Lions 2009 - Boks resist brave Lions fightback

Eurosport - Sun, 21 Jun 08:50:00 2009

South Africa resisted a brave fightback by the British and Irish Lions to beat them 26-21 in Durban and take a one-nil lead in the three-Test series.

Tom Croft - Lions 2009 - 0

Ian McGeechan' side were completely outplayed for the first hour and faced a humiliating defeat when they trailed 26-7 as they lined up for a lineout five metres from their try-line.

But, with the Springboks having substituted several of their star players, the Lions staged a thrilling revival in the final quarter, with Tom Croft (pictured) crossing for his second try and Mike Phillips touching down with five minutes remaining to bring them to within one score.

The Lions were dominant at this stage and with another five minutes would likely have secured a remarkable come-back against the world champions, who will know they are in for a difficult contest in Pretoria next week.

Despite the loss the Lions can take confidence from out-scoring their hosts by three tries to two, with skipper John Smit and Heinrich Brussow having touched down for the Boks.

Ruan Pienaar was in great form for the home side, kicking superbly from hand and at goal as he landed three penalties and both conversions. Time and again he pinned the Lions back in their own half as the Boks took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Pienaar's opposite number Stephen Jones was less successful with the boot and twice missed kickable penalties in the first half that would have helped the Lions gain some momentum.

Any sense that the Boks would be under-cooked after a five-week break were soon dismissed when they took control of the game early on, with their forwards in particular dominating the Lions pack.

The tourists were unable to develop any sustained pressure in the first half due to the large number of penalties conceded in the scrum and at the breakdown.

England prop Phil Vickery had a torrid time against opposite number Tendai Mtawarira and was replaced soon after the break after giving away three penalties in the scrum.

Although the Boks were dominant for the first hour, the Lions - with Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll outstanding in the midfield - did have their moments and more than matched their opponents in terms of line breaks and try-scoring chances.

But there is no doubt which team had the dominant pack and the Springboks wasted little time proving their advantage when Smit crashed over after five minutes for the opening score.

Three minutes later Ugo Monye - who had three clear-cut scoring chances but unsually failed with them all - crossed in the corner only for centre Jean de Villiers to somehow get his hand under the ball.

Soon after the Lions were punished on the scoreboard for Vickery collapsing the scrum and in the 21st minute Francois Steyn made it 13-0 after Croft was penalised for an illegal tackle on Fourie du Preez.

But the Lions kept their composure and when Roberts and O'Driscoll linked superbly in midfield Croft was on hand to crash over after taking a pass from the Irish centre.

Yet the Lions continued to concede penalties as the Boks scrum hammered home their advantage and Pienaar landed two more penalties to make it 19-7 at the break.

There was little to suggest a comeback by the Lions soon after the restart when the Boks chose not to kick a penalty for goal and instead went for the corner.

A 30 metre rolling maul moments earlier had shown their superiority and when the imperious Victor Matfield claimed their lineout throw, the Boks kept it tight for Brussow to touch down after another well-worked maul.

Pienaar added the conversion and the Lions were facing a 26-7 deficit with more than half an hour to play.

Whether the Boks thought they had the game won or whether they were saving their big names for next week's Test is unsure, but a raft of replacements over the next 10 minutes saw them lose their grip on the game.

After Phillips had had a try disallowed for a knock on in the 49th minute, Boks coach Pieter de Villiers took off Brussow, Pienaar, Bakkies Botha, du Preez, de Villiers and Smit, and as he did the Lions grew in confidence.

Roberts and O'Driscoll continued to dominate midfield and in the 69th minute they again made space to feed Croft for his second try after a sustained period of Lions' pressure.

With the Boks visibly tiring the Lions continued to move the play wide at every opportunity and they should have been rewarded when Monye had the ball dislodged from his hands with the try-line beckoning.

The Lions were handed another chance when Boks number eight Pierre Spies knocked on at a scrum near his own line. From another scrum moments later Jamie Heaslip picked up and fed Roberts on the crash ball.

The centre was stopped but from the ensuing ruck Phillips darted over to close the gap to 26-21. The Lions fans inside the ABSA Stadium had every right to start contemplating a remarkable comeback win.

With three minutes remaining, replacement Ricky Januarie knocked on to give the Lions a decent field position in the Boks half.

