Lions 2009 - Superb Lions down South Africa

Eurosport - Mon, 06 Jul 15:44:00 2009

The British and Irish Lions avoided a second successive series whitewash and restored their pride by thumping world champions South Africa 28-9 in the third and final Test on Saturday.

RUGBY 2009 Lions britanniques Ricky Flutey Ugo Monye Photo AFP - 0

South Africa, who won the first two Tests, made 10 changes and two tries for recalled wing Shane Williams helped the Lions avoid a first series sweep of defeats by the Springboks four years after losing 3-0 to New Zealand.

The victory, which matched their highest score and widest winning margin against South Africa set in 1974, also ended the Lions' record run of seven successive defeats. Their last win came in the first test against Australia in 2001.

It was South Africa's first loss at Ellis Park since France beat them in 2001.

"It's a very proud moment. Today was very important," captain Paul O'Connell said.

"It's been a very tough week mentally for everyone and we really dug deep there and some guys produced some serious form and some great scores."

The tourists, also forced to make seven changes following a raft of injuries, looked far more organised from the start.

Phil Vickery, who was scrummaged off the field by Tendai Mtawarira in the first test, gained revenge when he popped the "Beast" out of the first scrum and earned the Lions a penalty which fly-half Stephen Jones converted.

A great charge by hugely impressive number eight Jamie Heaslip and a neat inside pass by centre Riki Flutey then set up two tries for Williams as the Lions reached halftime deservedly 15-6 ahead.

Unlike last week in Pretoria when they allowed the Springboks to fight back from an 11-point deficit, the Lions overcame the sin-binning of lock Simon Shaw for kneeing and maintained the pressure after the break.

Ugo Monye intercepted a Wynand Olivier pass for a 70-metre try and two penalties from Jones, who kicked three in total plus two conversions, stretched the lead.

The new-look South African side, who wore white "justice" armbands in protest at Bakkies Botha's suspension, struggled for cohesion and when they did cross the line the TV official ruled out Odwa Ndungane's try for putting a foot in touch.

"We knew we had to dig deep and the guys are very conscious of the whole Lions ethos and we wanted to do it proud," O'Connell said.

"The first game we could have won, the second we should have won and we were eager the memory of playing well wouldn't be upset by a poor performance today.

"I hope people don't misconstrue the lap of honour," added the Irish lock. "We are under no illusions we've lost the test series but a lot of people have paid a lot of money to come here and we just wanted to thank them."

Coach Ian McGeechan, in charge when the Lions triumphed 2-1 12 years ago, added: "It was massive, the players really picked themselves up. There was such sadness in the dressing room last week so to come back and play like that again, that's an outstanding group of players.

"To finish off the way we have done is satisfaction but it's slightly secondary satisfaction as we came here to win the Test series and we haven't managed that."

Reuters

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  1. Middlesex terraces doesn't need barbed wire­ defences, do they?

    From C3p0, on Mon 6 Jul 10:04PM
  2. E=mc squared: Let me get this right. You are being­ racist on our behalf, talking about immigrants taking­ our schools and using our healthcare. I will have to­ let the BNP know that they can count on you.

    You also­ talk about the millions leaving our shores. A quick­ check shows that the UK is the 7th most popular place­ to emigrate to. We have a net migration of over­ 700,000. In comparison South Africa has a net migration­ of 50,000 putting them on a par with Hungary and the­ Czech Republic (joint 45th). If you haven't visited­ Hungary or the Czech Republic I'm sure you can­ imagine that the aftermath of Soviet influence is not­ pretty. Imagine being as popular a destination as a­ former eastern block state! Mind you, I hear most of­ the houses in SA require soviet style defences. My bet­ is that your house has barbed wire on it, right?­ Probably better to live with an in-bred queen that­ live-in fear that your house is gonna get burgled any­ minute......Was that a noise outside?

    From John B, on Mon 6 Jul 3:19PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    The Brits are guilty of the worst atrocities of slavery­ the world has ever seen and they have the cheek to talk­ about apartheid,at least Sarf Efrica has moved on.
    The­ UK has been given away to immigrants and your­ health,schools sold to the lowest immigrant bidder,ask­ the millions leaving your "fine shores" for a­ better life.

    From e=mc squared, on Mon 6 Jul 1:45PM
  4. Disrespecting the Queen? Tch tch tch!

    How can a South­ African possibly comment on anyone being in-bred. They­ all have the same surname for christ's sake. Surely­ that is a reflection on a very limited gene pool over­ there. If they could afford banjo's I'm sure­ they'd be playing them.

    From John B, on Mon 6 Jul 1:22PM
  5. Lesley!! whos whining im over the moon we beat even if­ it was just the once!!

    From Nicola B, on Mon 6 Jul 1:01PM
  6. ohh yes lesley!!!!!

    From Louise P, on Mon 6 Jul 12:57PM
  7. Hey Jaco, I'd rather have a inbred 80 year old as­ my head of state than the f*****g idiot you've got.­ 6 wives, charged with rape and fraud and his favourite­ song is 'bring me my machine gun' - excellent­ choice !

    From BigRich, on Mon 6 Jul 12:33PM
  8. Don't have time to read all the comments but as­ this is a rugby forum I'll carry on. Our pride of­ British and Irish Lions did, indeed, make us proud.­ They played brilliantly against a tough Boks XV with­ great play from all departments of the field. The­ players who had something to prove from previous games­ Vickery, Moyne and S Williams, vindicated their­ selection in spades. Simon Shaw was sublime and the­ discipline the Lions showed in the face of some­ extremely dubious Bok tactics was enormous. We could­ say we won the series on aggregate but that would be­ churlish and take away from the South African­ supporters glory. Well done Boks. It was close with­ some fabulous rugby played from both sides.

