International rugby window: Lions victory more than just a series win

In the early months of 2009 I received an offer from a good friend I met in grade nine of high school, Mdumiseni Ngwenya, to go and watch the British & Irish Lions take on the Springboks on a big screen at a fish and chips cafe just down the road from home.

Given that I had just seriously gotten interested in rugby thanks to the Springboks' 2007 World Cup triumph in France and that I had never watched a Lions series before, my answer was obvious.

We met near my house around sun-set time to go and watch the Springboks defeat the Lions 26-21 in what was  a  crazy first Test in Durban which saw the tourists having two tries disallowed inside the last ten minutes of the match. 

After an epic Test series which ended 2-1 to the Springboks, the next obvious thing to do was to start following Lions tours and doing research on the tour history. The fact that the team is made-up of four rival-neighbouring countries which plays after every four years was enough encouragement to learn more. As my knowledge about the tourists grew, I had found that they hadn't won a series in 12 years after a 2-1 heartbreak in Australia in 2001; a 3-0 humiliation in the hands of  New Zealand in 2005 and a 2-1 bitter-sweet defeat against the Boks.    

All-in-all the touring side had won a series only once out of the four tours of the 'professional era' since 1997. That's a 25% winning ratio which is hardly impressive for a side which has the luxury of picking the best players from four countries which in turn generates a lot of expectation - especially in Britain & Ireland. This has lead to many fearing for the future of  the Lions tour and some questioning their credibility to compete against the three best rugby nations in the world: South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

And to top it all, the Lions had only achieved eight series wins in their 125-year history. 

Looking ahead to the 2013 Australian tour, the Lions would have known that not only did they have a score to settle with the Wallabies whom they had last defeated in 1989 after failing to do the same in 2001; but they also had a score to settle with 16 years of heartbreak. They would have known that this tour would be more than just a series win; but also about getting a victory that would ensure they would fight again in future tours. This tour was about putting a right next to all the wrongs made in the past; it was about maintaining the purpose of the Lions tour and ensuring that it didn't become about everything that happens off the pitch but nothing on it.

Their record-breaking 41-16 victory over the Wallabies in their third and decisive Test however would have erased any doubts, for now at least, about their place compared to the SANZAR nations. Their determination and confidence shown in the first Test was not to be dampened despite a narrow loss in the second as they went into half-time in the lead on all three Tests before clinching the series in style. 

The convincing win also paid tribute to assistant coach Andy Farrell's sentiments of Australia 'peaking one game too early' after the second Test loss as the Wallabies were out-muscled, outrun, out-thought and outplayed four tries to one. It also means that coach Warren Gatland's temerity to axe decorated centre Brian O'Driscoll paid off and worked like a charm with replacement Jamie Roberts among the try-scorers. It sure was an exciting concluding match in what was a Lions tour that will go down as one of the most memorable in the history books; Sam Warburton thought so too.    

"It is a great feeling. It has been a long time coming this Lions tour so it is nice to come back with a trophy.

"It has only been done nine times in 125 years so all the players know they are part of a very prestigious group and are very proud of that.

"It won't sink in for a long time, I think. It feels quite surreal being part of a Lions touring party.

"Only four years ago I got capped for Wales during the first Lions tour. I got on the development tour and I never thought I would be in this situation four years later.

"Maybe in a few months' time or a few years' time I might watch back a DVD and realise what we achieved," he told The Independent. 

Super boot Leigh Halfpenny who kicked 21 points which is a new Lions Test record in front of an unprecedented crowd of 83 702 at the Olympic stadium, told the BBC that being part of a winning British & Irish Lions tour has fulfilled a childhood dream.

"I can't put it into words really how much it means. It's everything I've dreamt of as a kid growing up watching Lions tours," Halfpenny said.

"To be part of a winning Lions tour is one of the best things ever and up there with the best moments of my career."

What's next for Australia?      

I've made too much noise about what the Wallabies could have done differently so I'm not going to go into that. The men in the yellow and green must quickly regroup in preparation to host the All Blacks for their Rugby Championship opener in a few weeks' time.

Meanwhile, wide media criticism in Australia preceded the firing of coach Robbie Deans who has been replaced by Ewen McKenzie.

"The Robbie Deans era came to a catastrophic end last night, " wrote Jim Tucker in The Sunday Telegraph.

