Second Bite for Lions
Photo: Getty Images
After coming agonisingly close to a sensational victory in Durban last weekend, the British Lions head for Pretoria – and Saturday’s second Test against South Africa – with more than a little hope in their hearts
As far as rugby goes, last week’s first Test between world champions South Africa and the touring British & Irish Lions had pretty much everything the purist would want: the unadulterated power of the Springboks front row, line-out brilliance in the form of Victor Matfield, the wonderful guile of Ruan Pienaar at stand-off, the textbook midfield partnership of the Lions centres Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll, and the gigantic boot of the prodigious Francois Steyn. Throw in a stirring Lions fightback and the sheer drama of the final 10 minutes, and you’d think tomorrow’s second Test in Pretoria couldn’t get any better. That’s until you consider what last week’s 26-21 bonanza in Durban didn’t have – the added intensity of the Lions being in the last-chance saloon and the utter ferocity of the baying Loftus Versfeld crowd.
Only last week, Stuart Barnes told this very magazine that he couldn’t see the Lions winning at the home of the dominant Super 14 champions, the Bulls. The task will indeed be tough – the likes of Matfield, Bryan Habana, Fourie du Preez and Pierre Spies will relish bringing the Lions to their home ground – but it’s win or bust for Ian McGeechan’s men; lose in Pretoria and next weekend’s third Test in Johannesburg becomes an irrelevance. So where did the Lions lose last week’s game, and what must they do to reverse the result in Pretoria? Allow us to explain…
THE SCRUM
The Lions went into the first Test confident that an in-form front row could dominate a rusty Springbok pack. Not so; busy refereeing from the Kiwi Bryce Lawrence aside, Phil Vickery had a nightmare against opposing prop Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira, conceding penalty after penalty as South Africa racked
up the points in the first half.
The introduction of the Welsh pair Adam Jones and Matthew Rees tightened things up after the interval, but was that as much to do with Springbok fatigue as it was a Lions revival? Vickery won’t start again, of course, but scrum coach Graham Rowntree will have had a tough week working out how to counter the threat of skipper John Smit and his formidable front-row colleagues. How Rowntree sets his men up will be crucial, because another opening 40 minutes like Durban and the series will be lost.
THE LINE-OUT
No surprises here, but from the moment the Lions lost their first line-out, it was clear that South Africa would be as dominant here as they were in the World Cup. Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and joker in the pack Juan Smith combine to form one of the most gifted line-out units in the history of the game; they really are that good, which leaves the Lions only one tactic – avoid the line-out at all costs. To give McGeechan his due, he knows that; and, when the Lions did establish a platform in the second half, they were able to adopt a game based on ball retention and driving through
the midfield – exactly the approach needed to minimise line-outs. Picking up from where they left off last week would do fine, then.
HALF-BACKS
When given decent ball, Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones proved more than capable of putting the sensational Roberts and O’Driscoll in promising attacking positions. It didn’t happen anywhere near enough, though, while du Preez and the cunning Pienaar had far too much time to pick their plays and kick the Lions into corner after corner. Du Preez is
a monster in any environment, but Pienaar
can become fragile if hit early and kept under pressure – something McGeechan will want
to remind his flankers of before kick-off
on Saturday.
FINISHING
Ugo Monye was selected at wing purely on his strengths as a finisher, yet – oh, irony of cruel ironies – failed to take advantage of at least two golden opportunities in the first Test. There was some nigh-on unbelievable Springbok defending in there, granted – Jean de Villiers’ denial of Monye soon after Smit’s opening try was undeniably impressive – but
in games as tight as these a side needs to
take as many chances as possible; and it was noticeable that South Africa came away from many of their forays into Lions territory with at least three points to show for their efforts. On another day, the Lions would have scored six tries in Durban; put simply, they need to make Pretoria one of those days.
KICKING
South Africa have the luxury of having two goal-kickers – the stylish Pienaar is ultra-reliable from anywhere up to medium distance, while Steyn brings his howitzer of a right boot to anything beyond that. In contrast, the Lions relied upon fly half Jones, who missed a couple of potentially crucial penalties early doors on Saturday. It seems an obvious point to make, but in the cauldron of the Bulls’ lair (or den, or whatever it is that bulls have), the Lions will need to take every point they can – and that means nailing every bloody kick.
TONY HODSON
