Lions Vs Golden Lions - Post Match Analysis
If Rustenburg was the trial cruise shakedown, Ellis Park was the first firing of the guns. On Wednesday night the British & Irish big cats produced a thunderous blitz of elusive angled breaks, power running, silky passing and bags of forward might to quite frankly annihilate their Golden opposition. The manner of victory was emphatic and as a Lions supporter it was thrilling to behold.
But wait wait wait. As O'Driscoll so calmly put it following the slaughter, "lets not lose the run of ourselves." Before we launch into this analysis, it's worth tempering the overflowing pride (and as an Englishman) unbounded joy of watching a team play 'proper' rugby with a few reality checks.
The Golden Lions, despite their billing, were pretty woeful on the night. They were flaky as can be in defence and scant few names stood out for any praise at all. Things will get harder, and the Lions will not beat many South African teams by such heady margins. They were shorn of some of their Super 14 players, such as Earl Rose and less than a week ago their coach Eugene Eloff was sacked by the board much to the displeasure of the player base.
However, in South African circles, the Golden Lions were much fancied. Supersport.com (The SA equivalent of Sky Sports) forum was awash with Boks fans predicting a hard fought British & Irish Lions victory or a defeat at the hands of a decent S14/Currie Cup outfit. Likewise, here at home, expectations were conservative. Given the clunky performance in Rustenburg and the countless errors, many, myself included, thought that even if we stepped up a good few gears, we'd be in for a hard fought match.
Maybe it was the ever-pessimistic England supporter in me, worn down since '03 by stuttering performance after stuttering performance, that had me initially feeling nothing beyond sporadic hope. However, when the Lions emerged from the changing rooms and strode onto the pitch, oh how my persuasion changed.
Here came a team visibly caked in steely resolve. Alun-Wyn had the eyes of a man who planned to lead troops into battle and revel in the carnage. Mike Phillips took the field with a hop and a swagger that simply said "I'm going to chuffing own this ball boyos", and Brian O'Driscoll looked like a man who had absolutely zero intention of departing on a stretcher. The huddle was ablaze with cohesion and the sort of meaningful eye-contact that says: "I've got your back and I know you've got mine" without it ever having to be spoken. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it.
Still, this was meant to be a pretty decent Lions outfit, despite the missing players and the newly departed coach. A serious step up the South African fans and media had all said.
The game got underway and inside the first minute Dusty Noble hoisted the ball to the heavens only for Stephen Jones to spill the catch in the BLI's 22. That was uncharacteristic and painfully reminiscent of Earls 5 days ago. Unlike the opening game however, the 10, and the team stood up, shook it off and powered through. A dropped catch was not going to shake what was clearly a well-founded confidence.
It took only 6 mins for the first try to come as intensity at the breakdown generate quick ball and the Lions begun to put a few phases together. The ball found itself in O'Driscoll's hands and he found a half break to put Jamie Roberts through a gap. It looked like a team try and it was. Built on ferocity, precision and support.
Throughout the game, runners offered options for ball-carriers and players were always available to keep the ball moving and the point of attack changing. In this respect nobody was as good as Tommy Bowe. The winger positively craved work and popped up continuously in the midfield to carve an angle, run a decoy or pop the ball off the deck. Tom Croft's try was the perfect case in point. Just when the ball looked to have slowed and the move broken down, Bowe appeared from nowhere to ship a small but crucial inside ball to the Leicester flanker. Croft ignited the burners, stepped his man and went under the posts. The plaudits were Croft's but the intervention was Bowe.
Frankly, the midfield axis was superb. From 9 through to 13, the understanding and awareness amongst the players was staggering. Phillips, Jones and Roberts know each other well from the Wales setup, but the way BOD combined with the Roberts and Jones in particular was very impressive.
In the run-up to Bowe's first try Jones offloaded to O'Driscoll before the Irishman stepped off his right and straightened the attacking line. Jones, coming on the loop came at pace and from quite deep - certainly an angle that O'Driscoll couldn't have seen him from unless he's got eyes in the back of his head. Despite this BOD popped back into Jones waiting arms without so much as a cursory glance to set the 10 barreling on. The pair seemed to have the ball on a bungee cord. An offload to Kearney and the fullback drove deep into the heart of the Golden Lions defence before setting up ruck ball for his support. A decisive flat pass from Phillips and a third intervention from S. Jones, this time to nudge the ball on while under severe pressure, left the winger with a finish that he pounded on. It was quite sublime play and the try of the evening amongst a shopping list of goodies.
If the back play was at times sparkling, the forwards produced a show of some considerable might. The same message boards that were awash with confident Boks supporters yesterday afternoon are now the scenes of concerned fans as they discuss the wisdom of playing Smit out of position against such a competent front row and the work-rate, pace and power of an all-action back-row. I'm not making this stuff up, I've sat in the enemy camp and listened.