"Deans has had his shot. It is time to exit. Last night was a catastrophe of scrum penalties, poor kicks, the sloppy knock-on from kick-off, errors and the selection blooper that dooms Deans.

"He decided to play the might of the Lions without a specialist five-eighth (fly-half)."

"See ya Robbie!!!" - was what former Wallaby wing Lote Tuqiri wrote on his Twitter account.

McKenzie will have a handful of issues to solve especially the partying culture of his star backs; how well he'll re-steady the Wallaby ship only time will tell.

What's next for the Lions?

Well, the juggernaut rolls on to New Zealand in 2017. 

A British & Irish Lions tour 2013 extra

My quote of The Series: "Ooohhh, he's the bravest man in the world." - Rob Kafer referring to James Horwill's decision to opt for a scrum rather than a kick to posts with Australia trailing during the dying minutes of the second Test.

My Funniest Quote of  The Series: "James O'Connor won't look at Genia, he is throwing daggers at him." - Greg Martin on James O'Connor kicking the ball out on the full from his own 22.

Player Rivalry of The Series: Israel Folau vs George North

My Headline of The Series: Brian O'Driscoll's axing for third Test  

My Try of The Series: Israel Folau's second try in the first Test

My Man of The Series: Leigh Halfpenny (finished the Test series with 49 points from five conversions and 13 penalties - with two try-assists in the decisive Test)

15 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales); 14 Tommy Bowe (Ireland),  13 Jonathan Davies (Wales), 12 Jamie Roberts (Wales), 11 George North (Wales); 10 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), 9 Mike Phillips (Wales);  8 Toby Faletau (Wales), 7 Sean O'Brien (Ireland), 6 Dan Lydiate (Wales), 5 Geoff Parling (England), 4 Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales, capt), 3 Adam Jones (Wales), 2 Richard Hibbard (Wales), 1 Alex Corbisiero (England)

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs (England), 17 Mako Vunipola (England), 18 Dan Cole (England), 19 Richie Gray (Scotland), 20 Justin Tipuric (Wales), 21 Conor Murray (Ireland), 22 Owen Farrell (England), 23 Manu Tuilagi (England).

British & Irish Lions 2013 squad: (BACKS) Full-backs: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Rob Kearney (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland); Wings: Tommy Bowe (Ireland), George North (Wales), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Sean Maitland (Scotland), Christian Wade (England), Shane Williams (Wales), Simon Zebo (Ireland); Centres: Brad Barritt (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Jamie Roberts (Wales), Manu Tuilagi (England), Billy Twelvetrees (England), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland); Fly-halves: Johnny Sexton (Ireland), Owen Farrell (England); Scrumhalves: Mike Phillips (Wales), Ben Youngs (England), Conor Murray (Ireland).

(FORWARDS): Props: Dan Cole (England), Alex Corbisiero (England), Tom Court (Ireland), Ryan Grant (Scotland), Adam Jones (Wales), Matt Stevens (England), Mako Vunipola (England); Hookers: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Rory Best (Ireland), Tom Youngs (England); Locks: Ian Evans (Wales), Richie Gray (Scotland), Paul O'Connell (Ireland), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Geoff Parling (England); Flankers: Tom Croft (England), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Sam Warburton (Wales - captain); Number eights: Toby Faletau (Wales), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)

International rugby window: Are the demons of 2001 back to haunt the Lions?

If omens are anything to go by, the British & Irish Lions are in for a very long conclusion of their Australian tour.


After leading on the scoreboard for most of the match in the first of a three-match Test series in Brisbane, and emerging as eventual victors to draw first blood, not only did the touring side stand as slight favourites at least going into the second Test in Melbourne, but everything too was in place for the Lions to register their first series win since 1997 when they defeated the Springboks 2-1.

But it was not to be.

Unlike at the Suncorp stadium, the tourists took on a more conservative and effective approach which looked to have won them the match until the 75th minute, when versatile back Adam-Ashley Cooper scored the game's only try to force a series decider in Sydney this weekend.

If you go as far back as 2001 on their previous visit to Australia, the men in the famous red and white had looked like the series winners already going into the the second Test, after a one-sided 29-13 opening affair where all of Jason Robinson, Dafydd James, Brian O'Driscoll and Scott Quinell scored tries to give the Lions a 1-0 series lead. Come after the second match back then and the series stood at 1-all with Australia regaining momentum going into match three the following week. After the series decider in Sydney, the Wallabies had completed the turn-around and clinched the series 2-1.


