Lions suffer last minute heartbreak
Stephen Jones thought he had earned the Lions a draw
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Saturday, 27, Jun 2009 08:47
The British and Irish Lions have lost the Test series against South Africa as a last minute penalty gave the world champions a 28-25 win.
The Lions had got off to a terrific start as they took a 10-0 lead thanks to a try from Rob Kearney and a penalty from Stephen Jones.
South Africa fired back with a try from JP Pietersen, but it was the Lions who were by far the stronger team and worked themselves to a 19-8 lead with three more penalties from Jones.
But the Lions were then torn-apart by a number of injuries with Jamie Roberts, Brian O'Driscoll, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones all having to go off in the second-half.
This gave the Springboks the boost they needed and they hit back with tries from Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie. However, it looked like the Lions would still get a draw as Jones kicked a penalty to make the scores 25-25.
But Ronan O'Gara gave away a silly penalty in the last minute and Morne Steyn kicked the penalty to win the series for the Springboks.
It was a cruel end to a game which had promised so much for the Lions as they started where they left off in the first Test.
South African talisman Schalk Burger was sin-binned in the first minute when he put a finger in the eye of Luke Fitzgerald and the Lions made the extra man count.
First Jones gave the Lions the lead with a penalty and then a moment of brilliance from the fly-half led to the opening try.
The Lions attacked down the right-wing and a magical flick off-load from the back of his hand from Jones freed Kearney and he looked to pass to Tommy Bowe, but instead bundled over for the try. Jones added the conversion to give the Lions a 10-0 lead.
The world champions showed their class to get back in the game as Fourie du Preez collected the ball from the back of the line-out and passed to Pietersen and he stormed through the Lions defence for the try. Ruan Pienaar, who was immaculate with his kicking last week, missed an easy conversion.
Jones increased the lead for the Lions with another penalty before the men in red got a huge psychological lift. The Springboks were given a five-metre scrum, which had been such a problem for the Lions in the first Test, but this time Adam Jones was powerful in the scrum and it was the South African front row who stood up to give away the penalty.
The Lions increased their lead to 11 points when Jones slotted over a drop-goal after a sustained amount of possession in front of the South Africa try-line.
Francois Steyn kicked a late penalty, but the half was dominated by the Lions as they went in with an eight point lead.
The Lions suffered a double blow at the start of the second-half when they lost both Jenkins and Adam Jones to injury.
But luckily for the Lions, Pienaar was having a nightmare with the boot and missed two relatively easy penalties.
South Africa had plenty of the ball at the start of the second-half, but were unable to get points on the board. Instead it was the Lions who increased their lead to 19-8 as Jones added another penalty after John Smit was penalised for coming in from the side of the ruck.
Just when it looked like the Lions were on course for the win, South Africa stormed back as once again du Preez spotted a gap in the Lions defence to release Habana and he sprinted clear for the try. Steyn kicked the conversion and then added a penalty to make the score 19-18.
After an hour of looking comfortable, the Lions were now suddenly up against it and things got more difficult as they lost key duo Roberts and O'Driscoll to injury. Jones though kicked a penalty to give the Lions some breathing space.
South Africa showed just why they are the best team in the world as they took the lead with a third try. Fourie showed unbelievable strength to withstand the tackle of three Lions players to score in the right corner. The video referee was needed to give the decision, but the try was given.
The Lions thought they had earned a hard-fought draw when Jones kept his nerve to slot over a penalty. But O'Gara gave away the needless penalty by taking out du Preez in the air and Steyn made himself a national hero as he slotted over from close to the halfway line.