29 minute read
Mark Keohane
MARK KEOHANE COLUMN
My late father was from the north of England, my grandfather was from the valleys of Wales and my great grandfather was from Cork, Ireland.
When the British & Irish Lions came to South Africa, it was something of a homecoming for my old man. He lived most of his adult life in South Africa and New Zealand but Daniel Alfred Keohane was all British & Irish Lion.
I was just six years old when Willie John McBride’s 1974 Invincibles tortured the soul of every South African rugby supporter. I don’t remember much from the tour other than the disbelief I would see on the faces of local grown men every time the Springboks lost.
Willie John … JPR Williams and JJ Williams … those were the names in 1974 that made the old man beam.
In 1980, I was 12 years old and very much into the Lions being in South Africa. It was a huge occasion for the family and we got to see the Lions play in Stellenbosch and at Newlands against Western Province. The Lions won both matches and my father was very chipper on the way home.
We couldn’t get a ticket to the Newlands Test match but our lounge room was as good as being at the ground for a Test series the old man was convinced his beloved Lions couldn’t lose.
He would gift me one Springbok Test victory on the basis that the class of 1980, while good, were not in the class of Willie John’s 1974 super men.
I loved being old enough in 1980 to appreciate having the Lions in South Africa and I was intrigued by the coming together of the four Home Nations. I had grown up with stories of the Arms Park, in particular, and of the Lions and Welsh teams of the 1970s. I was versed in the history of the Lions. In our household, there was no other way.
My scrapbook attested to my passion for the Lions and the posters of the Springboks on my bedroom wall spoke to my love for the men in green and gold.
The old man tipped the Lions to win this one
A fervid rugby rivalry cherished by a Lions fanatic and his Springbok-supporting son, veteran rugby writer Mark Keohane remembers his late father’s last words on the 2021 tour
The old man had bemoaned the fi rst two Test defeats at Newlands and Bloemfontein. Tony Ward had given him hope in Cape Town, but the strain was evident after the Boks led the series 2-0.
The third Test at Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth would determine the Lions’ fate and my father was convinced that Lions fl yhalf Ollie Campbell would be sending me to bed with tears still streaming. I had faith in Naas Botha.
Our afternoon played out with a crazed inevitability. Naas was brilliant in kicking a penalty, a drop goal and a touchline conversion. It bucketed with rain in Port Elizabeth and, in the mud and slush of Boet Erasmus, Campbell missed with a kick for victory.
The old man cursed Campbell with profanities I hadn’t heard. He cursed everything about the Lions fl yhalf in that moment and I do believe he may have gone to his grave having never forgiven Campbell for missing a kick at the Boet. He did, however, acknowledge that Naas could kick, although he used more of a descriptive than Naas’ name.
The old man was back in New Zealand in 1997 when Neil Jenkins kicked fi ve penalties, Scott Gibbs ran over Os du Randt and Jeremy Guscott’s drop goal beat the Springboks in Durban. I was in the press seats, this time writing about it. I called him before he could call me. He appreciated my grace but he knew how much I was hurting.
In 2009, he texted me before I could call him.
‘Great series, great occasion, great kick. F**k World Cups … there’s nothing greater than the Lions playing the Springboks in South Africa. The next one is ours.’
And by ‘ours’ he meant the British & Irish Lions.
ECSTASY, AGONY AGONY REDEMPTION
IN 1997, THE LIONS SHRUGGED OFF THEIR UNDERDOG STATUS TO CLAIM A 2-1 SERIES UNDERDOG STATUS TO CLAIM A 2-1 SERIES WIN AGAINST THE SPRINGBOKS. TWELVE YEARS WIN AGAINST THE SPRINGBOKS. TWELVE YEARS LATER, THEY LEFT A LASTING LEGACY DESPITE LATER, THEY LEFT A LASTING LEGACY DESPITE LOSING AN EPIC, FIERCELY-FOUGHT BATTLE LOSING AN EPIC, FIERCELY-FOUGHT BATTLE
1997 TOUR
Jeremy Guscott scored the first try of the 1997 tour to South Africa and then kicked a drop goal in the second Test at Kings Park to clinch the series as the British & Irish Lions celebrated their first quest of the professional era.
Four years after a Grant Fox penalty ultimately consigned the Lions to a series loss in New Zealand, Guscott’s drop goal secured a 2-1 series victory in South Africa, the Lions’ first successful trip since 1989 and first win in the Republic since 1974.
