ALUN WYN’S PRIDE OF LIONS
Lions led by AWJ edge first test thriller in South Africa
SO the Lions have gone 1-0 up in the series, coming from behind to beat South Africa 22-17 in the first Test in Cape
Town.
Here’s the story of the game...
HOW DID THEY DO IT THEN?
WELL it was very much a tale of two halves in a couple of key areas.
In the first half, the Lions were their own worst enemies in terms of their indiscipline, conceding penalties to trail 12-3 at the interval.
But then, after the break, they cleaned up their act and it was the Boks who took on the role of serial offenders, enabling Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell to kick the visitors clear.
They also served the Boks a spot of their own medicine after the break by getting on top in the lineout drives, with their try coming from that area via hooker Luke CowanDickie.
And they also took control in the air, negating another perceived strength of the hosts.
All in all, it was a really gutsy, defiant display and a famous victory.
TMO TIME
AFTER all the controversy over the appointment of South African Marius Jonker as TMO, it was almost inevitable he was going to be heavily involved and so it proved.
He was called into action twice in quick succession in the third quarter of the game.
On both occasions, it was a case of the Springboks claiming tries after following up kicks ahead out on the left hand side.
First it was centre Lukhanyo Am who grubbered through with fullback Willie Le Roux winning the race to the ball to touch down.
Referee Nic Berry’s onfield decision was try, but Jonker ruled Le Roux had been just in front of Am, so the score was ruled out. It was one tight call.
But there was to be no escape for the Lions on 49 minutes.
This time it was winger Makazole Mapimpi who kicked ahead as the Boks broke down the left.
It was then a blur of bodies and potential knock-ons, ending in Faf de Klerk getting the ball down.
There was a lot for Jonker to look at, but he ruled the ball had been missed by Pieter-Steph Du Toit and then gone backwards off Mapimpi, which meant De Klerk’s try stood.
There was another key decision on 64 minutes, with referee Berry making the ruling, as he decided a penalty was sufficient against Hamish Watson as he lifted Le Roux above the horizontal.
Crucially, Pollard was off target with his kick at goal.
Then nine minutes from time came a further involvement for TMO Jonker.
Damian De Allende had got first to the ball over the whitewash ahead of Elliot Daly after Mapimpi had again kicked through.
But Jonker didn’t need to check anything there because of what had happened in the build up, with Cheslin Kolbe having knocked on contesting in the air with Liam Williams.
It was pretty clear from the replays and Berry and Jonker concurred, ruling out the score.
DODGY DISCIPLINE
GOING into the game, there had been a lot of talk from the Lions camp about the need to match the Springboks physically and front up in the arm wrestle.
That’s entirely understandable but there can be a thin line between getting up in the faces of the opposition and overstepping the mark.
And, in the first half, the visitors’ discipline let them down and it proved costly. In fact, it cost them 12 points and it could have been more.
They had clearly gone in with the mindset of looking to compete ferociously at the breakdown.
But, too often, they were unable to do so to the satisfaction of referee Nic Berry, while they were also pinged at the scrum.
It was flanker Tom Curry who conceded the penalties that enabled Handre Pollard to slot his first shots at goal.
First he failed to get out of the way at a breakdown and then he was done for a late tackle on Faf de Klerk as the South African No 9 put in a raking kick from a scrum.
After that, it was centre Elliot
Daly who was guilty of double misdemeanour.
In his eagerness to compete in the contact area, he was done for no tackle release and then for going off his feet.
His first offence could easily have led to a try, as Siya Kolisi broke away from the resulting lineout, with only a fine piece of jackling from Maro Itoje saving the day, and his second saw Pollard land his third kick at the sticks.
Another penalty given away at the breakdown saw the Boks No 10 bisect the posts once more to make it 12-3 and that’s how the first half ended.
But then, after the break, it was the hosts’ discipline that was found wanting.
Having built a 17-10 lead, they then conceded two penalties in quick succession, enabling Dan Biggar to cut the deficit to just a point going into the final quarter.
And then on 63 minutes, further indiscipline, with a lineout mail offence, allowed Biggar to put the Lions in front for the first time and Owen Farrell punished a further indiscretion two minutes from
the end to provide some welcome breathing space.
Discipline is crucial and the visitors turned things around on that front.
THE KICKING GAME
YOU know there is likely to be a lot of kicking involved when you play South Africa.
As Warren Gatland pointed out in the week, they can kick as many as 40 times in a match.
So it proved, with the hosts doing their usual thing and the Lions following suit.
The stall was set out in the first five minutes when there were no fewer than 11 kicks in total.
What was intriguing was the different kicking strategy employed by the two sides.
The Boks were looking to kick for territory, primarily through scrumhalf De Klerk, and then put the pressure on with a view to winning the ball back or winning penalties.
If the ball rolled into touch, they were fine with that, as they could look to compete on the Lions’ lineout.
But the visitors took a different approach.
They looked to kick infield and keep the ball on the pitch at all costs to deny South Africa lineouts, with the hosts’ driving mauls such a weapon.
It was all about the line-chase from the Lions then to avoid giving the likes of Cheslin Kolbe the chance to counter. But in the second half, it was the visitors that controlled the air.
Somehow, it was fitting that an aerial contest should ultimately prove the decisive moment of the match.
With nine minutes to go, replacement Liam Williams got up higher under a bomb and as Kolbe tried to contest he just knocked the ball forward.
That meant the try from De Allende which followed was ruled out.
SET PIECES
THE opening set-pieces are always fascinating to watch in big games like this, with both sides looking to lay down an early marker.
We had to wait until the ninth minute for the first scrum and when it came it was the Boks that got the nudge on, earning a penalty advantage.
They also got the better of the second one, winning a free kick on the reset.
As the balance of power swung back and fore, there was a big moment for Tadgh Furlong later in the half when he won a penalty for hoisting Ox Nche skyward.
But then the final scrum of the period saw Rory Sutherland pinged.
However, when it really mattered, it was the Lions who got on top.
There had been much talk about the front row the Boks had on the bench.
Yet it was the Lions sub trio of Vunipola, Owens and Sinckler who combined to win a key penalty 15 minutes from time.
As for the lineouts, the visitors started well, winning their first five throws, with Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoju rising high, while a long throw into midfield to Robbie Henshaw drew a penalty which gave them their first points of the match,
But then the Boks started to apply the pressure on full lineouts, making it tough to go to the tail.
That resulted in a couple of lost balls, with pressure seeing Luke Cowan-Dickie throw to Sutherland at the front and clearly not going straight.
Yet come the start of the second half, it was the Lions’ turn to give the hosts a bit of their own medicine.
The Boks are renowned for their lineout drives, but now the tables were turned.
Alun Wyn Jones bravely rejected a shot at goal, opting to kick to the corner.
The ambition was rewarded as Lawes leapt high and they unfurled a powerful, orchestrated drive, with backs Price, Henshaw and Van der Merwe joining the forwards to help shove Cowan-Dickie to the whitewash.
Then as the game moved into the final quarter, it was a penalty awarded at a lineout maul that enabled the Lions to take the lead for the first time.