<< BackSpringboks Beat Classic Lions to Advance to Final
On top of the world: South Africa's Mac Massina somersaults over the line in the Springboks match against the Classic Lions.
South Africa 22 Lions 12
With
eight minutes to go and just five points separating the two sides in
this see-saw spectacle, a place in the World Rugby Classic final was
very much up for grabs.
The Lions were just a score behind and
their tactic to counteract the dangerous speed of the Springbok backs
by playing tight, controlled rugby was paying off.
They were
pushing hard with their forwards, squeezing every inch of field
position out of every ruck and maul and desperately trying to puncture
the South African defence.
But despite the Lions' territorial
dominance, there was always the danger of breakaways and, to the
delight of a crowd who had endured a pre-game soaking courtesy of the
Classic's first rains, they came hard and fast from the defending
champions who earned themselves a flattering scoreline with late tries
from Charl Marais and John Assor – who rounded off his score with a
somersault.
South Africa were probably worthy winners, their side – featuring just one Currie Cup player .
And
with the rain still persisting down, the first salvo was fired when
Rassie Erasmus, a Currie Cup coach this past year, crossed within the
opening two minutes, although the tent-bound crowds weren't yet brave
enough to witness the score.
By the time Dave Scully had replied
seven minutes later – with Derek McAleese adding the extras to put the
Lions 7-5 ahead – the bleachers were filling up again and beginning to
enjoy what was probably the cleanest and highest-quality encounter of
the tournament so far.
A classic Classic Springbok try was then
scored with eight minutes left in the half, the full 4,000 spectators
able to enjoy a break by Jacques Jonker – who appears to have taken
over from Jan Harm van Wyk as Mr. Catch Me If You Can this year – who
flipped it over to Deon Kayser to touch down.
Andries Fourie, with
another incredible performance at fullback, converted to leave the
tournament favourites 12-7 up at the break.
After the interval,
the Lions' share of possession was the greater but they couldn't quite
convert that dominance which was always going to leave opportunities
for the Springboks.
But after some scintillating half-breaks
from both sides and a long spell where the ball refused to go out of
play much to the delight of the screaming hordes packing the bleachers
on both sides of the National Sports Centre, the game was put out of
reach by Marais.
With eight minutes left, Fourie,
unsurprisingly, kicked the ball through and Marais, a portly, hulking
figure who is more wildebeest than Springbok, lumbered after the ball,
hacked on just shy of the line before falling on it with somewhat of a
bellyflop to just get the downward pressure needed ahead of a pouncing
Lions' last-ditch lunge.
The missed conversion mattered little
at 17-7, a point emphasised when Assor took advantage of some Keystone
Cops defence from the Lions.
Those attending tomorrow night's
gala banquet will be hoping Kenny Logan's speech is better than his
ball-handling skills, and he certainly didn't look like he was worth 70
caps for Scotland when he made a dog's dinner of an attempt to pick up
a kick through.
Assor was on hand to scoop up the loose ball and
dive over the line to seal his side's place in the final – a Dale
McIntosh score after 57 minutes was scant consolation for the Brits.
*We
knew it was going to be tough but we were pleased with the way we
worked the ball out wide,* said Assor, who admits his somersault was
his first such artistic score.
*When you are champions, everyone
is firing for you and the Lions went hard at us tonight. But we worked
hard and we did what we had to do.
*It wasn't our best performance
and we are not so happy with that and we know whoever we face it is
going to be a tough final – that's what happens when you are the
defending champs.*
McAleese, for the Lions, was frustrated in defeat, longing for the glory days of his side to come again.
*We
worked hard at what we were trying to do, keeping the ball, playing
solidly and trying to contain their speed,* he said afterwards, making
the point that his side were intent now on drowning their sorrows for
their final few days in Bermuda.
*We could see they weren't as
good as last year but they had just enough. It is hard for our guys
coming from all over Britain and not always having played together
before. It has been too long since we last won this.*
By Dan Rutstein (http://www.theroyalgazette.com) |