The pack went extremely well in all aspects of play and it's hard to find fault in much of what was done. The intensity which was lacking in Rustenburg, be it down to the effects of altitude on acclimatising bodies or simply not enough time together as a squad, was available on tap from the word go. 1 through 8 set a powerful platform for the back line to dance on, and in a country famed for it's powerful, beefy players, the Lions forwards looked impressive as they pulverised the opposition at ruck and maul. Pulverised is very much the right word, with huge hits from Jenkins, Heaslip, Ferris and others that I'm sure I've probably forgotten.
Likewise, the lineout ran like a slickly oiled machine. Admittedly this was not the same ball-game as jumping against the Springbok airforce of Matfield and co. but Lee Mears seemed able to put the ball on a sixpence, and despite an initial loose throw, he hit his jumpers all day long. The Lions looked like a side with options at the line-out also, as Croft at the tail seemed as effective an option as Hines at the front and AWJ in the middle. Introduced in the second half, Ford also fluffed his first throw, before going on to have a great debut from the bench.
The link play between forwards and back was hugely encouraging given the quality of the Springbok side ahead. 10 man rugby or kicking rugby or flashy running alone simply will not do. Total rugby must be the order of the day and against a lacklustre side the Lions showed that the possibility is certainly there.
Kearney was good in his first performance in a Lions shirt and despite a few small errors the competition for full back looks extremely healthy. Likewise, Ugo Monye, who despite two tries showed the odd nerve or two impressed nonetheless and adds a level or raw pace that is hard to ignore. Few things in rugby are as exciting as watching a flyer beat someone on the outside, and the Quin offers this possibility to the Lions management team.
The Golden Lions rarely had any spells of decent posession, but when they did, the robust BLI defence will have please Edwards. Only once did the Golden Lions actually unlock their touring namesakes. Late in the game when the home team, fighting for pride, looked to go close, the Lions shut the door comprehensively. Minutes later, attritional confrontational defence led to a spilled ball which Stephen Ferris pounced upon before doing his very best Pierre Spies impression.
There weren't many highlights for the Golden Lions. Fullback Ludik was stretchered off in the first 10, André Pretorius looked soft in defence and home flanker Franco van de Merwe who worked hard had throughout had a day summed up by a pressured clearance kick that sailed out on the full.
In a game which was so one-sided, two things in particular stood out. The structure and discipline in the British & Irish side and the efficiently shrewd approach from the management.
How often, with a game won against lesser opposition do you see a rugby team go to sleep? Often. The British & Irish Lions simply refused to get complacent and never resorted the Sevens style that they could have. Instead they played with structure throughout and while the champagne rugby certainly flowed, it was a reward for organisation and precision rather than the result of speculation and disorder. That, for me, was the mark of the performance. The team never went to sleep, never got sloppy and played the full 80, scoring at a steady tick throughout - 5 tries a half.
Likewise the management, hyper-aware of the limited time available took the opportunity to experiment. Geech, Gats, Edwards, Rowntree et al, were quite clearly not resting their collective rugby brains. Both Roberts and O'Driscoll left the field with the game won. They'd concocted an intoxicating mixture and at this point are the test partnership to unseat. In their place the coaches decided to see what wild-japes might just bare fruit.
Ellis came on as Jones was subbed. Hook, introduced earlier at centre slipped into the 10 role while Phillips went to mix it up in the outside centre/wing channel with Bowe.
I think.
To be honest, it was also so fluid, even after two viewings I'm not certain who was playing where late in the game. It didn't matter though as structure remained and Edwards' defensive line remained ever present and firm. The important thing was the ambition from the coaches. Not only was it a fine opportunity to get the full bench into play, but also to try the unexpected combinations. Too often coaches are predictable - making the obvious change when things aren't going to plan and sitting back on their laurels when the going is smooth. The Lions management devoured all the options on offer and mopped the plate with bread. No stone was left unturned.
If the Boks are favourites going into this series, which despite Lions fans' ebullience they certainly remain, in Geech and co, Peter De Villier seriously has his work cut out. The Lions management look very sharp.
There weren't many negatives to the performance - but room for improvement is always there. The visitors were pinged too many times for holding on, mostly due to players occasionally running down blind alleys, a few dog legs in defence would have been better exploited by finer sides and in a game with so much ball in hand play, the Lions didn't have the chance to develop their tactical kicking game. Jamie Roberts played superbly, but if I'm being hyper-critical he could do with acheiving a better body position when finishing. He's been held up, or close to held up too many times for such a classy player. However, all of this is nitpicking.
So, how can we conclude? Yes they fell to pieces, and yes we'll face better. Yes they ended up canon fodder and yes they were woeful in defence. But, and it's an important but, the Lions played some sublime rugby against a team full of experienced and familiar teammates if not a side knee deep in stars. They played the full eighty, with not a poor performance amongst the 22, and even late in the game, when Monye retired with a leg strain, they not only defended superbly with 14 men, but went on to score a further 14 points. You couldn't ask for much more against an outplayed opposition.
