Miller and Bentley lay down their Test claims

THE LIONS victory sequence was maintained under the lights in Bloemfontein last night when Free State became the latest victims of the tourists, who registered their ninth win of the tour.

Free State, one of South Africa's four Super-12 representatives, were rated among the most difficult provincial opposition the Lions would face. But they could never match the flair and fluency of the rugby the Lions produced.

Far from scoring what would have been their first win over the Lions, their partisan supporters had to witness the demolition of their side as the Lions scored a record win. Not alone that, but it was the most comprehensive defeat ever inflicted on the Free State by an overseas team on their ground. To add to that indignity, it was also the highest score ever conceded by them on their ground.

The only downside for the Lions is that centre Will Greenwood, who had been outstanding, will take no further part in the tour after being concussed.

Although Neil Jenkins came on for Greenwood, the Lions fielded a side that did not include any other member of the team that won the Test last Saturday. But such was the quality of this performance that it could scarcely have been bettered by the Test team.

By the interval the Lions were 31-13 in front after scoring four tries - two by right wing John Bentley and one each from Alan Bateman and full back Tim Stimpson, who converted all four and also kicked a penalty goal in compiling those 31 points.

One of Bentley's tries was a real gem, and every time the Lions ran at the opposition one got the impression they would make the breakthrough. Their variation of pace, support play and angles of running had the Free State defence in a constant state of indecision and anxiety. Bentley completed his hat-trick in the second half - a timely reminder with the Test on Saturday.

Eric Miller, who was hoping to make the kind of impression that would prompt Test selection, certainly played sufficiently well to lay down his marker. The Lions will select that Test team tomorrow from a position of immense strength.

Some hope did flicker for Free State after the interval when they got a try from left wing Stephen Brink (he also got their first try); Jannie de Beer converted that and then kicked a penalty goal to leave the score at 23-34. But that was the nearest they got and the Lions' response was rapid and effective.

While the Lions had to work rather harder for their second-half tries - they added three to their first-half four - in many respects the performance given in the second half was even more meritorious bearing in mind that the match was at altitude and Free State did offer a more concerted opposition.

Yet again the scrum stood up to all demands imposed on it. Neil Back was his usual industrious and effective self, and the back row of Back, Miller and Rob Wainwright did extremely well.

But this was a team effort and the players never faltered in their collective endeavour. Nor did they allow their concentration to lapse after Brink's try in the 46th minute. That came after a Free State player had knocked the ball into touch but, remarkably, the touch judge gave the throw to Free State. One of the Free State forwards threw a huge pass across the field and Free State moved forward into attack and de Beer got the try - with a suspicion that, in fact, he may have knocked on.

But after Bentley completed his hat-trick in the 56th minute, the Lions were in control and rampant again. It was, too, Miller who, with his perception and industry, provided the scoring pass for two of the three second-half tries.

Stimpson reached a rich harvest with a personal tally of 22 points. But this was above all else a superb team effort and reflected the utmost credit on the depth and level of commitment in this squad.

Not wanting to disrupt the Test preparation, the 21 players travelled to Bloemfontein yesterday afternoon and flew back to Durban late last night. Free State will remember the 1997 Lions, and the Lions will remember the occasion for all the right reasons.