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. look martin we know you love arthur yer a match in­ heaven so why not tie the not ye bad boys and adds want­ to be brides maid no puf100 dont break them up

    From frankkenny96, on Sun 5 Jul 1:37AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    It doesn't get much better than this! My boyfriend­ thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than­ me, lol. We met online at ** _ AgelessFriends @ Com _**­ a nice and free place for younger women and older men,­ or older women and younger men, to interact with each­ other.

    From Kelly J, on Sun 5 Jul 12:52AM

  3. what the @#$% has the sa army got to do in al of­ this

    both of you can @#$% off to bed

    here we talk­ rugby and only a little bit of nonsense.

    From dnp321, on Sun 5 Jul 12:06AM

  4. Having just read the previous posts, and certainly not­ being a regular contributor, I feel that I need to­ bring the focus back to the rugby.
    I cannot and do not­ intend pretend to understand the argument in Africaans­ or intend to find out about it.
    History shows that the­ English invented the concentration camp and , before­ you all jump on your high horse I am English, through­ and through, you can't argue about­ history.
    Regardless of that there is a much more­ important issue that all rugby fans should concentrate­ on. That is the potential break up of the Lions. This­ will be detrimental to the British Isles and rugby in­ general., It would be like proposing that the babas­ were never reformed...unthinkable..what think you?

    From brianterry242, on Sun 5 Jul 12:01AM

  5. outscored ? like we did in 97 ? pathetic . history will­ show 1 thing springboks are BIL series champions . you­ can have all the stats you want cause the trophy is in­ south africa every time you moan and make excuses­ remember it .

    From Shane, on Sat 4 Jul 11:58PM

  6. jfokl

    From Shane, on Sat 4 Jul 11:56PM

  7. This is also for you Martin. I mentioned that you live­ in regret of the past. Are you ashamed of yourself for­ going to Scotland because you couldn't­ 'cut' it in SA? Or is it because SA settlers­ were put in concentration camps by the British army­ during the Anglo-Boer wars? They were NOT only­ so-called Boer families. Many English speaking women,­ children and even some of the men were interred and­ suffered the same dreadful fate of rampant disease. But­ this was NOT so in all of the camps. The women and­ children were interred in the camps for two reasons. 1.­ The British wanted to stop them from provisioning the­ Boer commandos & 2. They wanted them out of­ harm's way. They did not want to cause any­ "collateral damage" if at all possible. On­ the other hand, are you ashamed of the fact that you­ did your National Service with a Maintainence Unit in­ Kimberley? Remember what I told you about your past?­ Would you rather have been in my boots? 1973 January­ inname. SAEC - SAGK 17 Veld Eskader, Bethlehem,­ Vrystaat. Later "Grens" toe om by die eenhede­ aan te sluit wat in Angola sou moet optree. Op 17 jaar­ ouderdom te moet sit ek kyk hoe 3uur die oggend 'n­ "casa-vac chopper" inkom op Rundu en land­ lanks die hospitaal/siekeboeg. Iut spring die medics­ hulle dra 'n 18 jaarige seun sonder sy regte arm in­ die saal in. Ek was so donners bang ek het my sluk­ aksie verloor vir 10 minute. Ek het daar begin rook.­ Guess what? I too lived in those dark and fearful days­ in the past. I spouted all the claptrap that was­ drilled into us then. About the "Rooi-gevaar"­ en die "Swart-gevaar" amongst other bits of­ "brainwash" subjects. I managed to put it­ behind me and let it go. My life has been rich and­ serene ever since. You can do it too. You've­ nothing to lose and everything togain. Good luck and­ goodbye. Blessed be. Peter in Cape Town

    From Peter, on Sat 4 Jul 11:45PM

  8. God love the great philosophers! Peter and Martin, have­ fun!!

    From chrisbuxton, on Sat 4 Jul 11:42PM

  9. Peter poes, this is Martin here in Scotland. I have­ just­ reported your abusive hate speech to the Yahoo!­­ boffins. I sincerely trust that your days on­­ Yahoo!'s public forums will henceforth be brought­­ to an immediate end. In my experience it has been that­­ individuals - I hesitate to use the word­­ 'person' in referring to you - who pass­­ comments of the type that you are busy posting at the­­ moment have a series of personality deficits. I­ believe­ that you are an arrogant, self-opinionated,­­ narrow--minded, foul-mouthed (and fingered!)­ individual­ without the slightest idea of what you are­ actually­ doing. You have a dreadfully low self esteem­ (if you­ have ANY at all!) brought about by a whole­ slew of­ episodes during your developmental stages.­­ Somebody, or bodies, must have been dreadfully cruel­ to­ you early in your life. You were probably beaten by­ an­ angry parent, bullied by older siblings and brought­ up­ to believe that violence is cool because­ "might is­ right". As a result of this, and­ many other­ similar factors, you are riddled with­ fear,­ self-loathing, hate and an overwhelming sense­ of­ worthlessness and huge dose of self pity. You­ blame­ others, circumstances (no-one UNDERSTANDS?) and­ all­ sorts of events for your failures. You constantly­ seek­ approval from your peers but especially, your­­ father/father-figure. You live in regret of the past­­ and in obsessive fear of the future. I have a great­­ deal of pity for you. But, I believe that you should­ be­ restriced from accessing public domains without­­ suitable adult supervision. Now, get off of your­­ pity-pot stop being so pathetically self-absorbed and­­ take responsibility for yourself. Lastly, think on­­ Heraclitus' words: "The soul is dyed the­­ colour of its thoughts. Think only on those things­ that­ are in line with (good) principles and can bear­ the­ light of day. The content of your character is­ your­ cjoice. Day by day, what you do (say, think) is­ who­ (what) U b

