Until the final kick of the game the midweek Lions had restored at least a measure of momentum to a faltering tour in a storm-lashed Cape Town today. They reckoned without Willem de Waal's fine touchline conversion in injury-time which earned a persevering Emerging Springboks side a draw and left the touring side wondering if their luck is ebbing away. At least the class of 2009 will return home as the first Lions side since 1989 to be unbeaten against provincial opposition, a strictly relative achievement but something to cling to nonetheless.
In many ways this was a game the Lions could have done without, given the precarious state of the series. In desperately tricky conditions not many individuals advanced their weekend Test prospects, although the appearance of Phil Vickery as a second-half replacement did at least offer the chastened prop a chance to put last Saturday's grim experience behind him. Keith Earls at full-back had his best game of the tour and scored the Lions' solitary try, while Tim Payne did not let anyone down on his Lions debut in the front row. The sight of James Hook replacing the captain Ronan O'Gara with just 45 minutes gone raised a few eyebrows but the selectorial jury remains out in both cases. The same is true on the wings where neither Luke Fitzgerald nor Shane Williams had much chance to heap pressure on the incumbent Ugo Monye ahead of tomorrow's team annuncement.
It would have been a minor miracle if anyone had dazzled in conditions which tested everyone's resolve. The Submerging Boks would have been a more appropriate name given the weather which bore scant resemblance to the cloudless blue skies in Pretoria awaiting the Lions this weekend. In sporting terms it was the equivalent of Andy Murray limbering up for Wimbledon with a trip to the Cairngorms. Rain is forecast to stick around for the rest of the Lions' stay on the Cape but the management, having taken expert medical advice, have chosen not to return to altitude until 24 hours before Saturday's kick-off.
Come rain or shine, this was still a special occasion for Payne, the newest Lion in the pack. One minute the 30-year-old Englishman was sitting at home wondering if he had made the right decision not to join some mates in Las Vegas, the next he was standing toe-to-toe with the next generation of Bok forwards. As if anxious to show solidarity with his club colleague Vickery, the 30-year-old conceded a penalty for collapsing the game's first scrum but generally the Lions held the whip hand against their enthusiastic young opponents at the set-pieces, in contrast to their travails in Durban.
As far as the scoreboard was concerned the touring side could have done without O'Gara missing an initial penalty goal attempt from bang in front of the sticks but the wind was on the evil side of capricious from the start. O'Gara soon made amends from point-blank range and the Lions established a handy 10-point cushion when Earls stepped neatly over after Zane Kirchner's attempted clearance had been charged down by Martyn Williams.
Kirchner is supposed to be among the brighter new kids on the South African block, as is the fly-half Earl Rose, a Danny Cipriani-style lookalike with a black headguard and a similar sense of adventure. Both possess talent but life is rarely that straightforward. Rose was abruptly reminded of the fact when a violent squall blasted through the stadium as he was lining up a long-range penalty attempt. It was not a night for delicate flowers.
A lead of 10–3 at half-time was, in the circumstances, worth more to the Lions than it might have seemed to the sizeable number of chilly travelling supporters. When the latter signed up for a trip to the sun-drenched Cape, they probably did not envisage watching two games in 10 days clad in oilskins and waders but they were rewarded with a last quarter display of grit and purpose, not least from Vickery. It was the former England prop who forced the scrum penalty from which Hook restored his side's lead to seven points with three minutes left, poetic justice in all sorts of ways, but the Lions defence had one more challenge to face. An attacking lineout move was initially repelled but the ball was recycled and the replacement wing Danwel Demas scored wide on the right. De Waal, who kicked well for Western Province last week, had no right to curl the ball over in driving rain but splendidly ignored the law of averages. The Lions will move on to Loftus Versfeld cursing De Waal's name and aware this tour is not going to get any easier.
source: guardian.co
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