Roberts almost put Tommy Bowe through in midfield and although the Lions had one or two promising attacks in the closing stages the Boks held on for victory.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport

Comment 97 - 116 of 116

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. What´s this word ¨RESIST¨face the facts, the lions lost­ to a team that had been on holiday for five weeks, it­ is only going to get worse

    From willing94, on Mon 22 Jun 8:55AM

  2. Jones did not play THAT bad, O'gara would have done­ no better, probably worse,his poor decision making and­ reluctance to tackle is such a weakness gainst the­ boks. We out scored the boks in tries, if we play o­ gara next week you can count on them scoring more­ because they will just run straight at him, and he­ cannot deal with that. Jones will get his kicking­ sorted dont you worry

    From bmuirboy, on Sun 21 Jun 3:50PM

  3. A hard game well fought, a couple of changes up front­­ in the pack, and I would predict wins in the next­ three­ games, referee's have to watch not, the­ lazy­ runners, but the men who roll away and lay down­ at the­ back of the loose ruck, not interfering but­ still an­ obsticle to be stepped over and overcome, in­ the old­ days we would have rucked over and given them­ a­ shoeing, makes them think twice, as for the scrum,­ play­ to the referee, he allowed lifting etc; so play­ to the­ same standards, all in all a great and exciting­ game to­ watch, great movement and off ball running­ from the­ lions, good loose work, and I for one, am­ captivated by­ the rugby on this tour

    From william.neilson1, on Sun 21 Jun 3:08PM

  4. I can't believe all this unwarranted knee jerk­ reaction to NARROWLY losing a Tset against the current­ and worthy World Champions. If the second half had gone­ the same way as the first maybe I could understand it­ but that wasn't the case. True the pack didn't­ put it's hand up yesterday but there was some­ inspired rugby in the second half and but for the odd­ wrong option and dropped passes we could have walked­ away with an incredible victory. In various areas of­ the media I have even seen pleas for Mc Geechan to be­ replaced!!! It's not over yet and the way we­ finished so much stronger in teh last quarter of the­ game implies to me we have the edge on fitness by some­ distance. Rarely have The Lions taken such a talented­ set of backs as we have on this tour and one bad day at­ the office by normally stalwart performers doesn't­ mean we have no chance of pulling this thing around. I­ agree there would appear to be changes needed in­ certain areas but let's not throw the baby out with­ the bath water.

    From DAVID, on Sun 21 Jun 2:53PM

  5. There were flashes of brilliance from O'Driscoll ­ and Roberts (best centre pairing in the world) but ­ until the Springbok management's suicidal ­ substitutions half way through the second half there ­ was only one team in it.
    Our forwards were out of their­ depth in all departments! Fortunately for us the Boks ­ were 'underdone' and it showed in their ­ inability score more tries. But, yes, all is not lost, ­ the early embarrassment was wiped away by the late ­ drive and commitment. Special mention must also go ­ Phillips and Croft. A few key changes in the pack and a­ big start next week should set the series up for a ­ great finish.

    From gcurrie, on Sun 21 Jun 10:22AM

  6. Time for change. Monye had the winning of the game­ yesterday and twice f'ed up, he is missing that­ real top end finishing class that he needs. Fitzgerald­ in instead.
    Philips is painfully painfully slow. Ellis­ is one of the poorest passers for an international­ I've ever seen so Blair (as bad as he is) should­ start next test.Can we call Stringer out at this stage?­ Vickery for the plane home now -a busted flush. Our­ backs could win the series but don't forget the­ pack were embarrassed for the first 60 mins­ O'connell really has to lead from the front.The­ game only turned when all those switches were made.

    From klillis72, on Sun 21 Jun 10:19AM

  7. the ref saw that incident or understood it as the SA­ player grounded the ball after monye carried it across­ the line. it was rediculous that the ref and tmo­ couldn't communicate with each other!

    From ptothej, on Sun 21 Jun 9:29AM

  8. O'connell and O'Callaghan are ok for­ advertising dutch lager but when it comes to proper­ rugby forget all about them Shaw and Hines should be­ the second row.

    From david, on Sun 21 Jun 9:19AM

  9. As far as I could see it was Vickery not binding and­ not keeping his bind in the scrum = penalties. The­ beast mauled him, end of story. He was also useless in­ the lineout, at one point he was supposed to be lifting­ Wallace and when wallace jumped Vickery just turned and­ ran away, SA stole the ball and gained 60 meters.­ Enough said about him, we wont wee him again on the­ tour.
    Mears throwing was very poor also. When Rees and­ Jones came on our set pieces got much better, this­ front row has to start next week, perhaps with the Bull­ on the bench, we'll see how he plays on wednesday.­ Also thought AWJ looked a little out of his depth, He­ will be one of the best for the next lions tour but for­ this one start Hines, he has what it takes to deal with­ Botha, as does O'Callaghan but I think Hines start­ O'Callaghan on the bench.