    From neilfrederick, on Mon 6 Jul 12:28PM
  9. Dennis B
    I got a brickbat off you for saying that the­ Boks put 5 Lions out of the tour.
    On reflection, you­ are probably right. I should have said that­ "because 5 Lions were out of the tour, that tipped­ the balance in the Boks favour".
    So nice to see­ civilised comments coming from SA. You are more like­ the 100's of Saffies I have met and liked over the­ years. It's a real pity that some of the bigoted­ and nasty one's want to write on this site.
    Alles­ van die beste, Dennis (excuse the spelling)
    And to all­ South Africans - you are all welcome in UK and Wales in­ particular. It's bigots, racists and idiots that we­ don't want.

    From BigRich, on Mon 6 Jul 12:19PM
  10. ... and Jaco, like many of my fellow Brits, I am a­ Republican, but who do you think you are, dissing a­ lady of 80 years of age? Hard man, clearly!!

    From Ian, on Mon 6 Jul 12:08PM
  11. Well said Dennis B. Have to say, come on to this site­ because of the rugby - not to hear xenophobic ranting­ of idiots who clearly don't understand the game.­ The true supporter will have enjoyed the series­ immensely; been bemused by Burger staying on the park,­ equally bemused by bans given to Botha and now Shaw,­ delighted by the fact that so many tries were touched­ down by wing threequarters - both sides blessed with­ pace and rugby brain, excited by the instant­ understanding between Roberts and Bod, thrilled by the­ brute force of two great sets of forwards engaging in­ rugby combat to thrill us all. Hope I'm still alive­ and kicking in 12 years - would love to be there for­ the next episode! In the meantime, bring on Oz.

    From Ian, on Mon 6 Jul 12:06PM
  12. Accolades to Geech and his team for the spirit the­ tests were played in!
    Accolades to Shane and Vickery­ for their performances
    Brickbats to De Villiers (Idiot)­ for disrespecting the Lions and Tradition by making ALL­ those changes... He STILL doesn't understand­ !!!!
    Brickbats to Schalk Burger.. nuff said
    Brickbats­ to citing commissioner for Botha and Shaw­ suspensions... if those citings are the norm, the All­ Blacks won't have enough players for the final Test­ in 8 years time !!!
    Brickbate to the Lion supporter who­ said the Boks put 5 players out of the tour... 3 of­ them were put out of action by their own stupity or bad­ luck (O Driscoll included
    Accolades to ALL the British­ and Irish Lions travelling supporters... it was great­ to have you guys here
    Good luck in 4 years time vs­ Wallabies !!!

    Go BOKKE !!!!

    From dennis, on Mon 6 Jul 11:36AM
  13. Menace in the making you should take up Ballet­ definately, pushing and pulling jerseys is commonplace­ on the rugby field if you had ever watched a game­ before the test you would know that. Your team does it­ all the time! What are you a football player?

    From Lesley, on Mon 6 Jul 11:31AM
  14. Louise P spoken so politely, like a true representative­ of the United Kingdom.

    From Lesley, on Mon 6 Jul 11:15AM
  15. To be expected, you won the game and are stil whining!­ Grow up please before you put the world off the lions.­ Well done Shane Williams, given the chance you showed­ what you could do! Oh yes, was that Shaw with the­ illegal play, couldnt be, he isnt a rugby thug! Oh wait­ it is.

    From Lesley, on Mon 6 Jul 11:14AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    you south africans, if you dont like our comments dont­ f.....g come on here go back to your own f.....k­ country if its sooooooo great!!

    From Louise P, on Mon 6 Jul 11:05AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    your queen is stil inbred..and all the rest of you­ think that wrinkled old @#$% is holy?nice

    From jaco.delarey, on Mon 6 Jul 10:20AM
  18. Fantastic Test match on Saturday... only just­ recovering from a great celebration party - even though­ we lost the series. Congratulations to SA on their 2-1­ victory. Congratulations to the Lions for touring in­ the proper Lions way, and putting in such an awesome­ display on Saturday. Lots of changes for both sides­ but, to beat any SA side in that stadium is a massive­ achievement. Congratulations to Stuart Dickinson who­ managed to referee pretty fairly for once. Shame for­ all that the refereeing was not up to required standard­ in earlier tests, as this last test might have had more­ significance.

    Thanks to South Africa and the Lions­ for a great 6 weeks.

    From Ian, on Mon 6 Jul 9:50AM
  19. "The Germans should have killed all your mothers­ so it­ is not your faults but the nazis which could not­ finish­ the job. Hitler said give him 10 000 boers and­ he will­ take over the world". Martin (Boorman­ ?)
    My God, words almost fail me ! I lived amongst­ Afrikanners for 5 years and could not believe their­ arrogance about their belief they were the chosen race.­ I had hoped when South Africa became democratic that­ their attitude would change but clearly it hasn't.­ Martin, you have no place in a civilised society never­ mind a Rugby forum. You disgrace every one of your­ countrymen with your vile racist filth.
    By the way,­ Hiltler did have 10,000 Boers in the 2nd world war, all­ in South Africa, but they were all rounded up and­ interned within 14 days. Real Heroes huh ?

    From BigRich, on Mon 6 Jul 9:24AM
  20. "Boks still won the series u dumb twats!"­ from eben wessels.
    This is what we would call a­ paradoxical ironic quotation emphasising the venacular.­
    Notice the lack of grammar, punctuation and spelling­ whilst describing others as less than intelligent. But,­ of course, Eben is an Afrikanner.
    Yes Eben, they did­ win the series, by putting 5 of the Lions best players­ out of the tour.

    From BigRich, on Mon 6 Jul 9:10AM
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