LIONS TOUR Cheetahs 24 The Lions 26: THE WORD whisker seems appropriate to describe the margin of victory at the Vodacom stadium on Saturday.
The tourists escaped from Bloemfontein with their unbeaten record intact, but had to endure a fraught endgame, watching helplessly as the home side’s replacement outhalf Louis Strydom saw his 45-metre drop goal attempt brush the varnish off the left upright.
The South African franchise were not the better side on the day, but it would have been hard to begrudge them their victory. Conceding 20 points in as many minutes without reply at the start, they could have disappeared with a whimper. Instead, they came within touching distance of only a second victory over the Lions.
Some of the frailties exposed in the opening match of the tour were once again evident as a Lions team with nine players making their first start on this tour struggled for cohesion and accuracy. The biggest concern for coach Ian McGeechan will be the breakdown, an area in which the Lions turned over too much possession.
This was due to the excellent work of the Cheetahs’ backrow, and in particular flanker Heinrich Brussow, but also the foibles of referee Wayne Barnes. The English official didn’t always offer consistency of interpretation and appeared more lenient when interpreting the way the home side contested the ball on the deck.
It was a source of frustration for the Lions and one articulated by Ireland’s Stephen Ferris and McGeechan.
“I thought the referee was pretty hard on us the whole game,” Ferris said. “He didn’t give us much room. Every time we went to steal the ball we didn’t get anything; every time they went to steal the ball they seemed to come up with it.
“I thought the breakdown was very badly refereed. I thought for us it was completely different to the Cheetahs. They seemed to get away with murder; a lot of things I thought were penalties. Fair play to them though, they played him very well.”
The blindside flanker could be accused of taking a jaundiced view given he received a yellow card – it was the appropriate censure for killing the ball in his 22 – but there was merit to his argument.
McGeechan refused to be directly critical of the official, but conceded he was dismayed that it was rendered “a bit of a lottery and took a lot of momentum out of the game”.
The absence of a recognised openside cost the Lions dearly, a fact acknowledged by McGeechan. Joe Worsley deputised for the injured Martyn Williams, and while few would quibble with the integrity of his effort in taking up ball and making his usual quota of tackles, he can not fulfil the specific role of a number seven.
The Lions suffered 19 turnovers, conceding seven penalties and two free kicks, statistics that might have proved fatal had outhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter (twice) or his replacement Strydom (once) not missed with reasonable penalty opportunities.
The tourists were also guilty of cluttering the backline with too many forwards, which denied their team-mates the opportunity to create and exploit space. The pack trundled forward through several phases at times, only for a player to eventually run out of support and have the ball pilfered at a ruck.
The Lions’ backline had an afternoon of gnawing irritation as they tried to operate in overpopulated corridors; they would have thrived on quick ball with more space. Instead they could muster only cameos. Keith Earls took his try in typically cavalier fashion and enjoyed a decent outing, but this wasn’t a game in which Luke Fitzgerald or Leigh Halfpenny could thrive.
Shane Williams is looking increasing forlorn. His work ethic can’t be faulted, but he is trying to force things and that resulted on Saturday in an interception. Lee Byrne, his late fumble aside, still looks a creative outlet.
James Hook didn’t miss a kick, while his halfback partner, Harry Ellis, beavered away diligently, often having to cope with messy ball.
Saturday was an opportunity for players to advance their Tests cases but several in the pack managed the reverse. Scottish hooker Ross Ford wasn’t abrasive enough and his lineout throwing remains an issue.
The Lions dominated the scrum – the Cheetahs were shown staggering leeway by Barnes – but it was Andrew Sheridan rather than Euan Murray who prospered, carrying ball effectively to boot. The Scot wasn’t nearly as productive outside the set-piece.
Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan were the epitome of industry, the former charging forward with ball under arm, while O’Callaghan was a lucrative option out of touch.
Ferris, although sinbinned, produced a towering performance. He often breached the first line of defence and put in some thumping tackles. Andy Powell is just too inconsistent and a little one dimensional, while Worsley played out of position.
The Lions led 20-0 after the opening quarter, with Ferris and Earls crossing for smartly taken tries, while Hook racked up 10 points with the boot.
The match changed appreciably when the Irish flanker was sent to the bin for not rolling away at a ruck.
Cheetahs scrumhalf Tewis de Bruyn had made a great break, racing into the Lions 22, and Ferris did well to take down Hennie Daniller: the Irishman will claim he was trapped by bodies, but had the home side secured quick ball a try was a probability.
During his absence the Cheetahs helped themselves to a brace of tries from wing Danwel Demas and prop Wian du Preez. Potgieter added the conversions, but unlike Hook, was more brittle with the boot, adding just one further penalty from three opportunities before being replaced.
The Lions appeared to be free-wheeling until Williams threw an interception on 73 minutes, the beneficiary Corne Uys. Suddenly it was a two-point game and Gordon D’Arcy’s arrival on the pitch reinforced the notion he should have been there 20 minutes earlier.
The tourists gratefully clambered over the finishing line.
Nine players started for the first time, and individual performances, no matter how adept, will be compromised by the team display. Everyone’s had his chance to impress and for McGeechan the hard work starts now.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Hook penalty, 0-3; 10: Ferris try, Hook conversion, 0-10; 16: Earls try, Hook conversion, 0-17; 20: Hook penalty, 0-20; 25: Demas try, Potgieter conversion, 7-20; 34: du Preez try, Potgieter conversion, 14-20; 37: Hook penalty, 14-23. Half-time: 14-23. 42: Potgieter penalty, 17-23; 49: Hook penalty, 17-26; 73: Corne Uys try, Strydom conversion, 24-26.
FREE STATE CHEETAHS: H Daniller; D Demas, C Uys, M Bosman, JW Jonker; JL Potgieter, T de Bruyn; W du Preez, A Straas, K Calldo; N Breedt, D de Villiers; H Broussow, F Uys, H Scholtz. Replacements: G Odendal (for de Bruyn 45 mins); WP Nel (for Calldo 46 mins); F Viljoen (for Breedt 46 mins); L Strydom (for Potgieter 60 mins); K Floors (for Scholtz 63 mins).
LIONS: L Byrne (Wales); L Halfpenny (Wales), K Earls (Ireland), L Fitzgerald (Ireland), S Williams (Wales); J Hook (Wales), H Ellis (England); A Sheridan (England), R Ford (Scotland), E Murray (Scotland); D O'Callaghan (Ireland), P O'Connell (Ireland, capt); S Ferris (Ireland), J Worsley (England), A Powell (Wales). Replacements: M Rees (Wales) for Ford; A Jones (Wales) for Murray (both 63 mins); N Hines (Scotland) for Worsley (67 mins); G D'Arcy (Ireland) for Fitzgerald (74 mins).
Sinbin: S Ferris (Lions) 22 mins.
Referee: W Barnes(England).