    Something got to Stephen­ Jones, if it was pressure or the SA players or what I­ don't know, but he had a very poor game. O'Gara­ deserves his start next week, Jones to the bench, Hook­ is not ready for this kind of environment and would­ slow the ball even further from getting to­ mid-field.
    Monye did the same stupid thing twice.­ Sliding for the tryline with the ball in only one hand,­ for this alone i would drop him. Also had he stepped­ inside instead of just jumping onto the ground he could­ have avoided the tackle for the first missed try­ certainly! Fitzgerald to start instead of him next­ week.
    Kearney was fantastic so we have no problems at­ full back, if Byrne is injured Earls looked very good­ when he played there midweek so could provide cover.
    So­ my 22 for next one;
    15 Kearney, 14 Bowe, 13 BOD, 12­ Roberts, 11 Fitzgerald, 10 O'Gara, 9 Phillips, 8­ Heaslip, 7 Wallace, 6 Croft, 5 POC, 4 Hines, 3 Jones, 2­ Rees, 1 Jenkins
    16 Mears, 17 Hayes, 18 O'Callaghan,­ 19 Williams, 20 Ellis, 21 Jones, 22 Earls or­ Byrne

    Can't wait for the next one to come, I think­ we can still take the series!!
    LIONS LIONS LIONS­ LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

    From ptothej, on Sun 21 Jun 8:56AM

  10. As far as I could see it was Vickery not binding and­ not keeping his bind in the scrum = penalties. The­ beast mauled him, end of story. He was also useless in­ the lineout, at one point he was supposed to be lifting­ Wallace and when wallace jumped Vickery just turned and­ ran away, SA stole the ball and gained 60 meters.­ Enough said about him, we wont wee him again on the­ tour.
    Mears throwing was very poor also. When Rees and­ Jones came on our set pieces got much better, this­ front row has to start next week, perhaps with the Bull­ on the bench, we'll see how he plays on wednesday.­ Also thought AWJ looked a little out of his depth, He­ will be one of the best for the next lions tour but for­ this one start Hines, he has what it takes to deal with­ Botha, as does O'Callaghan but I think Hines start­ O'Callaghan on the bench.

    Something got to Stephen­ Jones, if it was pressure or the SA players or what I­ don't know, but he had a very poor game. O'Gara­ deserves his start next week, Jones to the bench, Hook­ is not ready for this kind of environment and would­ slow the ball even further from getting to­ mid-field.
    Monye did the same stupid thing twice.­ Sliding for the tryline with the ball in only one hand,­ for this alone i would drop him. Also had he stepped­ inside instead of just jumping onto the ground he could­ have avoided the tackle for the first missed try­ certainly! Fitzgerald to start instead of him next­ week.
    Kearney was fantastic so we have no problems at­ full back, if Byrne is injured Earls looked very good­ when he played there midweek so could provide cover.
    So­ my 22 for next one;
    15 Kearney, 14 Bowe, 13 BOD, 12­ Roberts, 11 Fitzgerald, 10 O'Gara, 9 Phillips, 8­ Heaslip, 7 Wallace, 6 Croft, 5 POC, 4 Hines, 3 Jones, 2­ Rees, 1 Jenkins
    16 Mears, 17 Hayes, 18 O'Callaghan,­ 19 Williams, 20 Ellis, 21 Jones, 22 Earls or­ Byrne

    Can't wait for the next one to come, I think­ we can still take the series!!
    LIONS LIONS LIONS­ LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

    From ptothej, on Sun 21 Jun 8:54AM

  11. Boks won because they got the basics right. I thought­ before the game that if we tried to spin the ball wide­ quickly we would cause problems and we did, but we­ didnt do it enough. yes Jones missed 2 kicks but theres­ no guarantee O'Gara would have got them and his­ weaknesses in other areas would be exploited. If we are­ going to play a running game (and we need to) Hook is­ yr only other option, but id stick with­ Jones.
    Suggestions that Shane williams would have­ scored the 2 Monye opportunities are optimistic, if­ someone with Monyes strength had the ball ripped from­ him then Williams would have had no chance, excellent­ defence by the Boks particularly in the first half­ effort.
    With regards to that non-try, can someone­ please explian the ruling that lead to the Boks having­ a 22 drop out? Attacking team carried ball over goal­ line, ball was held up, surely attacking team 5 yard­ scrum? Did he view it as a knock on instead? The video­ ref seemed to be saying attacking scrum and the ref­ changed his mind.

