Golden Lions 10 - 74 British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions got their tour going in emphatic style last night, totally demolishing an ordinary Golden Lions side 74-10 with a strong, powerful display, full of precision and intensity.

What a difference a few days makes, the contrast between the two early fixtures on tour couldn’t be more evident. Whilst the Lions’ first match against the Royal XV was a disjointed effort, riddled with individual errors and a lack of cohesion; the Golden Lions midweek game showed a team of players who had discovered a new found confidence and ability to play as a team from 1 to 15. Poor as the opposition were in front of another disappointing crowd, the tourists impressed in emphatic style by trouncing the opposition ten tries to one. The scrum and lineout were dominant, there was an intensity and physicality at the breakdown that was absent in the first match, ball-retention was improved ten-fold and the backs looked like they’d been playing together for years, such was the organisation and unity they displayed.

In the front row, props Gethin Jenkins and Phil Vickery terrorised their opposition all night in both the tight and the loose, rucking ferociously and putting in some rampaging runs and huge hits in defense. Lee Mears impressed once again with his accuracy at the lineout and he showed up very well in the loose and acted as a link between forwards and backs. Both Hines and Alun-Wyn Jones can be proud of their efforts with a good lineout presence and some powerful carries. Flanker Tom Croft, omitted from McGeechan's original squad, was excellent all evening. He will no doubt take plenty of personal satisfaction from endless lineout-takes, a series of rampaging runs and a try to boot (and nearly setting up another) whilst at the same time never neglecting his donkey-work duties. David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip put in some strong carries all night, and the latter worked well with his scrum half.



The half-back combination functioned well, no doubt stemming from that familiarity between the two Welsh players. A couple of small individual errors aside, Jones controlled the game superbly with his distribution and his boot put the tourists in the right positions on the field as well as providing very solid goal kicking. The centre partnership between Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll has a fantastic balance to it and the two will be seen as favourites for the Test team after their in-tune performances in the centre. Roberts’ playing his second game in just four days showed no signs of tiring as his strong running was a constant threat to the home side with countless line breaks and gain-line busting runs. His likely Test partner O'Driscoll led by example as we have come to expect, maintaining his try-scoring form and causing havoc in the Golden Lions' defence. He remains key to the tourists' aspirations. Paul O'Connell may well be the captain of the squad but O'Driscoll remains the heartbeat and his class was there for all to see.



Tommy Bowe continues to impress week in week out, with his wonderful angles of running and vision to put others in space. Ugo Monye enjoyed a double-try scoring debut in a Lions jersey and threatened the opposition all night; and Rob Kearney put in a confident display and provided a reassuring presence at fullback.

With the necessity to give every member of the squad a full game in the opening three fixtures, substitutions were made in the second half that predictably spoiled the flow of the game. Shifting the backline into unfamiliar positions eventually led to the Lions spending the last ten minutes playing with 14 men. The Lions players and management were understandably thrilled post-match at having exceeded expectations. As good as they were, and they were so much better than their last outing, the bonus for McGeechan and co is that the Lions are far from the finished article. And probably just as well as there are tougher tests ahead. Their hosts on the other hand had a dreadful lack of fight about them but the Lions' near-Test strength side could not fail. I am sure such words of warning were ringing in their ears as they took to the field. Defeat would have meant trouble while another faltering display would have sowed further seeds of doubt.

But thankfully the tour is well and truly back on track - more of the same please.

One for the stattos, this was the biggest Lions win in South Africa since 1974, the year of a series win.

Player Ratings:

Rob Kearney: 6 – A reassuring presence at full back, even if most of the action happened in front of him
Tommy Bowe: 8 – A constant threat with his running and distribution, looked full of confidence
Brian O’Driscoll: 8 – Led his team very well, a central figure in the backline
Jamie Roberts: 9 – Another powerful performance, capped off with two tries
Ugo Monye: 7 – Took his tries well and apart from a couple of small errors, enjoyed a strong Lions debut
Stephen Jones: 7 – An assured and controlled display from the Welsh fly-half
Mike Phillips: 6 – With such a dominant pack, was always going to excel. Passing needs to improve but a good outing.

Gethin Jenkins: 7 – Scrummaged well and put in some big carries
Lee Mears: 7 – Must be favourite for the Test team and made a mockery of both his detractors and the notion the Lions are weak at hooker
Phil Vickery: 7 – Provided a strong scrummaging platform and did the grunt work when needed
Nathan Hines: 6 – Offered experience and big hits around the field
Alun-Wyn Jones: 7 – Strong lineout presence and powerful in the loose
Tom Croft: 8 – Put his pace to good use and won the majority of lineout ball all whilst doing the donkey work required of a man in his position
David Wallace: 6 – Enjoyed a far stronger outing in his preferred position on the openside
Jamie Heaslip: 7 - A lively contributor throughout the contest in an extension of his Grand Slam form.

Golden Lions
Try: Frolick
Con: Pretorius
Pen: Pretorius

British & Irish Lions
Tries: Roberts 2, O'Driscoll, Monye 2, Croft, Bowe 2, Hook, Ferris
Cons: S. Jones 6, Hook 3
Pens: S. Jones 2

Golden Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jannie Boshoff, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 André Pretorius, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Brad Mockford, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Lawrence Sephaka.

Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reyneke, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Ernst Joubert, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Earl Rose.

British & Irish Lions: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Stephen Ferris, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Harry Ellis, 21 James Hook, 22 Shane Williams.


Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes, Marius Jonker
TMO: Johann Meuwesen