Hello and welcome to our live coverage of this evening’s clash between the Cell C Sharks and the British and Irish Lions at the Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

It’s been a busy day of Lions news already, with Maro Itoje and Finn Russell both ruled out of today’s game. As a result, Bundee Aki comes on the Lions bench and Courtney Lawes has been bumped up to the starting team.

In the last few minutes, the Lions have also confirmed that England’s Marcus Smith will join the squad to provide cover for Russell. The Scotland out-half, who is battling an Achilles issue, will remain on tour but has already been ruled out of the next three scheduled fixtures.

Here’s how the Lions will now line up following those late changes:

British & Irish Lions (v Sharks)

15. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) #850
1. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
2. Jamie George – captain (Saracens, England) #819
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
4. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) #826 
5. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) #845
6. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) #847
8. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839

Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) #842
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814
19. Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales) #852
20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) #849
21. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) #853
22. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
23. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) #837 

The Lions players never dreamed of playing the Sharks in back-to-back matches in South Africa but, to their credit, they have learned to roll with the punches in this strangest of rugby seasons.

You can read Murray Kinsella’s match preview here.

Here’s Warren Gatland on his decision to call-up Marcus Smith.

🚨 | Some BIG news from the British & Irish Lions camp today!

20-year-old Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith will be joining Warren Gatland's squad in South Africa - here's the head coach explaining his decision...💭🦁pic.twitter.com/2iWxM9mGIK

— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 10, 2021

Jamie George captains the Lions today. Here’s the hooker at the coin toss with Sharks captain Phendulani Buthelezi. Just over five minutes to kick-off now.

Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

KICK-OFF

We are underway in Pretoria.

TRY – Sharks 0 Lions 5 (Harris)

6mins

Sharks 0 British & Irish Lions 7

Well that didn’t take long…

The Lions made their first venture into the Sharks 22 with Jamie George finding Tadhg Beirne from the lineout. The Lions maul didn’t really get going however, and the Sharks managed to push them into touch. 

The Sharks then looked to play the ball out from their own lineout, before eventually kicking possession back to the Lions, and on the counter, Duhan van der Merwe made a good break before playing in Harris, who crossed for his first Lions try, with Biggar adding the extras.

TRY – Sharks 5 Lions 7 (Anthony Volmink)

TRY – Sharks 12 Lions 7 (Thaakir Abrahams)

15mins

Sharks 12 B&I Lions 7

Two tries in quick succession for the Sharks has made things interesting in Pretoria.

The first came from an Elliot Daly handling error, the Sharks scooping up the loose ball and working it wide to Anthony Volmink.

The second try saw Thaakir Abrahams dot down following a neat grubber from Lionel Cronje, who is 1 from 2 with his conversion attempts.

TRY – Sharks 12 B&I Lions 12 (George)

22mins

Sharks 12 B&I Lions 12

Jamie George finishes a strong lineout maul to bag his first try for the Lions, with Dan Biggar dragging his conversion wide. That’s four tries in the opening 20 minutes.

TRY – Sharks 17 B&I Lions 12 (Hendrikse)

25mins

Sharks 19 B&I Lions 12

Another Sharks try from a Lions error, this time Gareth Davies’ floated pass intercepted by Jaden Hendrikse, who did well to read the play and has the gas to sprint home from his own half. Lionel Cronje slots the conversion and the Lions are chasing the game again.

TRY – Sharks 19 B&I Lions 17 (Van der Merwe)

27mins

Sharks 19 B&I Lions 19

Another costly error leads to a Lions try. After just taking the lead, the Sharks spill the restart, the Lions turnover the ball and some good play from Dan Biggar and Liam Williams sets Van der Merwe over in the corner.

Biggar adds the extras and we’re level again in Pretoria.

A small break in play now. Here’s a look at Jamie George’s try.

💪 | Captain fantastic!

Jamie George was given the armband for today's match and he's now on the scoresheet after a smart line-out from the tourists! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/Sx47jkKTGJ

— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 10, 2021

30mins

The Sharks have an opportunity to move clear again, but Cronje drags a penalty attempt wide.

TRY – Sharks 24 Lions 19 (Volmink)

37mins

Sharks 26 B&I Lions 19

Another Lions error, another Sharks try. Van der Merwe can’t reach Biggar’s pass out wide, and Abrahams is on to the loose ball like a flash. He bursts forward and plays in Volmink, with Cronje converting.