Two days ago we were all nervously anticipating the step up while the South Africans were salivating. Here we are with the Lions having shown that their teeth are sharp. They'll need to back it up strongly or else it'll mean zilch, but momentum is gold dust on a Lions tour and this game will have energised the camp and lain down the gauntlet to the next team to be selected.
The tourists face a Cheetahs outfit on Saturday fielding a near full strength Super 14 side. Lets hope they can continue the momentum as the opposition stiffens, more of the same please lads!
Roll on Bloemfontein!
But wait wait wait. As O'Driscoll so calmly put it following the slaughter, "lets not lose the run of ourselves." Before we launch into this analysis, it's worth tempering the overflowing pride (and as an Englishman) unbounded joy of watching a team play 'proper' rugby with a few reality checks.
The Golden Lions, despite their billing, were pretty woeful on the night. They were flaky as can be in defence and scant few names stood out for any praise at all. Things will get harder, and the Lions will not beat many South African teams by such heady margins. They were shorn of some of their Super 14 players, such as Earl Rose and less than a week ago their coach Eugene Eloff was sacked by the board much to the displeasure of the player base.
However, in South African circles, the Golden Lions were much fancied. Supersport.com (The SA equivalent of Sky Sports) forum was awash with Boks fans predicting a hard fought British & Irish Lions victory or a defeat at the hands of a decent S14/Currie Cup outfit. Likewise, here at home, expectations were conservative. Given the clunky performance in Rustenburg and the countless errors, many, myself included, thought that even if we stepped up a good few gears, we'd be in for a hard fought match.
Maybe it was the ever-pessimistic England supporter in me, worn down since '03 by stuttering performance after stuttering performance, that had me initially feeling nothing beyond sporadic hope. However, when the Lions emerged from the changing rooms and strode onto the pitch, oh how my persuasion changed.
Here came a team visibly caked in steely resolve. Alun-Wyn had the eyes of a man who planned to lead troops into battle and revel in the carnage. Mike Phillips took the field with a hop and a swagger that simply said "I'm going to chuffing own this ball boyos", and Brian O'Driscoll looked like a man who had absolutely zero intention of departing on a stretcher. The huddle was ablaze with cohesion and the sort of meaningful eye-contact that says: "I've got your back and I know you've got mine" without it ever having to be spoken. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it.
The game got underway and inside the first minute Dusty Noble hoisted the ball to the heavens only for Stephen Jones to spill the catch in the BLI's 22. That was uncharacteristic and painfully reminiscent of Earls 5 days ago. Unlike the opening game however, the 10, and the team stood up, shook it off and powered through. A dropped catch was not going to shake what was clearly a well-founded confidence.
It took only 6 mins for the first try to come as intensity at the breakdown generate quick ball and the Lions begun to put a few phases together. The ball found itself in O'Driscoll's hands and he found a half break to put Jamie Roberts through a gap. It looked like a team try and it was. Built on ferocity, precision and support.
Throughout the game, runners offered options for ball-carriers and players were always available to keep the ball moving and the point of attack changing. In this respect nobody was as good as Tommy Bowe. The winger positively craved work and popped up continuously in the midfield to carve an angle, run a decoy or pop the ball off the deck. Tom Croft's try was the perfect case in point. Just when the ball looked to have slowed and the move broken down, Bowe appeared from nowhere to ship a small but crucial inside ball to the Leicester flanker. Croft ignited the burners, stepped his man and went under the posts. The plaudits were Croft's but the intervention was Bowe.
Frankly, the midfield axis was superb. From 9 through to 13, the understanding and awareness amongst the players was staggering. Phillips, Jones and Roberts know each other well from the Wales setup, but the way BOD combined with the Roberts and Jones in particular was very impressive.
In the run-up to Bowe's first try Jones offloaded to O'Driscoll before the Irishman stepped off his right and straightened the attacking line. Jones, coming on the loop came at pace and from quite deep - certainly an angle that O'Driscoll couldn't have seen him from unless he's got eyes in the back of his head. Despite this BOD popped back into Jones waiting arms without so much as a cursory glance to set the 10 barreling on. The pair seemed to have the ball on a bungee cord. An offload to Kearney and the fullback drove deep into the heart of the Golden Lions defence before setting up ruck ball for his support. A decisive flat pass from Phillips and a third intervention from S. Jones, this time to nudge the ball on while under severe pressure, left the winger with a finish that he pounded on. It was quite sublime play and the try of the evening amongst a shopping list of goodies.