With Ian McGeechan heading up an unprecedented third tour, the Lions were galvanised by being written off as rank underdogs. This mental fortitude manifested in committed defence and, along with the boot of Neil Jenkins, allowed the tourists to take advantage of South Africa’s unexpected goal-kicking woes to settle the series in the second Test at Kings Park in Durban.
The 1997 tour was historic in that it marked the first time the tourists would measure themselves against the reigning world champions.
With the advent of professional rugby casting doubt over the sustainability of the Lions, the Springboks were billed as clear favourites to demolish a touring team made up of players coming off an underwhelming Five Nations championship that had been won by France.
Just two years removed from stopping Jonah Lomu and the All Blacks at the 1995 World Cup, the Bok squad featured key members of that victorious group.
André Joubert, James Small, Japie Mulder and the indomitable Joost van der Westhuizen were chaperoned by a pack that featured the adamantine trio of Ruben Kruger, Mark Andrews and Os du
‘We really wanted someone in the heart of the battle. Martin was superb, both as a captain and a player’ – Fran Cotton
Randt. But an impressive lineup of veritable talent belied a disjointed team at a crossroads under a rookie coach.
In February of 1997, André Markgraaff resigned as Bok coach after a recording of him making racist remarks was published. The world champions had won just one match in a disappointing 1996 Tri-Nations campaign which is remembered for the controversial sacking of World Cup hero Francois Pienaar.
The ignominious exit of one Bok coach was followed by the appointment of the youngest head coach in team history. Former Bok wing Carel du Plessis (36) took the job on very little coaching experience and with what were at the time considered to be quite unconventional ideas.
The Lions had also experienced a fair bit of turbulence in the build-up to the series. England won three of four matches in that year’s Five Nations championship while Wales, Scotland and Ireland combined for just three wins.
Much to the consternation of som in the media, England players – some of them not yet internationals – consequently dominated McGeechan’s initial training group.
There were 18 England players on the final 35-man roster and four more joined the team during the tour to mitigate injuries. McGeechan’s squad balanced the experience of veterans such as Wales wing Ieuan Evans, England prop Jason Leonard and Scotland flyer Alan Tait with the exciting potential of relative greenhorns Richard Hill, Will Greenwood, Matt Dawson and Austin Healey.
McGeechan also called up six former rugby league players, including winger John Bentley and centre Scott Gibbs.
‘I’d never met Gibbs before, but he was so intimidating,’ said assistant coach Jim Telfer. ‘He used to shout at his opposite centre, “I’m going to get you!” It lifted the spirits of the other fellas ... nothing fazed him at all.’
Uncompromising England lock Martin Johnson was selected to captain the Lions and, with 32 caps, he was at the time twice as experienced as Bok counterpart Gary Teichmann.
‘We really wanted someone in the heart of the battle,’ Lions manager Fran Cotton said of Johnson. ‘Martin was superb, both as a captain and a player.’
Guscott announced the Lions’ arrival in the tour opener, cutting the line to dot down under the uprights in a 39-11 win against an Eastern Province Invitational XV in Port Elizabeth.
In the absence of Bok players who had been withdrawn from the warm-up matches, wingers Evans and Bentley were prolific
try-scorers as the Lions picked off Border, Western Province and Mpumalanga in quick succession.
Ambushed by Northern Transvaal at Loftus Versfeld, the tourists then rebounded against the Gauteng Lions at Ellis Park where Bentley scored the most impressive individual try of the tour, weaving between six defenders to score a 70m screamer in a tight victory. This was followed by a big win against Natal, where Jenkins kicked 24 points, and success against the Emerging Springboks in Wellington.
Armed with the confidence of seven wins from eight matches, the Lions were charged up for the first Test.
Flyhalf options Jenkins, Gregor Townsend and Paul Grayson had spent these matches vying to start the Test series. McGeechan opted for Townsend and rewarded Jenkins with the No 15 jersey for his unflappable goal-kicking. It proved to be a masterstroke.The injury withdrawal of Rob Howley thrust young Dawson into a halfback combination with fellow 24-year-old Townsend that deferred in size and experience to the Bok duo of Van der Westhuizen (26) and Henry Honiball (31).