TRY – Sharks 26 Lions 24 (Beirne)

39mins

Sharks 26 B&I Lions 26

Tadhg Beirne gets in on the action, the Munster man scoring his second Lions try with a smart pick and go. Biggar converts and once again, the Sharks manage to lose their lead in a matter of minutes.

HALF-TIME

Well, that was all quite sloppy really. An error-ridden first half comes to an end with the Lions pulling level courtesy of Tadhg Beirne, scoring the eighth try of the opening 40 minutes.

We’ll be back with all the second-half action shortly.

The second-half is underway in Pretoria.

RED CARD – Jaden Hendrikse

46mins

Sharks 26 B&I Lions 26

The Lions throw another intercept pass and the Sharks get up the pitch before turning over the ball, with Liam Williams eventually held up and bundled out of play. We then have a TMO check which results in Jaden Hendrikse being shown a red card, the Sharks scrum-half for an elbow to the head of Williams.

Meanwhile Conor Murray has come in for Gareth Davies.

TRY – Sharks 26 B&I Lions 31 (Conan)

49mins

Sharks 26 B&I Lions 31 

The Lions take control again, with Conan powering over in the corner. The Sharks simply don’t have the power to deal with the Lions when they get their pick-and-go game going, with Furlong held up just short beforehand. Biggar’s conversion clips the post and bounces away.

TRY – Sharks 26 B&I Lions 36 (Daly)

52mins

Sharks 26 B&I Lions 38

A well-worked try sees Daly run a good line to break the Sharks defence, which seems to be tiring now. Biggar kicks the extras and you feel this could start to get ugly for the Sharks.

TRY – Sharks 31 Lions 38 (Kok)

54mins

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 38

Well that last update didn’t age very well…

The Sharks block Murray’s attempted exit and the ball falls nicely to Kok, who is able to cross in the corner. The conversion sails well wide.

Game on, again.

TRY – Sharks 31 B&I Lions 43 (George)

56mins

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 45 

This is just end-to-end stuff. The Lions move the ball through the phases well, with a good carry from Tadhg Beirne, before Hamish Watson pops it to George, who powers over from close range for his second try of the game. Biggar kicks the conversion.

The try is George’s last action of the day as Gatland introduces a new front row, while Sam Simmonds is also on for Jack Conan.

TRY – Sharks 31 B&I Lions 50 (Watson)

59mins

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 52

Another very straight-forward try for the tourists. Anthony Watson almost gets over in the corner but is brought to ground a few yards short of the line. The Lions quickly rework the ball and move through the phases, before Watson finally crosses close to the posts. Biggar hits the conversion again to move the Lions 21 points clear.

TRY – Sharks 31 B&I Lions 57 (Beirne)

64mins 

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 59 

The Sharks defence has been all over the place since they went down to 14 men. The Lions set up camp in the Sharks 22 again, and Beirne is able to cross without any real pressure. It’s all getting very easy for the Lions now.

TRY – Sharks 31 B&I Lions 64 (Curry)

67mins 

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 66

Anthony Watson breaks the line, and Tom Curry – who had only just entered the action – is rewarded for running a good support line with his first Lions try. Biggar converts and the gap is out to 35 points.

Bundee Aki has just entered the action.

YELLOW CARD – Conor Murray

76mins

So the Lions tour captain, Conor Murray, will sit out the end of this contest – if we can still call it that – after the scrum-half is yellow carded, Murray the latest offender following a series of penalties against the Lions.

TRY – Sharks 31 B&I Lions 71 (Watson)

79mins 

Sharks 31 B&I Lions 71

Anthony Watson helps the Lions pass the 70-point mark with a superb solo finish, breaking from deep and showing great pace and awareness to hold off a couple of defenders. Elliot Daly misses the conversion with a drop-kick attempt.

FULL-TIME

A game of two halves in Pretoria, with the Lions winning the second half 45-5.

The Sharks put up a good fight in the second half and capitalised on some sloppy errors from the Lions to go in 26-26 at half-time, but that red card for Jaden Hendrikse five minutes into the second period totally changed the dynamic of the game.

Some good moments for the Lions but Warren Gatland won’t be happy with a lot of the errors on display today.

Thanks for joining our liveblog, we’ll have a full report and all the reaction on The42 shortly.