Match Report
| Emerging Springboks | 13 | vs | 13 | The British and Irish Lions |
| Tries. Demas | Tries. Earls | |
| Conv. de Waal (1) | Conv. O'Gara (1) | |
| Pen. Rose (2) | Pen. O'Gara (1), Hook (1) |
The British and Irish Lionsvs Emerging Springboks20th June 2009PayneFordHayesO'CallaghanHinesWorsleyWilliamsPowellEllisO'GaraD'ArcyFluteyWilliamsFitzgeraldEarls The British and Irish Lions
- 1. Payne
- 2. Ford
- 3. Hayes
- 4. O'Callaghan
- 5. Hines
- 6. Worsley
- 7. Williams
- 8. Powell
- 9. Ellis
- 10. O'Gara (c)
- 11. Fitzgerald
- 12. D'Arcy
- 13. Flutey
- 14. Williams
- 15. Earls
-
Subs:
- Mears
(Ford, 75),
- Vickery
- Shaw
- Wallace
- Blair,
- Hook
- Monye
South Africa
- 1. du Preez
- 2. Maku
- 3. Kruger
- 4. Sykes
- 5. Steenkamp
- 6. Potgieter (c)
- 7. Deysel
- 8. Vermeulen
- 9. Vermaak
- 10. Rose
- 11. Basson
- 12. Newman
- 13. van Rensburg
- 14. Vulindlu
- 15. Kirchner
- Subs:
- Liebenberg
- Cilliers
- van der Merwe
- Botes
- Adams
- de Waal
- Demas
Match Report
McGeechans men seemed to have their final warm-up game in the bag until replacement Willem de Waal converted a Danwel Demas try with the hooter sounding for the end of the match.
Keith Earls scored a try early on, which Ronan O’Gara converted, and another O'Gara penalty had given the British and Irish elite a commanding 10 point lead with under 20 minutes played, but again failed to capitalise on this lead. The Emerging Boks hit back with a penalty from Earl Rose before half-time and went in at the break only a single score behind.
Senior Springbok squad member Rose again pulled the young Boks three points closer after 47 minutes. However a James Hook penalty streched the lead to 7 points with only 3 minutes left on the clock, and it looked to have sealed victory for the tourists.
However with the gap at only 7 points, victory was not secure. Things turned for the worse when unmarked Demas collected de Waal’s floated miss pass on the right wing to bring the score back to 13-10 with 80 minutes on the clock at Newlands.
De Waal seemed under little pressure as he slotted the extra 2 points from the right hand touchline, with the siren sounding out across the ground. This secured a tremendous result for the Emerging Sprinboks and ended the Lions 100% record of the tour. However this is the first time since 1989 the British and Irish Lions have remained unbeaten in all their non-Test fixtures.
Lions skipper for the day Ronan O'Gara struggled with the horrendous weather conditions in Cape Town early on and drilled a fourth minute penalty wide from 25 metres out. This should have put the Lions 3 points in front after the home side had given away a penalty after some impressive work from the Lions forwards.
However the Lions did take the lead four minutes later through the boot of O'Gara. The Munster and Ireland fly-half stepped up to the plate and easily landed a kick from 10 metres out to put the Lions 3-0 up.
A Keith Earls try added to the Lions lead as he crossed the line to score his second try of the tour. A mistake from Boks’ full back Zane Kirchner gifted the Lions an opportunity to counter attack. His attempted kick ahead landed straight into the bread basket of Martyn Williams, he in turn fed Riki Flutey on the Emerging Boks' 10 metre line. He stepped back inside allowing the Lions to recycle possession. When the ball came to Earls he stepped inside scrum-half Vermaak and claimed the first try of the afternoon.
O’Gara converted from the right of the posts and the Lions looked to be building up a head of steam despite the disappointment of losing the first Test on Saturday.
Weather conditions worsened in the first half and a plethora of handling errors meant that further scores were kept to a minimum. Rose managed to cut the lead to seven points with a penalty after 36 minutes, but this was the only other score of the first half.
The second half saw Rose again narrow the lead after 49 minutes when the Lions backline were penalised for being offside in their own 22. The game continued to be a scrappy affair with neither side able to maintain possession for long enough to trouble the tryline.
The Lions looked to have clinched victory in the 77th minute when James Hook kicked his first and only penalty of the afternoon, taking his points tally for the tour up to 35. However the Emerging Springboks were to end the game on a high and up stepped Demas and de Waal. A well-taken try, and expertly struck conversion sent the crowd wild as everyone in Springbok colours celebrated the result.
This will undoubtedly leave a sour taste in the Lions mouths, but now they can focus completely on the task in hand. After losing the first Test they know exactly what they have to do. The second Test takes place this Saturday at Loftus Versfeld with the Lions looking to level proceedings. The final Test in Johannesburg on Saturday 4th July (kickoff 14:00hrs).