    From Martin, on Sat 4 Jul 11:31PM

  10. ARTHUR R - ca ar goll'ch cymraeg idiot ddyhea­ buchedda'r springboks

    From dnp321, on Sat 4 Jul 11:26PM

  11. Well Im going to call it a night.
    If we can just­ respect each other and really learn from history.maybe­ human civilisation can stop repeating the same­ mistakes.
    BUT OTHER THAN THAT, CHEERS TO WILLIAM WEBB­ ELLIS FOR THE GAME OF RUGBY

    From pfi100, on Sat 4 Jul 11:20PM

  12. Martin, this is Peter here in Cape Town. I have just­ reported your abusive hate speech to the Yahoo!­ boffins. I sincerely trust that your days on­ Yahoo!'s public forums will henceforth be brought­ to an immediate end. In my experience it has been that­ individuals - I hesitate to use the word­ 'person' in referring to you - who pass­ comments of the type that you are busy posting at the­ moment have a series of personality deficits. I believe­ that you are an arrogant, self-opinionated,­ narrow--minded, foul-mouthed (and fingered!) individual­ without the slightest idea of what you are actually­ doing. You have a dreadfully low self esteem (if you­ have ANY at all!) brought about by a whole slew of­ episodes during your developmental (?) stages.­ Somebody, or bodies, must have been dreadfully cruel to­ you early in your life. You were probably beaten by an­ angry parent, bullied by older siblings and brought up­ to believe that violence is cool because "might is­ right". As a result of this, and many other­ similar factors, you are riddled with fear,­ self-loathing, hate and an overwhelming sense of­ worthlessness and huge dose of self pity. You blame­ others, circumstances (no-one UNDERSTANDS?) and all­ sorts of events for your failures. You constantly seek­ approval from your peers but especially, your­ father/father-figure. You live in regret of the past­ and in obsessive fear of the future. I have a great­ deal of pity for you. But, I believe that you should be­ restriced from accessing public domains without­ suitable adult supervision. Now, get off of your­ pity-pot stop being so pathetically self-absorbed and­ take responsibility for yourself. Lastly, think on­ Heraclitus' words: "The soul is dyed the­ colour of its thoughts. Think only on those things that­ are in line with (good) principles and can bear the­ light of day. The content of your character is your­ cjoice. Day by day, what you do (say, think) is who­ (what) U become" SA Mental Health is in the

    From Peter, on Sat 4 Jul 11:20PM

  13. pfi100,Dankie dat jy verstaan.Ek is n boer en soos ek­ gese het ek is net opsoek na die llaste ding waarop ons­ kan trots wees wat die kaffers nie al op geneuk het­ nie.Ek sit in Skotland alleen en my hart is geskeur.Ons­ het die series gewen ek @#$%.Maar ek voel ons het­ verloor.Hulle het sa to gegaan en ons was gelukkig om­ te wen en nou het hulle ons gewys hoe om rugby te­ speel.Ek is jammer maar ek die Britte.My voor vaders­ was in konsentrasie kampe agv die klomp wat ook al ek­ hulle kan noem.
    Ek is jammer ek is net n trots­ boer

    PS ek was in onderhoudseenheid Kimberley

    From Martin, on Sat 4 Jul 11:15PM

  14. Diolch yn fawr Cymru am byth

    From ARTHUR R, on Sat 4 Jul 11:14PM

  15. MARTIN EK VERSTAAN,EK VERLANG OOK NA DIE OUDAE EK WAS­ IN BLOEM VIR MY DIESNPLUG,81-82
    EN HEK ONTHOU N PAAR­ ENGELSE NAME OP DIE BOERE MEMORIAL.DIE AFIKANER HET­ BAIE VIR MY GEGEE.HIERDIE MENSE VERSTAAN DIT NIE.
    SOOS­ HOE PIET RETIEF EN SY MENSE SO BAIE OORGEKOM EN GOD WAS­ MET HULLE.
    GOD SEEN(BLESS) DIE AFRIKANER

    From pfi100, on Sat 4 Jul 11:09PM

  16. pfi100 No problem my friend,all he best. Arthur

    From ARTHUR R, on Sat 4 Jul 11:04PM

  17. well said Chris ,people bringing their own hang ups and­ insecurites into it all.what happened to civilised­ debate.
    Im not sure if it would have been better if­ the Boks had lost.But i suppose there wouls be some­ other issues.
    oh well,GOD HELP US

    From pfi100, on Sat 4 Jul 10:58PM

  18. Whatever? you don't half talk some @#$%.......you­ probably don't know what a rugby ball looks­ like...plonker

    From armcor, on Sat 4 Jul 10:57PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    THE B & I LIONS ACTUALLY WON THE SERIES , THEY­ SCORED MORE POINTS AND SCORED MORE TRYS THE THUGS IN­ THE 3 GAMES , MABE THE EGITS WHO PLANNED A 3 GAME­ SERIES , SHOULD THINK ABOUT THIS FORMAT FOR FUTURE­ GAMES . IE WHY PLAN FOR A HALF FULL STADIUM , WITH ­ THE SERIES OVER AFTER 2 GAMES A B& I FAN PS I­ JUST CANNOT AS MUCH AS I TRY LIKE THE DUTCH SAS , MABE­ ITS A LACK OF PERSONALITY THAT THEY SADLY LACK

    From GABRIEL, on Sat 4 Jul 10:56PM

  20. sorry pfi100,maar hulle piss my af.Ek soek net iets om­ te se ek is trots om u boer te wees en rugby is nie­ meer die moeite werd nie ,is dit?

    From Martin, on Sat 4 Jul 10:54PM
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