Gallant Lions fall to South Africa
Jamie Roberts was sensational for the Lions
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Saturday, 20, Jun 2009 11:18
A brave second-half comeback was not enough to stop the British and Irish Lions falling to a 26-21 defeat to South Africa in the first Test.
The Lions got off to the worst possible start as they fell 13 points behind after John Smit scored an early try and Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn added a penalty each.
Tom Croft grabbed a try for the Lions, but the Springboks dominated from that point on and took a 19-point lead with a try from Heinrich Brussow and two more penalties from Pienaar.
The game looked to be over and the South Africans started to take off key players. But the Lions staged a sensational comeback and scored two more tries, with another from Croft and Mike Phillips also crossing the whitewash.
But despite more pressure, the Lions were unable to break through in the last couple of minutes and South Africa held on for the win.
It was a heart-stopping end to an exhilarating game which had started to so poorly for the Lions, despite the fact that they had the chance to take the lead as Stephen Jones saw a penalty just drift wide.
It proved to be costly as the world champions took the lead a couple of minutes later. The Lions saw their own line-out get turned over and Pienaar kicked a clever ball into the right corner which almost resulted in a try, but Lee Byrne and Ugo Monye just got back in time, although they were unable to stop giving away a five-metre scrum.
South Africa worked the ball across to the left from the scrum and captain Smit burst through in between Jamie Roberts and Croft to score the try. Pienaar kicked the conversion to give the Boks a 7-0 lead.
The Lions almost replied immediately as a South African knock-on gave them a good attacking position. O'Driscoll floated the ball out to the left to Monye who dived into the corner under-pressure from two South African players. The video referee however decided that Jean de Villers had prevented the ball from being grounded.
Things got from bad to worse for the Lions as they were bulldozed backwards on their own scrum and gave away the penalty. Pienaar kicked the penalty and the Lions were 10-0 down.
Despite the deficit, the Lions refused to let their heads drop and worked a number of phases before Lee Mears combined with David Wallace to break through the South African line. Phillips fumbled the ball when quick play could have resulted a try-scoring opportunity.
It was crucial the Lions took all the points on offer, but a nervous-looking Jones missed another easy penalty chance. South Africa on the other hand were clinical and Steyn kicked a penalty from the touchline to increase the lead.
South Africa looked awesome in the line-outs and scrums, but it was a mistake from one of their line-outs which brought the Lions back in the game.
Paul O'Connell stole the ball from the South African line-out and then the Lions worked the ball to Roberts and he brilliantly broke though the Boks defence and passed to O'Driscoll, who did what he does best and strode to the try-line before off-loading to Croft for the try. Jones finally converted a kick at goal.
The Lions could have had a second try moments later, but were penalised for crossing as O'Driscoll made the break.
The scrum continued to be a problem for the Lions and once again they were unable to contain the powerful South African forwards and gave away the penalty. Pienaar converted to increase the lead to nine points.
Pienaar increased the lead to 12 points as he kicked another penalty a couple of minutes later when Tommy Bowe was penalised for holding on to the ball after the tackle. Things could have got worse for the Lions, but luckily for them Pienaar missed a late penalty.
The power the Springboks showed was absolutely astonishing as they scored their second try at the start of the second-half. They started a rolling maul in their own half and drove on all the way to the Lions 20-metre line.
After being awarded a penalty, South Africa scented blood and instead of kicking for goal, the decided to kick for the corner and their gamble paid off as from another rolling maul the South African barged over for the try with Brussow coming up with the ball. Pienaar added the conversion to make the score 26-7.
The disappointing thing for the Lions was they looked dangerous with ball in hand, but were unable to get enough of the possession. In one of the rare moments early in the second-half when they did have the ball, Phillips almost scored, but lost the ball when he tried to stretch over for the try.
With a 19-point lead, the South Africans took their foot off the peddle and this gave the Lions the chance to have a sustain amount of possession. After numerous charges, the Lions eventually scored as once again O'Driscoll passed to Croft to go in and touch down. An easy Jones conversion brought the Lions back into the game.
The Lions came agonisingly close to scoring another try when the inspirational duo of Roberts and O'Driscoll combined to create space down the left-wing and Monye had the chance to go over, but lost the ball as he was tackled on the try-line.
It was a compelling turnaround from the Lions as they suddenly became the stronger team and when Phillips cut through from underneath the posts to score the try, the Lions were only five points behind after Jones added the conversion.
They continued to charge to the South African try-line in the last couple of minutes, but time ran out and the Lions fell to defeat.