The tourists made an ominous start to the Test series as Jenkins hoofed the opening kick-off directly into touch, followed by the Boks shunting the Lions front row of Tom Smith, Keith Wood and Paul Wallace at the ensuing scrum.
A seething Newlands Stadium thundered triumphantly when Du Randt scored from a Bok lineout drive to give the hosts an 8-3 lead after 23 minutes. In what would become a theme of the series, centre Edrich Lubbe missed the conversion, bringing his strike rate on the day to one from three, before he was yanked from the game.
Jenkins was kicking well, out of hand and at goal and, somewhat against the run of play, he split the uprights twice more to give the tourists a 9-8 lead at the break.
The Boks immediately reclaimed the lead when replacement winger Russell Bennett scored in the left corner with his first touch of the ball, and this time it was Honiball who sprayed the kick wide of the mark.
Honiball and Jenkins traded penalties to leave the hosts with a one-point lead going into the final quarter, before a moment of magic from Dawson brought the travelling supporters to their feet and full voice.
The scrumhalf broke blind from an attacking, right-hand scrum, divided Teichmann and Bennett, freezing the Bok skipper and Van der Westhuizen with an audacious, one-handed dummy pass inside before pinning his ears back to win the race to the line for a spectacular try.
Minutes later, Gibbs launched from another scrum on the right and Jenkins fed Tait for the score.
In the end, superior goal-kicking coupled with dogged defence – which had kept the world champions scoreless for the final halfhour – were the catalysts for a 25-16 Lions victory.
One week later at Kings Park in Durban, the recipe again proved mightily effective.
After the Lions’ dirt-trackers won a shootout against Orange Free State, McGeechan’s only change for the second Test was to promote Bentley to start on the right wing.
Du Plessis kept faith in his pack but showed his inexperience by shedding veterans from his backline, dropping Lubbe for Danie
Above: Lions centre Scott Gibbs smashes Springbok wing André Snyman during the first Test at Newlands in 1997
van Schalkwyk and then replacing World Cup winners Mulder and Small with debutants Percy Montgomery and Pieter Rossouw.
Montgomery, Joubert and Van der Westhuizen crossed for the only three tries of the match as the Boks clattered into the reeling Lions with a fervour bordering on assault. But none of those tries were converted as the goal-kicking triumvirate of Honiball, Montgomery and Joubert failed to land a single shot at goal on the day.
The hallmark of the match was a band of outgunned Lions tacklers rallying to absorb and repel waves of attack, a defensive effort characterised at one point by Gibbs thundering into Honiball to force a crucial knock-on.
Jenkins’ consistent accuracy complemented his teammates’ selfless tackling to keep the tourists in the hunt as he matched South Africa’s points haul through five penalties that set the stage for Guscott to shine.
With four minutes to go, Wood turned the ball over at a wide breakdown and hacked it down the left touchline. The hooker chased his kick, forcing Montgomery to toe the loose ball into touch for a Lions lineout.
Middle jumper Jeremy Davidson collected the throw in and the Lions set the maul. Townsend ran onto a flat ball and was chopped down on the 5m line with forwards in close support. Guscott dropped into the pocket. Dawson zipped him a pass.
The Lions centre glanced at the uprights, looked down and followed through on the drop goal, sending the ball over the outstretched arms of Honiball and the crossbar, and into the stands to seal a series-clinching 18-15 victory as Kings Park erupted.
LIONS’ 1997 TOUR RESULTS
Date Opponents Result Score Venue 24 May Eastern Province XV Won 39-11 Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth 28 May Border Won 18-14 Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London 31 May Western Province Won 38-21 Newlands, Cape Town 4 June Mpumalanga Won 64-14 Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank 7 June Northern Transvaal Lost 30-35 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 11 June Gauteng Lions Won 20-14 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 14 June Natal Won 42-12 Kings Park, Durban 17 June Emerging Springboks Won 51-22 Boland Stadium, Wellington 21 June South Africa Won 25-16 Newlands, Cape Town 24 June Orange Free State Won 52-30 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 28 June South Africa Won 18-15 Kings Park, Durban 1 July Northern Free State Won 67-39 North West Stadium 5 July South Africa Lost 16-35 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
‘The sense of elation I felt when I saw the drop soar between the posts will stay with me forever,’ said Guscott.
With morale levels soaring in the Lions camp, the midweek team again prevailed, beating Northern Free State 67-39. But even though the tourists had earned the opportunity to sweep South Africa, the physical and emotional strain of the tour had taken a heavy toll.