As per the Lions tour's tradition, they are back in Australia 12 years on after a detour in South Africa in 2009, and they find themselves in a similar scenario of being level at 1-all with the Wallabies after a promising start in the first match. Albeit in unfortunate circumstances with ever reliable Leigh Halfpenny missing the kick which would have sealed the series. That is not the reality however and reality is that the Wallabies have again managed to claw their way back in what could possibly be James Horwill's most important victory in his career with the captain overwhelmed with emotion and shedding tears of joy like he had just won the World Cup.

Going into the 'final' in Sydney this Saturday, you have to say that the momentum is not so much with the tourists and the demons of 2001 would've been at the back of the heads of some, like Brian O'Driscoll,  in that dressing room with a lot at stake still to play for for both teams. First there's reputations to keep in tact; it could be Wallaby coach Robbie Deans' last match should his side come out on the wrong end of the scoreboard after being under pressure in the recent history to produce results; for the Lions, they must be desperate for that long-awaited series win over one of the three SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia) nations since 1997; and the current fortunate few who got the opportunity to represent the Lions this time around would want to go down in the history books as one of the generations who managed victory over a SANZAR nation.

That being said, both sides will be desperate come Saturday and it's come as no surprise that the mind games have already begun with Lions' assistant coach Andy Farrell telling Sport24 that the Wallabies are smart when it comes to playing the referee during set-pieces and that the hosts peaked one game too early.

"I thought you saw after the game emotionally what it meant to Australia, especially their captain," said Farrell after watching James Horwill's emotional post-match tears.

"It meant an awful lot to them to stay in the race. How much that would take out of Australia I think would be interesting to find out this coming week."

"From what I could see there were a few decisions that went against us, especially early. But after that I thought you saw a dominant scrum going forward on quite a few occasions," he said.


"I  did see a tighthead forward for Australia put a foot up in the air - that says a lot to me.

"I think Australia are very street-wise, playing the referee. There's no doubt about that, they're very smart.

"And I'm not complaining at all, I thought the referee had a good game. But they're very street-wise.

"We got done for coming over the side of the line-out. Did they come over ours? Of course they did.

"Were they on the wrong side of the line-out and getting through the maul? Of course they did. But that's the game."

The Wallabies might want to do their talking on the field but whatever the case may be, the Lions know that they cannot afford to let history repeat itself; whilst the Wallabies could use the 2001 turnaround as an omen.

International rugby window: Lions SLIP through to victory

The conclusion of the The British & Irish Lions tour first match against the Wallabies brought a sense of deja vu about it - a team in a red shirt and white shorts looked on in bated breath as the last decisive kick of a magnitudinous game was about to be taken.

On 21 May 2008, Manchester United players could do nothing but watch in agony in the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, Russia as John Terry stepped up to take the penalty kick that was either going to hand Chelsea its first Champions League crown in the clubs history or give Manchester United its hat-rick of European titles.

But just like Kurtley Beale did at the Suncorp Stadium five years and a month later, John Terry slipped and sent the team in a red shirt and white shorts and its supporters into hysteria.

Yes, popular belief making the Lions favourites to win the first Test was confirmed as fact when the touring side edged out the hosts 23-21 in an exciting match which ticked most, if not all, of the boxes its reputation and build-up warranted. But it was closer than most people thought it would be.

Typically in a tight rugby match where penalties and/ or conversions become a match decider, hopes rest on either team's kicker and this match was no different. Wallaby fly-half James O'Connor was given the kicking duties on the day but fluffed 2 penalties and 1 conversion which totals to 8 points - 11 if you add Beale's off-target penalty attempt in what was the game's last piece of action. Add that to the Wallaby final score and you get 32 and even if George North's disallowed try was given and Leigh Halfpenny succeeding in his missed conversion attempt towards the end of the first half, the Lions' final score would have probably read 31.

Could've, would've, should've don't work in sports in general because it tends to take away the effort and glory of the victor and in sport the victor is always the deserved winner; but again, I just couldn't help but think: 'Would the Wallabies have lost if Quade Cooper played?'

Well, when Cooper plays he takes the kicks to goal apart from the long ones which are taken by Beale; when Cooper plays a lot of pressure is taken off Will Genia and opposition have a double-threat to worry about and when Cooper plays, there's more creativity and a sense of unexpected danger lurking. You didn't get that from O'Connor on Saturday and apart from a few good passes and generally doing the basics, it's hard to pinpoint any special contribution from the Rebels man.

