British and Irish Lions vs South Africa LIVE: First test result and reaction in Cape Town
The Lions overcame a 12-3 deficit against the Springboks with a strong second-half display
Dan Biggar’s boot proved the difference as the British & Irish Lions came from behind to beat South Africa 22-17 in an attritional first test in Cape Town on Saturday.
Biggar kicked four penalties and a conversion for a 14-point personal tally to take the Lions to victory after they were 12-3 down at halftime but came back strongly in the second half.
Luke Cowan-Dickie scored the Lions‘ only try with Owen Farrell adding a key late penalty while the Springboks’ points came from a Faf de Klerk try and four first-half penalties from Handre Pollard.
The two teams meet again next Saturday in the second test, also at the Cape Town Stadium.
Maro Itoje won the Player of the Match, telling Sky Sports: “These moments don’t come that often in your career. It’s a real privilege to where this jersey and to win as well is special.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We want to come out and do the business next week. We had to tidy up our discipline. We did in the second half and we had the mental fortitude to see it through.”
Lions vs South Africa: TMO selection causes controversy
Still plenty of time before kick-off so we will delve deeper into some of the key men in either side a little bit later. However the South African selection to have caused most discussion this week might have been that of Marius Jonker for the role of Television Match Official (TMO).
With original apointee Brendon Pickerill unable to travel from New Zealand, Jonker (whose son Rynhardt made his Sharks debut against the Lions earlier in this tour) has been parachuted in, with Warren Gatland this week indignant at a South African being asked to perform such a role with the Springboks involved. Due to the pandemic a degree of neutrality has been rolled back in both rugby and cricket in the last 18 months or so, but World Rugby had apparently taken great care to ensure all officials for this series had no horse in the race.
Warren Gatland furious as a South African TMO is appointed for first Lions Test
No neutral TMO for the first Test of the series
Lions vs South Africa: How the Springboks line up
As for South Africa, this is a fearsome selection from head coach Jacques Nienaber. We have seen the world champions just once in Test action since that triumph against England in Japan but the team remains largely intact from that dismantling.
There is no Duane Vermeulen, notably, which means a very different number eight is deployed in the form of Kwagga Smith - lighter, more dynamic, but just as much a menace at the breakdown. Siya Kolisi is available after his period of self-isolation and captains from the openside, while the most intriguing selection is in the front row, where Ox Nche and Trevor Nyakane are surprise starters, with Nienaber loading his tight five replacements.
The backline are all back in harness with Handre Pollard also fresh out of isolation - with a sprinkling of stardust from Cheslin Kolbe and others out wide, it is a remarkably complete South Africa side.
Lions vs South Africa: Warren Gatland gambles
Otherwise, it is as you were at Wednesday’s team naming for the Lions. It is a bold selection from Warren Gatland, with credit in the bank perhaps counting less than recent form and the need to challenge the Springboks as broadly as the Lions can. Here are five key selection decisions that Gatland made, and some analysis of what they might mean for how his side will want to play today.
Analysing Warren Gatland’s five key Lions selections
Warren Gatland’s side includes a number of surprise selections, with an attacking feel and a forward pack picked to directly combat South Africa’s World Cup-winning unit
Lions vs South Africa: Wyn Jones ruled out of First Test
It is incredibly disappointing news for Wyn Jones, who had stormed into the Test side after continuing a superb first half of 2021 with a fine Lions tour. The loosehead picked up a shoulder niggle late in the week - it is hoped he may be fit to take part in the Second Test, but it leaves him unable to take his place among the starting side today.
Rory Sutherland thus steps into the breach in the number one shirt, with Mako Vunipola called up to the bench. The Lions do not, currently, intend to bring in cover for Jones.
This is how the Lions first Test team in four years now looks:
Lions vs South Africa: Team News
And we’ve some breaking news to bring you. After a Lions tour of more reshuffles than an anxious political party leader dropping the polls, it would have been a surprise had we made it to kick-off without a late change, and while Covid-19 has (thankfully) stayed away, an injury issue means Warren Gatland has been force to make a couple of late alterations to his matchday 23. Let’s take a look at the updated teamsheet, which reveals all...
Lions vs South Africa: The First Test
Yes, it has not been an easy road to get here, but get here we have. While one great sporting extravaganza intensifies in Tokyo, the eyes of the rugby world turn to an empty Cape Town Stadium for a First Test that it appeared might not arrive.
This British and Irish Lions tour has endured tumult and turmoil but now, finally, South Africa and the Lions are readying themselves for what could be a brutal string of three battles beneath Table Mountain. A crucial First Test is here.
After doubts and delays, the stage is finally set for an unrecognisable Lions tour
After all that has come before for this fraught British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa, it feels remarkable to have finally arrived at Test match eve. This tour has, for better or worse, pressed through more than a year of uncertainty to teeter on the tightrope and reach a point it appeared at times might not come to pass.
This Test series will bear limited resemblance to Lions tours of the past. Of the many options considered in the last 12 months, cancellation or postponement would always have been deeply unpopular and unworkable; a relocation to Australia or the United Kingdom eventually proved equally undesirable. To South Africa, it was decided, the Lions must travel.
Both the Lions and the Springboks have since dealt with burst bubbles and Covid-19 outbreaks as the tour threatened to implode; the head coach of the Georgian side called upon to provide South Africa with their first Test action since their World Cup triumph 21 months ago has spent time in hospital on a ventilator.
The stage is finally set for an unrecognisable Lions tour
This is a very different series but it will still be defined by a fascinating and familiar battle of mental and physical strength
Lions vs South Africa: Teams
South Africa XV (1-15): Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Trevor Nyakane, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi (c), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith; Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi, Damian de Allende, Lukhanyo Am, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie Le Roux
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager, Rynhardt Elstadt; Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse
Lions XV (1-15): Rory Sutherland Jones, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones (c), Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Jack Conan; Ali Price, Dan Biggar, Duhan van der Merwe, Robbie Henshaw, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson, Stuart Hogg
Replacements: Ken Owens, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Tadhg Beirne, Hamish Watson; Conor Murray, Owen Farrell, Liam Williams
Lions vs South Africa odds
South Africa: Evens
Draw: 18/1
Lions: Evens
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