Kolbe magic wins series
The winger’s try made all the difference as the Boks edged out the Lions
South Africa (6) 19 British & Irish Lions (10) 16 Springboks — Try: Cheslin Kolbe; Conversion: Handre Pollard; Penalties: Pollard (2), Morne Steyn (2). B & I Lions — Try: Ken Owens; Conversion: Finn Russell; Penalties: Russell (3)
● Cloaked in fog initially, this city revealed its splendour in time for the much anticipated mother of all battles.
It then returned as series clarity appeared to be beyond the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions until Morne Steyn, just as he did in 2009, split the uprights to put Bok fans on cloud nine.
Coach Jacques Nienaber couldn’t bear to watch and held his head between his knees.
Steyn and Cheslin Kolbe were the key contributors in the second half, which was perhaps fitting given the strong hand they played in the Boks’ momentous triumphs in recent history.
For all the talk about the “Boring Boks” it again took a moment of potential matchwinning majesty to give them a crucial advantage and again it was the dynamo Kolbe, who lit the Yokohama sky two years ago, that shone brightest.
Some will deem the origins of the try contentious, but almost all tries now venture into areas of grey.
Bodies were battered, bruised and bloodied after the final whistle but after a brutal series it was Siya Kolisi’s Boks who were unbowed.
“Everyone has had challenges because of Covid. We will never use that as an excuse. Our drive was what is this going to do for our country ... for our kids?” said Kolisi.
First though the Boks had to negotiate a nerve-jangling second half as they clawed their way back into the contest only to see those gains disappear.
Earlier too they were up against it.
The problem for the home team was that it was soon apparent that the momentum they were widely tipped to have in their possession from the second Test had evaporated too.
It was a first half in which the Boks were required to absorb pressure as the Lions rediscovered the spring in their step from the first Test.
It was they who put down a marker in the first half by taking possession of the ball for extended periods and setting up camp, often deep in Bok territory.
It was they who played with energy and intensity but they would have been disappointed that they held only a four-point lead by the time the half-time whistle sounded.
By then the tourists had held 67% of the possession and had been in the Bok half 58% of the time.
They succeeded in stunting the Boks in key areas.
The Lions’ maul defence was impeccable to start with but gradually the Boks made ground.
On a surface that had all the structural integrity of filo pastry the scrum battle was one that had an element of a lottery to it.
The Lions had a tighter grip initially but the Boks won two crucial penalties from that facet in the first half, one that directly resulted in points.
There was no clear dominance that gave the Boks the traction from which to impose their power game.
The Lions lost their principal goalkicker Dan Biggar, perhaps ironically just as Handre Pollard was lining up his first attempt at goal.
In his replacement Finn Russell, the Lions had a supremely gifted playmaker but for him to be at his most potent the tourists had to drift from their original plan.
Russell gave the Lions much of their impetus.
He soon made his mark when he restored parity on the scoreboard with a penalty and there were a few incredulous gasps when he eschewed a kickable penalty by opting for touch.
Those gasps subsided however when the Lions deployed their maul, in an area that yielded profit in the first Test. Only this time it was Ken Owens at the back of the human caterpillar.
The Boks played their get-out-of-jail card when the Lions fluffed their lines in setting up another driving maul in the same spot Owens had earlier touched down. They changed lanes and got penalised.
That passage of Bok belligerence helped keep the Boks in the game and they took confidence from it.
The Boks had to dig deep in the second half with Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Damian de Allende and replacement prop Trevor Nyakane standing firm.
With less than 10 minutes to go this feisty, tetchy, at times even laced with spite and bite series, looked destined for a draw.
But up stepped Steyn and the denouement seemed inevitable.
He soon made his mark when he restored parity on the scoreboard with a penalty and there were a few gasps