If the back play was at times sparkling, the forwards produced a show of some considerable might. The same message boards that were awash with confident Boks supporters yesterday afternoon are now the scenes of concerned fans as they discuss the wisdom of playing Smit out of position against such a competent front row and the work-rate, pace and power of an all-action back-row. I'm not making this stuff up, I've sat in the enemy camp and listened.
Likewise, the lineout ran like a slickly oiled machine. Admittedly this was not the same ball-game as jumping against the Springbok airforce of Matfield and co. but Lee Mears seemed able to put the ball on a sixpence, and despite an initial loose throw, he hit his jumpers all day long. The Lions looked like a side with options at the line-out also, as Croft at the tail seemed as effective an option as Hines at the front and AWJ in the middle. Introduced in the second half, Ford also fluffed his first throw, before going on to have a great debut from the bench.
The link play between forwards and back was hugely encouraging given the quality of the Springbok side ahead. 10 man rugby or kicking rugby or flashy running alone simply will not do. Total rugby must be the order of the day and against a lacklustre side the Lions showed that the possibility is certainly there.
Kearney was good in his first performance in a Lions shirt and despite a few small errors the competition for full back looks extremely healthy. Likewise, Ugo Monye, who despite two tries showed the odd nerve or two impressed nonetheless and adds a level or raw pace that is hard to ignore. Few things in rugby are as exciting as watching a flyer beat someone on the outside, and the Quin offers this possibility to the Lions management team.
The Golden Lions rarely had any spells of decent posession, but when they did, the robust BLI defence will have please Edwards. Only once did the Golden Lions actually unlock their touring namesakes. Late in the game when the home team, fighting for pride, looked to go close, the Lions shut the door comprehensively. Minutes later, attritional confrontational defence led to a spilled ball which Stephen Ferris pounced upon before doing his very best Pierre Spies impression.
There weren't many highlights for the Golden Lions. Fullback Ludik was stretchered off in the first 10, André Pretorius looked soft in defence and home flanker Franco van de Merwe who worked hard had throughout had a day summed up by a pressured clearance kick that sailed out on the full.
In a game which was so one-sided, two things in particular stood out. The structure and discipline in the British & Irish side and the efficiently shrewd approach from the management.
Likewise the management, hyper-aware of the limited time available took the opportunity to experiment. Geech, Gats, Edwards, Rowntree et al, were quite clearly not resting their collective rugby brains. Both Roberts and O'Driscoll left the field with the game won. They'd concocted an intoxicating mixture and at this point are the test partnership to unseat. In their place the coaches decided to see what wild-japes might just bare fruit.
Ellis came on as Jones was subbed. Hook, introduced earlier at centre slipped into the 10 role while Phillips went to mix it up in the outside centre/wing channel with Bowe.
I think.
To be honest, it was also so fluid, even after two viewings I'm not certain who was playing where late in the game. It didn't matter though as structure remained and Edwards' defensive line remained ever present and firm. The important thing was the ambition from the coaches. Not only was it a fine opportunity to get the full bench into play, but also to try the unexpected combinations. Too often coaches are predictable - making the obvious change when things aren't going to plan and sitting back on their laurels when the going is smooth. The Lions management devoured all the options on offer and mopped the plate with bread. No stone was left unturned.
If the Boks are favourites going into this series, which despite Lions fans' ebullience they certainly remain, in Geech and co, Peter De Villier seriously has his work cut out. The Lions management look very sharp.
There weren't many negatives to the performance - but room for improvement is always there. The visitors were pinged too many times for holding on, mostly due to players occasionally running down blind alleys, a few dog legs in defence would have been better exploited by finer sides and in a game with so much ball in hand play, the Lions didn't have the chance to develop their tactical kicking game. Jamie Roberts played superbly, but if I'm being hyper-critical he could do with acheiving a better body position when finishing. He's been held up, or close to held up too many times for such a classy player. However, all of this is nitpicking.
So, how can we conclude? Yes they fell to pieces, and yes we'll face better. Yes they ended up canon fodder and yes they were woeful in defence. But, and it's an important but, the Lions played some sublime rugby against a team full of experienced and familiar teammates if not a side knee deep in stars. They played the full eighty, with not a poor performance amongst the 22, and even late in the game, when Monye retired with a leg strain, they not only defended superbly with 14 men, but went on to score a further 14 points. You couldn't ask for much more against an outplayed opposition.
Two days ago we were all nervously anticipating the step up while the South Africans were salivating. Here we are with the Lions having shown that their teeth are sharp. They'll need to back it up strongly or else it'll mean zilch, but momentum is gold dust on a Lions tour and this game will have energised the camp and lain down the gauntlet to the next team to be selected.
The tourists face a Cheetahs outfit on Saturday fielding a near full strength Super 14 side. Lets hope they can continue the momentum as the opposition stiffens, more of the same please lads!
Roll on Bloemfontein!
Tony Hart - Saturday 30th May 11.30PM
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