bit different.
“We expect another physical test against a side who are known for their power play and ambition.”
CELL C SHARKS v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
Wednesday 7 July 2021
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 6pm (BST)
15 Liam Williams
14 Anthony Watson
13 Elliot Daly
12 Bundee Aki
11 Duhan van der Merwe
10 Dan Biggar
9 Gareth Davies
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Iain Henderson
5 Adam Beard
6 Josh Navidi
7 Tom Curry
8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements:
16 Ken Owens
17 Rory Sutherland
18 Tadhg Furlong
19 Tadhg Beirne
20 Jack Conan
21 Conor Murray
22 Stuart Hogg
23 Chris Harris
