Western Province 23 - 26 British & Irish Lions
Match Report

The British & Irish Lions retained their 100 per cent record on Saturday with a 26-23 win over Western Province in squally Cape Town.

A penalty from replacement James Hook with three minutes left preserved the British and Irish Lions' unbeaten record as they scraped a fifth win of their South Africa tour at a wet and windy Newlands.

But they were pushed all the way by a hugely committed Western Province side who made light of their missing Springboks to give the visitors a major scare in what has become a predictably inconsistent comparison from the Wednesday and Saturday Lions teams.

In the end, the match was decid ed when Wales back Hook struck four minutes from time, rifling over a 50-metre strike that thwarted the home side's superb fightback.

The Lions looked in control at 18-9 ahead after tries from man-of-the-match Tommy Bowe and his fellow wing Ugo Monye.

Joe Pietersen had earlier dropped a goal, as did fly-half Willem de Waal, who also kicked four penalties.

Flanker Martyn Williams also added a try, while two Stephen Jones penalties and a conversion also contributed towards the victory.

But Western Province kept plugging away as full-back Joe Pietersen's try set up a tense finish.

Yet the Lions did just enough to make it five wins from five a week before the first Test against world champions South Africa.

Stats were not available, but surely the first 15 minutes contained more kicks than the last four matches combined as the Lions had to contend with comfortably the worst weather conditions of their 10-match trip, with a blustery wind and heavy showers blowing in from Table Mountain.

And they were also watched by their biggest crowd on tour - just over 34,000, that included an escalating contingent of travelling fans.

With the first Test match already upon us and only a week away, thoughts will focus even more onto the Test team, and you’d have to consider that whoever runs out onto the pitch on Tuesday against the Southern Kings, probably won’t have enough time to figure at the weekend, in the starting team at least, barring a ground-breaking performance.

This week, expect debate over who will partner O’Connell, the openside position, fly half and the left wing…


Player Ratings:

Rob Kearney: 7
Tommy Bowe: 8
Keith Earls: 5
Riki Flutey: 5
Ugo Monye: 6
Stephen Jones: 6
Harry Ellis: 7

Andy Sheridan: 5
Matthew Rees: 5
Phil Vickery: 7
Donncha O’Callaghan: 6
Nathan Hines: 8
Joe Worsley: 6
Martyn Williams: 7
Andy Powell: 5

Western Province:
Try: Pietersen
Pens: De Waal 4
Drop goals: de Waal, Pietersen

British and Irish Lions:
Tries: Bowe, Monye, Williams
Con: Jones
Pens: Jones 2, Hook

Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Morgan Newman, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Gcobani Bobo, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (c), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Anton Van Zyl, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.

Replacements: 16 Hanyani Shimange, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 JJ Engelbrecht, 22 Gio Aplon.


British and Irish Lions: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Phil Vickery (capt), 2 Mathew Rees, 1 Andrew Sheridan.

Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Mike Blair, 21 James Hook, 22 Gordan D'Arcy.


Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referee: Wayne Barnes (England), Cobus Wessels