Tops
South Africa offers itself a beautiful!
"
We no longer have a choice: we absolutely have to win to keep a chance of winning the tour,
" said South African coach Jacques Nienaber, at the start of this meeting. At the end of a second remarkable period of intensity, the teammates of Siya Kolisi, admirable for leadership, offered themselves the right to do as well as their elders who had won the series in 2009 against these same Lions. See you next Saturday, same time (6 p.m.), same place (Cape Town).
The stunning Springboks It's
hard to imagine, at the end of the first period, that the Springboks could be favorites to win the series against the British Lions! Helped by the sensational entry of his bench, and its effectiveness in the areas of truth with the tests of Makazole Mapimpi (45th) and Lukhanyo Am (62nd), the world champions hurt with devastating balls carried. It is a reaction of pride from the strong men of the conquest sector: Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi…
A gripping tension
The first match was disappointing, between a restrictive game and an impossible tension.
If the restrictive game practiced by the two teams has surely not thrilled viewers, the tension has recalled all the beauty of a Lions tour.
From the first minutes, Alun Wyn Jones hooked up with Eben Etzebeth.
The slight clashes have multiplied, without slippages, well helped by the good pedagogy of the referee Ben O'Keeffe.
Flops
The Lions have lost ground in all sectors
Warren Gatland will long wonder how his bench could be swept with such ease by that of the Boks. The New Zealand coach, who is on his fourth tour with the Lions, saw his team concede a terrible 21-0 in the space of 40 minutes! Falling into a false rhythm at the start of the second half, the British were determined to raise the bar and not to attempt. Result, Chris Harris and Robbie Henshaw were invisible, Anthony Watson did not have the slightest ball to eat, and Stuart Hogg often found himself alone when raising. The Scottish full-back, feverish under the high balls like the winger Duhan Van der Merwe, even gave some penalties to his opponents, isolated from his supporters. It's even the third worst half in Lions history.
The controversies around the arbitration throughout the week
If the tours of the Lions never lack salts, we would have liked to see as much initiative ball in hand as in the media. After the first test, the critics fell on Nic Berry, referee of the first test. The "
Waterboy
" Rassie Erasmus, former coach of South Africa, had first criticized the arbitration decisions via an anonymous twitter account, then throughout a video of more than an hour. The Australian federation had come to the aid of its referee, affirming "
its dismay and its concern
" as to the statements of Erasmus. Nic Berry was Ben O'Keeffe's assistant this afternoon.
A first endless period
62 minutes. More than an hour of play for a single half-time. Chopped by many interruptions to play, the pace of the first period was disparate. The calls for the video for the yellow cards of Duhan Van der Merwe (23rd) and Cheslin Kolbe (25th), the clashes, the scrums to be redone… Hard to set the pace with so many interruptions.