Durban. 20th June, 2009
I can’t remember the last time a rugby test was awaited so keenly across the width of the rugby world. South African rugby had waited twelve years for the opportunity to avenge defeat at the hands of Martin Johnson’s team, so the anticipation was understandable, but why so for the rest of the world.
My guess is the old chestnut, the Northern Hemisphere versus the Southern Hemisphere. It has been raised in chat shows and rugby magazines again recently, with Leinster’s success in the Heineken Cup and The Bulls resounding victory in the Super 14.
But this was to be the heavyweight championship match. The RWC champs taking on the very best that Britain and Ireland had to offer.
My own thoughts leading into the game were mixed, as befitting such a contest, but, if pressed, I suggested that the Boks would win. After all, the Lions, although undefeated to date on tour, had not been all that convincing and they had not yet played against any of the thirty-nine (39) original Springbok squad selection. Still, there was a sneaking suspicion that the Lions looked capable of a performance of real quality when the occasion demanded.
On the other hand, Peter de Villiers, like a number of other coaches of the modern era, seemed to have forgotten the fact that rugby players need to play rugby, reasonably consistently, if they are to be at their best. I am a strong believer in this fact, but, knowing away in the back of my brain, was to contrary thought that “the Springbok mentality is tremendously strong and maybe this doesn’t apply to them”.
All of this indecision on my part, and I suspect in the thoughts of many others also, only served to grow the level of anticipation.
Then to the reality.
Before long, I had the fear that this could be a massacre, bringing back memories of The Bulls demolition of The Chiefs a few weeks back in Johannesburg.
The Springbok scrum and lineout was dominant. They were winning most of the tackle contests, with speed in the recycle of their own ball and plenty of turnovers from Lions ball. Ruan Pienaar was on target with his kicks for goal, while Stephen Jones was missing his, albeit narrowly.
The Springbok scrum was so dominant, at times demolishing the Lions, that Phil Vickery was eventually warned in the 38th minute for consistent infringements. David Wallace, at one point, was man-handled bodily into touch. It seemed that there was nowhere and no way that the Lions could get into this match.
Still, from time to time, there was rustiness in the Springbok ranks. I lost count of the number of high balls that they failed to claim. Pienaar failed to find touch with a penalty and there were some wayward passes that missed their target.
With the Lions, there began the occasional flash of quality attack. Mears put Wallace through a gap with a lovely short ball, and O’Driscoll and Roberts created problems for the defence whenever they could get quality ball. Only a freak tackle by de Villiers on Monye and a mix-up in the Lions mid-field alignment denied the Lions two tries.
The Lions hung in though, as the British and Irish teams can often do, and the half-time they were still in the game at only 7-19 down. They would need a good second half for sure, but it was definitely achievable.
I was amazed during the half-time break, to see the Springbok reserve players on the pitch playing a game of touch rugby. This made me think that the Bok camp had already declared the game won and the comments from the various South African experts confirmed this in my mind.
It’s always a mistake to focus on result and not on performance. I felt that all of the Springbok players should have participated in the preparation for the next half of the match, if the tactical and psychological commitment to quality performance was to be maximized.
The second half began in the same manner as the first, with the Springboks driving their maul whenever they wished, it appeared. One maul went about 30m. Then followed a penalty for collapse, another driving maul, another try. My thoughts about the half-time high jinks seemed misplaced.
From now on, one team seemed to get it back together, while the others seemed hell bent on taking every wrong decision that they could.
First of all, Brussow, the ball scavenger who had been hugely successful in the match to date, was replaced by the much taller, typical South African crunching ball runner. They already had two of these on the pitch, so I was astonished by this substitution. What’s more is the fact that Brussow was the only South African player in the match squad with any degree of match fitness. Having originally missed a spot in the extended squad, he had continued to play with his provincial team, including the match against the Lions.
The Lions, on the other hand, set about repairing their cracks. First Aled Jones came on for Vickery and by the 50th minute they had a complete Welsh front row. This had an immediate effect on the quality of scrum ball that the Lions forwards were able to deliver.
A lot of the quality attacking rugby played in the match came from the Lions centres, Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll, and now that had something to work with. After a concerted attack lasting nine phases, Tommy Bowe broke down the middle. O’Driscoll, then Roberts, each made the half-break for Croft to finally score.
By this time the excellent Jean de Villiers and Bakies Botha had been replaced to be followed a short time later by Fourie du Preez. This was obviously been the signal for the Springbok team that the day’s work had been done and that the match had been won.
The Lions players however missed the signal and their bench players contributed wonderfully. Martyn Williams came on to consolidate the earlier support given by his front row countrymen and indeed all of the Lions bench made their mark when required. This was a significant feature of the last 15 minutes of the match.
In all, the Springboks deserved the victory but I had the feeling, at the end, that all of the finesse and touch, that I love about the game of rugby, was provided by the Lions. They did, after all, score three tries to two by the Boks and they did cross the line three more times only to be denied.
The Lions will have learnt a lot and will take great heart from their excellent fight back.
The Boks won’t be a rusty next week and they will have gained a little more match fitness.
This series is not over yet. Not by a long shot!
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2012