The injury list was growing. McGeechan rang the changes for the third Test at Ellis Park, deploying South African-born Mike Catt at flyhalf where he duelled Jannie de Beer on debut in one of six changes to Du Plessis’ starting lineup.
Finally, the Bok goal-kicker successfully converted two of four tries and added three penalties as South Africa salvaged some respect with a 35-16 victory. Meanwhile, the tourists celebrated an epic series victory that proved to be the Lions’ last for 16 years.
2009 TOUR
The 2009 Lions failed to repeat the heroics of the 1997 tour and left South Africa with a 2-1 series defeat after Morné Steyn drilled a 53m penalty goal on the final whistle of the decisive second Test. However, what the most recent Lions tourists to the Republic did achieve was the restoration of respect for the fabled red jersey, and a rejuvenation of belief in the value to the game of this great touring team.
The Lions returned to South Africa in 2009 with a record of one win from seven Tests played after Guscott’s famous drop goal at Kings Park.
This placed the future of the touring team ostensibly on the line in a looming tour to once again battle the world champions in South Africa. The Lions reappointed the one coach familiar with the demands of the unique challenge. And so McGeechan led his fourth tour and this time his mission was two-fold – beat South Africa, and save the Lions.
The 62-year-old failed on one count. Missed opportunities cost the Lions the first Test and, though the second is recorded as one of the greatest in the long history of this rivalry, South Africa denied the tourists with a heart-breaking penalty at the death.
The Lions wouldn’t have realised it at the time but they faced arguably the greatest Bok team. Several members of the triumphant 2007 World Cup squad anchored the side that went on to claim the 2009 TriNations title, the quality of which is borne out by the likes of Schalk Burger, Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha and Juan Smith later enjoying illustrious club careers in Europe during the twilight of their careers.
A dozen members of McGeechan’s 2009 squad experienced historic club success just one week prior to the commencement of the tour, with centre Brian O’Driscoll and No 8 Jamie Heaslip among those who boosted Leinster to their first European Champions Cup title.
In contrast to the 1997 tour, McGeechan was able to line his squad with players who had been successful for club and country as Ireland claimed their first European championship since 1985 and first Grand Slam since 1948.
Paul O’Connell, who led the tour on the strength of having captained Ireland in four Tests, was one of 14 players from the Emerald Isle named in the original 37-man squad.
Having won in the Republic with Europe’s also-rans in 1997, McGeechan was bullish about the Lions’ chances in 2009, an optimism perhaps gleaned from having watched the Boks lurch during the first season of Peter de Villiers’ reign.
South Africa see-sawed from an exhilarating win against the All Blacks in Dunedin to a 19-0 defeat against New Zealand at Newlands. And on the yearend tour of Europe in 2008, Wales and Scotland lost to the world champions by a combined nine points before the Boks hammered England 42-6.
However, the Lions’ confidence found some context in a sluggish start to the tour in Rustenburg.
Against the Royal XV, late tries from fullback Lee Byrne, lock Alun Wyn Jones and flyhalf Ronan O’Gara rescued the tourists from what would have been their first defeat in the opening tour match since 1971.
McGeechan’s plan for the six matches leading up to the Test series was to provide most of his players with two opportunities to impress. Jamie Roberts, Ugo Monye and Tommy Bowe did just that, each scoring a brace in a 10-try win against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park, and James Hook’s goal-kicking decided a nail-biting 26-24 victory against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
McGeechan then fielded 10 of his first-choice players in a 39-3 demolition of the Sharks in Durban before Hook’s boot helped a second-string Lions outfit log a 26-23 result against Western Province at Newlands one week before the opening Test.
Ireland lock Paul O’Connell led the Lions in 2009
The young Wales flyhalf would have been greatly disappointed when, 12 minutes into an untidy 20-8 win against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth, injury forced him to make way for O’Gara.
Hook’s countrymen, halfbacks Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones, were named to start in Durban. Though O’Gara was an unused substitute in the first Test, he would play an unfortunate role in deciding the second, and ultimately the series.
The Lions scrum had been a dominant feature of the warmup matches and the camp made no secret of their belief that the Bok scrum was an area to be targeted. Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis and Bok captain John Smit teamed up against the Lions’ front row of Gethin Jenkins, Lee Mears and Phil Vickery in the opening Test at Kings Park to quickly dispel the notion.
