Lions hunted down

THE British and Irish Lions were denied a 100% non-Test record in dramatic fashion in wet and windy Newlands last night – hit with an injury time seven-pointer after an indifferent, error-ridden, display.

In the final midweek game of the tour, a classic try and a smashing conversion from the right-hand touchline sparked off celebrations by the gritty Emerging Springboks who had fallen behind by seven points just three minutes from the end.

Most sides would have thrown in the towel, but this South African side deserved something from a game in which they were never less than competitive against a Lions team that held most of the territory but made far too many mistakes for their own good.

Lions captain Ronan O’Gara agreed that the Springboks second-string side deserved a share of the spoils based on the effort they had put in.

“You must give them credit for scoring what was a great try at the end. We had control of the match for the most part but they never let us get clear; they were very competitive and never let us out of their sights.

“The conditions, particularly the pitch, got worse as the game went on and it made it virtually impossible for us to play the type of rugby we intended playing. From that perspective it was a disappointment; I suppose the only thing is that we didn’t lose.”

It was a match that was set up for a number of players to put their hands up for consideration to be promoted to the Test side for the second game against the Springboks on Saturday. Unfortunately, not too many players did, with the conditions making it more difficult for them to do that.

Still, there was encouragement for O’Gara who was substituted early in the second half, clearly with a view to him participating in Saturday’s second Test game in Pretoria.

Donncha O’Callaghan battled on throughout the 80 minutes, taking over the captaincy from O’Gara, and he certainly put himself in a good position for selection, while Luke Fitzgerald also strengthened his case, more obviously so given the lacklustre form of Shane Williams and Ugo Monye.

Depending on whether Lee Byrne recovers from his foot injury or not, it might even be possible that Keith Earls, who had an excellent game last night, could squeeze into the matchday 22.

But for now, the celebrations were reserved for the home side and captain Dewald Potgieter was understandably ecstatic with the result. He praised his side for having snatched some glory out of the tie. “It was a great result for us, for this team who really have only had the benefit of four training sessions together.

“It was a huge achievement to get a draw against a very good Lions side; it was frustrating to go seven points adrift near the end but we knew we had something left in the tank. I just asked them for one big effort for the last couple of minutes; it was a bigger effort than I dared dream of.”

The Lions dominated the score board in that opening half, with O’Gara kicking an eighth-minute penalty, having missed one after three minutes.

The home side decided to play with the advantage of a strong wind, but fell further behind when Earls ran in for a smashing 14th minute try. Martyn Williams helped create it when he charged down a clearance from Earl Rose, the Emerging Springboks out half; Riki Flutey made the hard yards and Earls powered in after Harry Ellis transferred possession from a ruck. O’Gara converted but the Boks finally benefited from field position when Rose kicked a penalty in the 36th minute to keep his side well in contention.

O’Gara was withdrawn and O’Callaghan took over as captain. The big second row came within a few inches of stretching the lead but Bok captain Potgieter won the race to touch down over the home line. Potgieter was further delighted to see Rose kick a second penalty in the 48th minute.

On a night of torrential rain and whipping wind, it became more and more difficult for the Lions to control, but they were relieved to see Rose slice a 61st minute penalty attempt to the left.

The outcome remained in doubt right up to the end, even though Hook kicked a 77th minute penalty to make it virtually impossible for the home side to win.

But substitute Danwel Demas set home pulses racing when he dived in for a brilliant try in the corner with just seconds to spare. Willem de Waal had it all to do as the game moved into injury time but he found the range and the accuracy to superbly add the extra points to salvage the point.

EMERGING SPRINGBOKS: Z Kirchner (Blue Bulls); L Vulindlu (Sharks), D van Rensburg (Golden Lions), M Newman (Western Province), B Basson (Griquas); E Rose (Golden Lions), J Vermaak (Golden Lions); V du Preez (Cheetahs), B Maku (Blue Bulls), W Kruger (Blue Bulls); S Sykes (Sharks), W Steenkamp (Blue Bulls); D Potgieter (Blue Bulls, capt), D Vermuelen (Western Province), J Deysel (Sharks).

Replacements: W de Waal (Western Province for Kirchner (52), P Cilliers (Sharks) for du Preez, F van der Merwe (Golden Lions) for Sykes, J Botes (Sharks) for Deysel, H Adams (Blue Bulls) for Vermaak (all 59), D Demas (Cheetahs) for Vulindlu (65).

BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS: K Earls (Ireland); S Williams (Wales), R Flutey (England), G D’Arcy (Ireland), L Fitzgerald (Ireland); R O’Gara (Ireland, capt), H Ellis (England); T Payne (England), R Ford (Scotland), J Hayes (Ireland); D O’Callaghan (Ireland), N Hines (Scotland); J Worsley (England), A Powell (Wales), M Williams (Wales).

Replacements: J Hook (Wales) for O’Gara (44), S Shaw (England) for Hines (57), U Monye (England) for Fitzgerald (65), P Vickery (England) for Hayes (66), D Wallace (Ireland) for Powell (68), L Mears (England) for Ford (74).

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).