The luck and the little details not on our side, claims rueful Gatland
BLOODIED: A dejected Liam Williams after the final whistle in Cape Town.
Warren Gatland was left to rue a high penalty count, missed opportunities and pure dumb luck as he reflected on the British & Irish Lions’ series defeat to South Africa on Saturday night.
A Morné Steyn penalty two minutes from time was all that separated the sides at Cape Town Stadium at the end of this third and final Test between the Lions and the Springboks but the 19-16 win for the home side was enough to send the series the way of the world champions and add another glittering chapter to the careers of captain Siya Kolisi and his team.
The Lions had won the first Test 14 days earlier and shaded the opening half of the second game only to be overwhelmed by a resurgent Springbok side in the second period as Gatland’s men wilted and Jaques Nienaber’s team won 27-9.
The deciding Test followed along similar lines as the Lions jumped into a 10-3 interval lead courtesy of a Ken Owens try off a driving lineout maul and a conversion and penalty from Finn Russell, the fly-half playing just his third game of this tour having replaced the injured Dan Biggar on 11 minutes.
The Lions should have had a bigger lead than six points though having dominated possession in that first 40 and the Springboks made them pay by once again rebounding strongly in the second half. Cheslin Kolbe’s 55th-minute try, converted by Handré Pollard, edged the South Africans in front while the replacement out-halves Russell and Steyn exchanged penalties before the Scot levelled at 16-16 with six minutes to go.
Yet Steyn, 37, was to have his moment in the spotlight, just as he did against the 2009 Lions, kicking the decisive points in his first Test appearance since 2016 to repeat his series-securing penalty on debut a dozen years ago.
Gatland, who had been the Lions forwards coach on that day at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld, said: "It's a bit of deja vu, isn't it?
“The penalty count was against us 15-12 and at this level, it's so, so important. Your aim is to keep your penalties under 10 in international rugby and if you can do that, it makes a significant difference.
"We had a penalty our way and then the high shot from Finn Russell (on Kolbe) goes the other way, sort of big moments. A two-on-one (attack) with Liam Williams and Josh Adams, (Williams) should have given the pass probably. You get one or two chances at this level and you've got to make the most of them because you've got to be clinical when they come around.
"I'm disappointed obviously but I'm really proud of the effort the boys put in today. We went out there to be positive and play some rugby. We missed one or two chances and they kind of get a lucky bounce and score a try against the run of play, and a couple of 50/50 calls probably didn't go our way.
"But it was a proper Test match, it was tough and physical and that's what you want with a Lions series. It's not going to be easy travelling away from home to play the world champions and they were really tight contests. We're disappointed but it could have gone any way. Congratulations to South Africa."
Asked in his post-match media conference if the outcome had been a fair reflection of the series, Gatland replied: “When you're playing against the world champions, you know it's going to be really tight contests with the bounce of a ball or a call or something.
“We have been held up over the line and then we get penalised at a scrum which is a little bit unlucky when you're five metres out from their line.
"So from that point of view, there were some key moments and it was always going to be the bounce of the ball and really tight contests. The boys gave it 100 per cent and from a coaching point of view, you can't ask for more than that.
"At half time, we spoke about starting really well after half time. We had a good first half and that was probably the most disappointing part of the game - that 10 minutes after half time where we just got pinned a little bit in our own half and it took us a while to start generating momentum."
Springbok captain Kolisi had been one of his squad’s players who had contracted Covid before the Test series, only returning from isolation in the week of the first Test.
“I cannot explain in words,” Kolisi said, “this group had so many challenges, with our first proper training just before the first Test.
“We decided though that there will be no excuses – people would not accept that anyway. We knew if we step onto the field, we needed to be ready to play.”
Head coach Nienaber admitted he was unable to watch Steyn’s decisive penalty.
“I had my head down between my legs when he kicked that last penalty goal, to be honest – I just could not watch,” the former Munster and World Cup-winning defence coach admitted.
“It was just happy for him that he succeeded – it is amazing that he did the same thing 12 years ago.”
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