Duncan Casey: Rugby demands, and deserves, better from South Africa and Lions

The Lions will have to ring the changes to give themselves a fighting chance, something that always has the potential to be as disruptive as it is beneficial

PENALTY PAIN: Referee Ben O’Keeffe awards a penalty in last weekend’s second Test. Our columnist says: ‘You can legitimately ask if a lingering doubt was planted by the antics in the South African camp during the week.’ Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

Last week wasn’t a great one for international rugby, was it? Over-the-top off-field antics, a first half that lasted over an hour, and a contest that would have even the most committed purist checking if there was anything better on the telly combined to give us a very poor advertisement for the highest level of the game.

Having started with widespread praise for being magnanimous in defeat after the first Test of the series, with Rassie Erasmus declaring on Twitter that the South Africans had “no complaints” about the result, things got uglier as the week went on. What followed was a seemingly coordinated assault by Springbok players and coaches on the ability and impartiality of the officials that began in somewhat entertaining fashion but got seriously out of hand from there.