    From D R, on Sun 21 Jun 8:46AM

  12. This game emphasised the fact that this referee did not­ have a clue about what was happening in the front row,­ and subsequently Phil Vickery was penalised time and­ time again for standing up in the scrum. However when­ you play at tight head and the opposition loose head­ slips his binding, boors into the centre of the scrum,­ and then stands up, the only answer is:
    a) Slip your­ binding and punch him hard with your right­ hand,,,,,,,,,,Resulting in a penalty / sin bin
    b) Do­ nothing and get forced out through the top of the­ scrum..........Resulting in a penalty.
    c) Bind really­ tightly and get all your weight on top and take him­ down..........Resulting in a penalty.

    In short, unless­ the referee does his job and makes sure your opposition­ loose head doesnot slip his binding and also binds­ squarely any action that the tight head takes will­ almost certainly result in a penalty against him

    From bfgm, on Sun 21 Jun 7:22AM

  13. I can tell you from a South African point of view:­ Although Phillips was physical he doesn't get the­ ball to your backs (your strength - we can all agree on­ that!) fast enough. I would obviously prefer that you­ keep him in the team, because with the slow ball + one­ try he will congure up in a game, would be less damage­ than if BOD and co. get FAST ball left and right.
    Our­ forwards did all our work. The maul was a complete­ blast from the past....haven't seen one for an age­ since the new rules were introduced in the South.­ Line-outs and scrums... very happy. But, a good­ comeback and extra stability came for the Lions in the­ shape of the big hair Welshman. And that arm guard No.2­ seems to throw X10 better in the lineouts.
    I thought­ that Peter De Villiers should have gotten man of the­ match... IF the Lions had pulled off the win. His­ substitutions were insane. It took the wind out of our­ sails, and when the momentum dropped off, the Lions­ were ready. SO: Next week, I will be hoping that we­ play like our first 60min, for 80 min. And that De­ Villiers don't go over to the dark side again­ (maybe sending a water boy on for goal kicker or­ something else stupid), and that BOD and co. don't­ get ball ( so please keep Phillips!). I thought both­ your fullbacks were outstanding! The kicks under­ pressure that they pulled off were incredible. Your­ only problem is who should start? Nice problem to have.­ From this Saffa: I feel it's game on! Lions have a­ good team, we have a good team, and some fine weather.

    From McGuyver, on Sun 21 Jun 4:47AM

  14. The Lion's should have taken a great goal kicker­ because you have to accumulate points against South­ Africa. The Lion's management were shown how­ foolish it was to leave Tom Croft out of the original­ tour party and I suspect the poor fly half play and­ goal kicking will make them regret not taking Chris­ Paterson.

    CHRIS PATERSON should have at least been in­ the squad. It was not a surprise that Stephen Jones­ missed a few kicks at goal. In a pressure situation­ Ronan O'Gara will not be the answer either.

    From rayackwerh, on Sun 21 Jun 1:56AM

  15. The coaching staff will ring the changes ,Vickery­ proved he is no match at this level and gave the Boks­ the lead in the first half.And what idiot last week­ said Roberts was a no hoper -how would you like to eat­ your words- rare or well done !!!!

    From charlie.nicholas, on Sun 21 Jun 1:56AM

  16. I have read nothing but purile comments from the S.H.­ posts.

    From skyrmel, on Sun 21 Jun 1:12AM

  17. Didn't see the first half so can't comment on­ missed chances there, but from what I did see the pack­ definitely needs beefing up. Hines in for Wyn-Jones,­ Hayes and Jenkins as props with Mears. Ford on th­ bench.
    Backs as they are unless Hook is fit but Jones­ either to start or on bench depending on Hook's­ fitness.
    McGeechan took a gamble without a recognised­ kicker, he will have to live with that legacy !!
    Good­ luck next time !! You will need it !

    From Cumble, on Sun 21 Jun 12:57AM

  18. 32, are you seriously after picking Shane Williams­ ahead of Monye??????how much beer have you­ consumed?????? How the hell can yo!!!!!!!!!!u think­ that???? I bet you were one who picked him as Player of­ the Year IF SO ,EXPLAIN WHY ??? ­
    LIONS WIN 2-1

    From Kevin 47, on Sun 21 Jun 12:53AM

  19. Quite even over the piece but traditionally home team­ gets stronger.

    From iancampbell11, on Sun 21 Jun 12:05AM

  20. Vickery has to go, as soon as Jones comes on the lions­ started to push the boks scrum backl.

    The management­ team should have seen this after 15 mins, not after 12­ points for his pens.

    From David J, on Sat 20 Jun 11:31PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account