It was from an attacking scrum that Smit burst through to score after five minutes. And soon after, 23-year-old Mtawarira emphatically expelled veteran England tighthead Vickery from a scrum.
When the Lions did manage to successfully launch from an attacking set piece, Jean de Villiers scrambled to rip the ball from Monye’s grasp as the winger grappled to dot down.
Twice more in the final quarter the Lions failed to finish with the tryline at their mercy as Phillips lost the ball across the line, while Morné Steyn added to Monye’s despair, forcing a knock-on from the Lions flyer in the act of scoring.
Though the tourists took heart from having dominated the second half with two tries, their resurgence could be traced to a rash of surprising Bok substitutions in the third quarter that took the heat off the Lions’ set piece.
McGeechan’s hopes of a jumpstart from the midweek team were ruined when the Lions were held to a 13-13 stalemate at Newlands by an outstanding touchline conversion from Emerging Springboks flyhalf Willem de Waal.
The sudden swing in fortunes concentrated the Lions’ focus. McGeechan powered-up his tight five for the crucial Test in
Pretoria, with Matthew Rees and Adam Jones replacing Mears and Vickery while the gritty Simon Shaw took over from Alun Wyn Jones in the second row, and Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney replaced Monye and Byrne in the back three respectively.
For the Boks, Heinrich Brüssow dropped to the bench as Schalk Burger started in his 50th appearance for South Africa, but the legendary loose forward was sent back to the sidelines shortly after the second Test kicked off.
French referee Christophe Berdos flashed his yellow card at Burger for attempting to eye-gouge Fitzgerald in the first minute and Stephen Jones converted the ensuing penalty – the first of five on the day – adding one more to go with a drop goal and the conversion of Kearney’s try as the tourists streaked into a 16-8 half-time lead from behind a more stable set piece.
The match was reduced to uncontested scrums early in the second half as Gethin Jenkins (concussion) and Adam Jones (shoulder) left, and the fact that this worked in South Africa’s favour highlighted the improvement of the Lions’ tight five in the second Test.
Ruan Pienaar missed two penalties in a scoreless third quarter before Jones’ third penalty was met with a Habana try from an uncontested scrum.
Pienaar made way for Morné Steyn – much to the delight of the Bulls-heavy crowd in attendance – and the local hero added the extras before trading penalties with Jones to make it 22-18 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Boks had their tails up when sustained attack resulted in the try of the series. Jaque Fourie, pinned near the right touchline, ran over O’Gara and then
Ronan O’Gara collides with an airborne Fourie du Preez in the 80th minute of the second Test at Loftus Versfeld
powered through the attempted double-hit of Phillips and Bowe to dot down in the corner, rounding off a world-class individual effort to put South Africa into the lead for the first time in the match. Steyn nailed a magnificent touchline conversion but a Jones penalty levelled the scores with two minutes to go.
With 30 ticks remaining in regulation time, O’Gara collected the ball deep in his 22. The replacement flyhalf chose not to hoof it into touch and defend for the draw. Instead, he carried the ball out to his 30 and hoisted a contestable that came down just inside enemy territory.
O’Gara was there to meet it, but he had failed to account for Fourie du Preez jumping into the drop zone to field the catch and he upended the airborne Bok scrumhalf right in front of Berdos.
The Frenchman didn’t hesitate to put the whistle to his lips. The deafening roar from Bok fans almost drowned out the deep grown from red-clad Lions supporters in the capacity crowd.
O’Gara was visibly distraught as he trudged back with the game clock registering 80 minutes.
Morné Steyn asked for the ball at his home ground. Smit entrusted the rookie with a careerdefining shot at goal.
Loftus had been home to Steyn for six seasons, but he was 24 and making just his second appearance for South Africa off the bench.
‘I trained at Loftus every day so I knew it was definitely in my range,’ Steyn remembered.
History shows that he was right as his kick cleared the crossbar between the posts and landed on the dead-ball line.
‘You spend hours and hours on the field for kicks like that to win a game,’ he said afterwards. ‘It’s something you dream of since you start playing rugby.’
His dream was the Lions’ nightmare. As the Bok bench stormed the field, Paul O’Connell stood in disbelief. The field was littered with broken players in red jerseys.
South Africa revelled in the glory of having avenged the 1997 tour as the wounded Lions slinked into their camp in search of sanctuary from a gut-wrenching loss.
