Sharks 3 British & Irish Lions 39

IAN MCGEECHAN hailed a ‘‘very strong performance’’ after his British and Irish Lions sunk the Sharks to maintain their unbeaten South Africa tour record.

The Lions triumphed 39-3, making it four wins from four as the countdown continues towards next week’s first Test against the world champion Springboks.

The tourists scored 32 unanswered second-half points, with a five-try haul being shared by Lee Mears, Mike Phillips, Luke Fitzgerald, Lee Byrne and Jamie Heaslip.

Fly-half Ronan O’Gara added 12 points from the boot, and there was a late conversion by substitute James Hook as the Sharks were blown away on a breezy night by the Indian Ocean.

‘‘I am very pleased,’’ said McGeechan.

‘‘We showed very strong discipline and patience - it was a very strong performance.

‘‘We didn’t panic. We just kept building a performance and reaped the benefits in ths second half.’’ McGeechan, meanwhile, played down any injury concerns surrounding centre Jamie Roberts, who took a knock to his shoulder.

The Lions have seen two players ruled out of their South African adventure in the last 48 hours – flanker Stephen Ferris (knee) and wing Leigh Halfpenny (thigh).

McGeechan added: ‘‘There’s no problem. It is just bruising with Jamie’s shoulder. He took a heavy bang on it, but (Lions doctor) James Robson is pretty happy.

‘‘You don’t get carried away with things. The Test matches will be another level.

‘‘We need to keep our feet on the ground. Our discipline and patience, and the fact we finished very strongly, showed the players are enjoying playing with the ball and without it.’’ Lions skipper Paul O’Connell saluted his team’s secondhalf display saying: ‘‘We stayed very patient, relaxed and stayed on the job.

‘‘It was a big step forward for us.”