LIONS BLOW CHANCE OF GLORY

As ghost of Steyn returns to haunt them 12 years on

THE ghost of Pretoria returned to haunt the Lions. Two kicks, 12 years apart. Many people had forgotten Morne Steyn was even a part of this tour but, at the grand old age of 37, the fly-half stepped up to slay the Lions once again.

Warren Gatland described it as deja vu. He had seen it all before. There have been so many uncertainties in this series but there was not an ounce of doubt when Steyn, playing his first Test for five years, stepped up to send his penalty through the posts with the clock at 78min 45sec.

The look on the tourists’ faces said it all. Jack Conan appeared on the big screen looking spooked. Alun Wyn Jones was holding back the tears. Maro Itoje looked up to the heavy fog that filled the night sky.

They will fly back to home soil today with a suitcase full of regrets. Their failure to capitalise on the first Test victory will live with these players for the rest of their careers.

They will look back at missed opportunities to snatch victory last night — Liam Williams’s decision not to pass to Josh Adams, Tom Curry’s moment of madness in the build-up to Ken Owens’s disallowed try, Mako Vunipola’s failure to ground the ball and a couple of butchered set-pieces.

‘You get one or two chances at this level and you’ve got to make the most of them,’ said Gatland. ‘You’ve got to be clinical when they come around.

‘We went out there to be positive and play some rugby. We missed one or two chances and they got a lucky bounce.

‘When you’re playing against the world champions, you know it’s going to be a really tight contest with the bounce of a ball or a call or something. There were some key moments but the boys gave it 100 per cent and from a coaching point of view, you can’t ask for more.’

If the Lions had built on their early dominance it would have been a different story. If the Lions had taken their chances to build a decent lead, the Springboks would not have resorted to their old gunslinger, who was sent on to kick the three-point opportunity when it inevitably came around.

Execution on this tour has been poor. There have been no classic tries that will live long in the memory.

Worst of all, there has been no crowd to gloss over the imperfections of the displays with a merry atmosphere. A local seal colony has taken over the pontoon where Lions fans would normally board tourist boats to Robben Island for a pre-match outing.

After 11 minutes, the Lions were forced to play their hand. Dan Biggar was forced off with a shin injury to be replaced by Finn Russell. It was Russell’s first game for weeks but he was not fazed by his impromptu Lions debut.

One swig of Red Bull, a big grin for the camera and on he went.

He turned down kicks at goal and plumped for line-outs in the corner. With 19 minutes on the clock, after Itoje claimed the set-piece, Ken Owens drove over to score the first try.

The tide was with the Lions. Referee Mathieu Raynal even sent the Springbok waterboys packing as they ran on in a bid to slow down the game to walking pace.

The Lions found an ascendancy at the scrum through Wyn Jones and the Springbok coaching box fell hoarse as they barked orders to keep Russell under wraps.

The Lions had 69 per cent possession in the first half, yet they went in for their half-time team talk with a lead of just four points.

The Boks attacked Wyn Jones’s bad back like a boxer jabbing a wounded eye. The prop withdrew early in the second half and the hosts subsequently found the upper hand at the scrum.

There were doubts about Pollard’s accuracy from the tee as he missed two three-pointers in succession.

But fear not, because Steyn was waiting in the wings.

We have barely seen Cheslin Kolbe on this tour. The majestic winger is under-used by the Springboks, but all it took was one sniff. Returning Ali Price’s box kick, Lukhanyo Am reacted fastest to set loose Willie le Roux.

He quickly shovelled the ball on to Kolbe, who stepped inside Liam Williams and broke through the tackle of Luke Cowan-Dickie for the key try. One shot, one kill.

On came Steyn to kick his goals. Dead-eye accuracy with his bright blue boots. He exchanged kicks with Russell, but the game never loosened up as the Lions had hoped it would. Penalty after penalty, with Eben Etzebeth somehow dodging a yellow card for slapping the ball out of Conor Murray’s hands.

Then came the money shot. Courtney Lawes was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle. Kolisi and Murray argued the toss, wasting a few valuable seconds. Steyn’s moment had come.

‘It’s a bit of deja vu, isn’t it?’ chuckled Gatland with trench humour.

Steyn kicked his points and the

Springboks held on, turning over a scrum in the final play of the game.

It was an ugly end to an ugly series, but the hosts could not care less.