Though they may have felt it offered them somewhere to hide, there was no time for it. One week was all that separated a battered and demoralised squad from the third Test.
It was clear by the large patches of vacant seats at Ellis Park that the
South African rugby community viewed the match as nothing more than a dead rubber.
Having lost the series, McGeechan was at the opposite end of the spectrum, daunted by what the repercussions of another winless tour would mean for the future of a rugby tradition he had devoted much of his life to. On the eve of the third Test, he dug deep to convey to his squad the importance of ending the tour with a win.
‘They’ve said there’s nothing to play for, it’s a dead series,’ he said of reports in the South African press. ‘I think we’ve everything to play for, because today will determine what we are.
‘It will say everything about us. The biggest thing about what you earn in this jersey is a respect and a reputation; that’s the biggest thing you can ever have for what you do and what you stand for.
‘We can leave a legacy in this last game, in this jersey, for the players to pick up in four years’ time. For four years, we can make sure that when people think about the Lions, they think good. They’ll think about you, they’ll think about this performance, and they can live with it for four years.
‘Some of you might be there to pick up the next jersey; some of us won’t be. Please, please give them something to play for and something to understand.
‘Good luck. Play for everything we want that jersey to be, and everything you’ve made it so far. All the best, boys.’
As the players cleared the team room, the coach broke down in tears, sobbing in the arms of scrum coach Graham Rowntree.
The Bok scrum lost the power of Bakkies Botha (cited for dangerous play at Loftus) and Burger to suspensions for the final Test, and Peter de Villiers opted to field several secondstringers at Ellis Park.
While McGeechan also fielded a rejigged team, his squad had been ravaged by injuries. Some of those who were promoted to undertake a desperate rescue mission were the last man standing in their position.
In the absence of crocked centres Jamie Roberts and O’Driscoll, Ireland winger Tommy Bowe was deployed in a midfield combination with Riki Flutey.
The scope of McGeechan’s redemption mission was not limited to the collective. Vickery and Monye were recalled and both seized upon the opportunity to atone for their role in the Durban defeat.
Vickery answered the call first, popping Mtawarira and hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle at the opening scrum to win a penalty. Jones in the Springboks’ favour, Monye stepped forward to clear his name.
Vickery and O’Connell were in the vanguard as the Lions repelled a Bok maul from an attacking lineout. But South Africa refused to be denied and attempted to launch their backs with slow ball. Monye read it perfectly – as Wynand Olivier skipped Jaque Fourie in search of fullback Zane Kirchner, the Lions winger intercepted the pass just inside his 22, rocketing away for an 80m try and a 22-6 lead with 25 minutes to go.
Though Flutey was forced off at the end of the third quarter, moving scrumhalf Mike Phillips into an emergency midfield combination, the tourists continued to control territory as the Boks held onto the ball, launching a frenetic hunt for a deficitgobbling try that inevitably reaped nothing more than three points from the boot of Morné Steyn.
And when Jones split the uprights with two late penalties, a series-sweep was out of reach. The mission had been accomplished – a patchwork Lions outfit had defended their badge.
The South African media was puzzled by the sudden wave of euphoria that crashed over the Lions camp, but time would reveal the scale of the result as the depleted 2009 Lions became the only team to beat the world champions in the 11 Tests spanning 12 months to August 2009.
converted to put the Lions into a lead they would never relinquish as winger Shane Williams crossed twice in eight minutes to give the tourists a 15-6 advantage at the break.
South Africa regrouped to push back in the second half of the match. However, just as the momentum threatened to swing
LIONS’ 2009 TOUR RESULTS
Date Opponents Result Score Venue 30 May Royal XV Won 37-25 Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, Rustenburg 3 June Golden Lions Won 74-10 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 6 June Free State Cheetahs Won 26-24 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 10 June Sharks Won 39-3 Kings Park, Durban 13 June Western Province Won 26-23 Newlands, Cape Town 16 June Southern Kings Won 20-8 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth 20 June South Africa Lost 21-26 Kings Park, Durban 23 June Emerging Springboks Drew 13-13 Newlands, Cape Town 27 June South Africa Lost 25-28 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 4 July South Africa Won 28-9 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Below: Pumped up winger Ugo Monye after scoring a breakaway try in the Lions’ record win against the Springboks at Ellis Park