If you're one for stats, the Wallabies are a better outfit with Cooper occupying the play-maker's position but take nothing away from the Lions who scored 2 brilliant individual-effort tries from George North, and Alex Cuthbert who broke the Wallaby line like a hot knife through butter. 

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/the-statictical-case-for-quade-cooper/

And although the match stats suggested that this was a close encounter, the Lions won on the stat which matters most: the score board.

International rugby window: Only faces have changed

When Heyneke Meyer announced the final group of players that were going to represent the Boks in this years four-nation Incoming series comprising of  Italy, Scotland, Samoa and of course, the Springboks - many rugby lovers in the country were excited about the new-looking team and rightly so.

Change is good and to see the likes of  Willie le Roux, Jan Serfontein, Arno Botha and Trevor Nyakane included in the Green and Gold set-up, really brought a sense of freshness and great anticipation for the first kick-off of the tournament against Italy in Durban. Also with Jano Vermaak getting in his first Bok start suggested that there'd also be a transformation of style from the Bok game to a running, exciting and intense game plan instead of the slow, conservative and forward-driven game play we've associated the Boks with for as long as I can remember.

After the 44-10 battering of the Italians, Heyneke Meyer's men confirmed the change of style - at least for that game - with a lot of running on display as the Boks scored some beautifully-worked tries and if anything, they left their beloved supporters wanting more from the new-looking starting XV; but more is not what the Boks gave their supporters against Scotland a week later.

The Scottish out-muscled the home nation with some aggressive rucking and powerful scrummaging with their backs looking increasingly dangerous with ball in hand and running at the Boks; the SA 6-10 Scotland scoreline at half time was no fluke - in fact - it was well-deserved. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira has lost his form for some time now: we hardly see those impressive carries and solid scrummaging from him; Juandre Kruger is not the same when he is in the Green and Gold compared to when he's in the blue for the Bulls; Arno Botha has not done much to justify his inclusion; Marcell Coetzee and Pierre Spies were no where to be seen and hence why the game was lost in the forwards. That being said - I guess for that reason, you can't exactly fault the backs because the forwards weren't doing enough to give them clean and quick ball. But that was not always the case.

Now to the backs: Ruan Pienaar was too slow when clearing the ball from the ruck; JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein to be honest, have not given enough to suggest that they are better picks than Juan De Jongh and Willie le Roux has not done enough - at least yet - to convince that he's the future Springbok to occupy the last line of defence.

As a result - because the Boks were under pressure - they resorted to their old ways in the second half of playing eight-man rugby in a slow and conservative manner and confirmed my fears of just the faces changing in the team and nothing else, in the process.

I truly believe that there are solutions - picking players on merit for one - and a new approach from the coach to adapt to the modern age of running rugby for another. Players like Heinrich Brussow to neutralise the breakdown headaches, Juan De Jongh whose quick feet can unlock any defence, Siya Kolisi whose got great carrying ability and pace, Ryan Kankowski whose never really gotten his chance - and a fully fit Jano Vermaak - just to name a few.

With the usual Bok vulnerabilities exposed again against Scotland and a flattering 30-17 final score - I'm afraid as it stands, there's no new game plan but just a change of faces.

International rugby window.

There are many ways for a coach to discipline his players but electing on omitting your star player for the once-in-every-12 years British & Irish Lions tour is not one of them.

 Let's be honest, Quade Cooper's omission from the Wallaby squad has nothing to do with his form on the pitch - it's about the mercurial flyhalf's comments about the Wallaby locker room being a  'toxic environment'. Kurtley Beale hasn't been tested as a flyhalf and James O'Connor is not a specialist pivot which leaves Cooper as the only true Australian stand-off. With the Lions looking like a well-oiled machine already, Australia need their full-strength side; their best XV; and without Cooper - the Wallabies are not at full-strength. Ask the Lions' defence coach Andy Farrell.

"I'm pleased. He's a bloody good player," Farrell said. "If I was the coach I'd want him in my side.

"But, having said that, I don't know the background or ins and outs of why he isn't selected. He's certainly a handful. He brings a lot to the party, so I'm pretty pleased."

It's going to be an interesting three-Test series nonetheless and the lucky few who managed to get tickets will get all their monies worth.

Can't wait.