Match Report
| Royal XV | 25 | vs | 37 | The British and Irish Lions |
| Tries. Barnes, Roux, Koch | Tries. Bowe, Byrne, AW Jones, O'Gara | |
| Conv. Olivier (1), Viljoen (1) | Conv. O'Gara (4) | |
| Pen. Olivier (2) | Pen. O'Gara (3) |
The British and Irish Lionsvs Highveld XV30th May 2009SheridanReesA.JonesShawO'ConnellM.WilliamsWorsleyWallaceBlairO'GaraRobertsEarlsBoweS.WilliamsByrne The British and Irish Lions
- 1. Sheridan
- 2. Rees
- 3. A. Jones
- 4. Shaw
- 5. O'Connell (c)
- 6. Worsley
- 7. M.Williams
- 8. Wallace
- 9. Blair
- 10. O'Gara
- 11. S.Williams
- 12. Roberts
- 13. Earls
- 14. Bowe
- 15. Byrne
- Subs:
- Mears
(Rees, 69),
- Vickery
- Alun-Wyn Jones
- Heaslip
- Phillips
- Jones,
- Flutey
Royal XV
- 1. Buckle
- 2. Barnes
- 3. Roux
- 4. Mathee
- 5. Lombaard
- 6. Koch (c)
- 7. Raubenheimer
- 8. Mokuena
- 9. Pretorius
- 10. Olivier
- 11. Basson
- 12. Coetzee
- 13. van Rensburg
- 14. Seconds
- 15. Jeacocks
- Subs:
- van der Westhuizen
- Roberts
- Landman
- Kember
- Coetzee
- Viljoen
- Bowles
Match Report
The British and Irish Lions overturned a half-time deficit to get their 2009 campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought victory over a Royal XV.
The tourists won a tight game 37-25 thanks to tries from Tommy Bowe, Lee Byrne, Alun-Wyn Jones and Ronan O’Gara, who also kicked a further 17 points.
Despite the win the Lions left it late in the game to ensure victory. Alun-Wyn Jones grabbed a try four minutes from time and O’Gara crossed the line in the final Lions attack to ensure the tourists their first win.
The home team had plenty of confidence with 11 members of the team tasting Vodacom Cup success with the Griquas earlier in the month and the other 4 starters all coming from the Leopards, they worked well as a unit and opened up a 18-3 half time lead.
With early tries from captain Wilhelm Koch and prop Rayno Barnes the Royal XV took a commanding lead as the Lions struggled to turn their dominance in the scrum into territory and points.
Koch’s third try in senior colours followed great hands from centre Hanno Coetzee after a lineout deep in the Lions 22. Dummy runners confused the Lions at the lineout and left Koch to stretch over for the games first try, moving the Royal XV 8-3 in front after O’Gara and Naas Olivier both successfully converted a penalty apiece.
Olivier added the conversion and another penalty to extend the Royals lead to 10 points, Barnes powered through the middle of a maul to score and put the host team further in front after only 26 minutes.
Lions Scrum-half Mike Blair almost claimed his sides first try of the tour courtesy of a charge down of opposite number Sarel Pretorius’ box kick, however the Lions did finally score a try through winger Tommy Bowe. The Ospreys winger cut though the Royals defence from 10 yards after taking a superb inside ball from Irish team mate O'Gara.
With an easy conversion for O’Gara the score was back to within touching distance at 18-10 just two minutes before the half-time break.
With a boost of confidence the Lions started the second half the brighter of the two sides, with O’Gara closing the gap to 18-13 with a penalty before Shane Williams came inches away from scoring the Lions second try. He then had another score ruled out for a knock on after only 15 minutes of the second half.
The signs looked promising for the Lions but they suffered what might have been a killer blow when the hosts claimed their third try of the match. Solid work and hard yards from flanker Devon Raubenheimer and lock Jacques Lombaard allowed prop Bees Roux to power over from close range.
Replacement fly-half Riaan Viljoen slotted a difficult conversion to put his side 25-13 up with just 15 minutes left to play.
Man-of-the-match Lee Byrne scored a stunning individual try just a minute after Viljoen’s conversion, before Alun-Wyn Jones and Ronan O’Gara finished off the Royals with two tries in the closing minutes of the game.
Spotting plenty of space behind the South Africans defensive line, Byrne gathered his own chip ahead to grab a score on his Lions debut. O’Gara converted before adding a third successful penalty to reduce the hosts lead to two points at 25-23 with eight minutes remaining.
Replacement second row Jones finally ensured the Lions a first win when he crossed the line with 5 minutes left on the clock. The driving maul worked in the Lions’ favour this time and provided a platform for sustained pressure after Lee Mears had found captain Paul O’Connell in the middle of a lineout in the Royals 22.
O’Gara’s difficult conversion from way out on the right left the Royal XV chasing a try to level the scoreline. O'Gara put the game beyond doubt as he rounded off proceedings with the Lions’ fourth try with the last attack of the game.
Scrum half Mike Phillips found fellow Welshman Martyn Williams on the edge of the 22, with the flanker drawing three defenders and supplying an audacious behind-the-head pass to the supporting O’Gara.
After a shaky start the Lions now have their first victory under their belts, they will now focus on this Wednesday’s fixture against the Golden Lions in Johannesburg as they continue their build up to the three match Test series against South Africa.
