Match Report
| South Africa | 26 | vs | 21 | The British and Irish Lions |
| Tries. Smit, Brussow | Tries. Croft (2), Phillips | |
| Conv. Pienaar (2) | Conv. Jones (2) | |
| Pen. Pienaar (3), F.Steyn (1) | Pen. |
The British and Irish Lionsvs South Africa (1st Test)20th June 2009JenkinsMearsVickeryWyn JonesO'ConnellCroftWallaceHeaslipPhillipsS.JonesRobertsO'DriscollBoweMonyeByrne The British and Irish Lions
- 1. Jenkins
- 2. Mears
- 3. Vickery
- 4. Wyn Jones
- 5. O'Connell (c)
- 6. Croft
- 7. Wallace
- 8. Heaslip
- 9. Phillips
- 10. S.Jones
- 11. Monye
- 12. Roberts
- 13. O'Driscoll
- 14. Bowe
- 15. Byrne
-
Subs:
- Rees
(Mears, 50),
- A.Jones
- O'Callaghan
- Williams
- Ellis,
- O'Gara,
- Kearney
South Africa
- 1. Mtawarira
- 2. du Plessis
- 3. Smit (c)
- 4. Botha
- 5. Matfield
- 6. Brussow
- 7. Smith
- 8. Spies
- 9. du Preez
- 10. Pienaar
- 11. Habana
- 12. de Villiers
- 13. Jacobs
- 14. Pietersen
- 15. F.Steyn
- Subs:
- Steenkamp
- Carstens
- Bekker
- Rossouw
- Januarie
- Fourie
M.Steyn
Match Report
The Lions looked battered and bruised after only 12 minutes as South Africa took an early 19 point lead with a try from captain John Smit and the boots of Pienaar and Steyn. However two late tries from Croft and Phillips saw the Lions nearly complete a superb comeback in Durban. But it was too little too late and the Springboks go into the Second Test in Pretoria 1-0 up.
Tries from Boks skipper Smit and flanker Brussow, coupled with 13 points coming from the boot of Ruan Pienaar and a further three points from Francois Steyn proved just enough for the hosts as they held on to win 26-21 in the opening test.
The Lions began the game the brighter and more confident of the two sides, but a missed penalty from Stephen Jones after 2 minutes set the tone for the rest of the first half. South Africa soon racked up their first try of the game.
Steyn’s massive 65-metre clearance pinned the Lions back in to their own half. South Africa dominated the set pieces all afternoon and when the tourists lost their first lineout of the afternoon they were in real trouble. The pressure mounted when a clever chip forced a scrum on the five metre line, this was followed by wave upon wave of Spingboks attack which eventually saw Smit power over the line to score with ease. The majestic Pienaar added the simple extras, just five metres to the left of the posts.
Just moment later the Lions thought they had claimed a try of their own when Monye dived over in the left-hand corner. However it was not to be as television referee Christophe Berdos ruled out the effort. The Quins wing failed to touch down and was held up by centre Jean de Villiers.
Following this disappointment the Lions soon found themselves 13 points adrift after 15 minutes. Another penalty miss from Stephen Jones came between successful attempts from Pienaar and the clinical boot of Steyn as the Boks took every opportunity that presented itself to extend their first half lead.
The Lions however did claim a first half try and it was the acclaimed partnership of Jamie Roberts and O’Driscoll that did the damage, with Croft in support to provide the final touch down as the tourists scored their first try after 21 minutes.
Roberts steamed through tackles from Adrian Jacobs and Brussow after collecting a Stephen Jones pass on the South Africa 10-metre line. With O’Driscoll’s supporting run taking him away from the Boks defence, he was finally brought down by JP Pietersen, but sharply offloaded to Croft who drove over the line to score his second try of the tour.
Stephen Jones had no difficulty with this kick slotting the extras from 10 metres to the right of the posts and the Lions were back in the game at 13-7 with 21 minutes played.
The Lions second try almost arrived five minutes later when Tommy Bowe flew through the defence after being expertly fed by O'Driscoll, however the score was chalked off as Byrne was penalised for crossing.
Two more successful penalty kicks from Pienaar saw South Africa further extend their advantage to 19-7 and that's how it finished as the teams went in for the half-time interval.
The Lions had plenty to do in the second half and their jobs were made even harder when the home side scored their second try of the game. The South Africans again demonstrated their dominance up front as they drove a rolling maul a full 20 metres before winning a penalty. The ball was duly kicked into the corner. With the forwards brimming with confidence they again mauled their way over the Lions line allowing Brussow to touch down for the Boks second try of the game.
Pienaar again showed his kicking skills with an impressive conversion from wide on the left. The Lions looked down and out trailing 26-7 with only 33 minutes to be played.
However this was not the case, with the South Africans sensing victory the seemed to take their foot of the pedal somewhat. This proved to be a key mistake as the Lions roared into life. They showed immense character as they scored a further two tries of their own and dominated every area of the game in the 15 minutes.
Croft sliced through for his second try on the 68 minute mark the Lions support began to sense something special, and scrum-half Phillips darted over the line to pull the Lions to within 5 points of their hosts.
The first came when Roberts and O’Driscoll again combined to put Croft through for his second try. The powerful Welshman made the hard yards before Irish colleague O'Driscoll again put Leicester flanker Croft through a sizeable hole five metres from the Springbok's line.
Stephen Jones converted to bring his team back to within two scores as the Lions began to believe once more.
The second came when Phillips dummied and pounced over the line from the back of a ruck. Having had an earlier try elude him when he saw the ball knocked from his grasp as he stretched for the try line, Phillips made no mistake this time.
With Jones finally finding his feet he converted the third and closed the gap to just five points. They Lions sensed victory, had all the momentum and the hosts were well and truly on the back foot.
Unfortunately, the gap remained the same as the game came to a close. The final whistle finally went when Ricky Januarie cleared the ball after replacement Bekker claimed the ball from a lineout.
After looking down and out the Lions had proved their worth and will take a lot of positives into the second test in Pretoria in a weeks time. However the Springboks will know only one more win will clinch a series victory.
