Lions down disjointed Sharks
10 Jun 2009
The Lions were good value for their 39-3 victory over the Sharks, but the Springboks won’t be shaking in their boots.
This match was always going to gauge where the Lions stood just 10 days from the first Test, more so than it would be about assessing where the Sharks were in their preparation for the Currie Cup, and in that regard the Springboks won’t be too concerned.
The Lions were hardly awful, in fact, their patience through the phases was impressive, while there were solid performances by individuals, most notably centre Jamie Roberts who carried powerfully all night, and scrumhalf Mike Phillips who has now surely cemented his place in the Test line-up. But for most of the match they sorely lacked a killer edge and the creativity that needs to be there if they hope to upset the Springboks.
They improved as the game wore on, but their improvement has to be viewed in context. This was a severely depleted Sharks side lacking quality players in key backline positions. The 36-point deficit will be labelled emphatic by some, but you are naive if you believe you can equate this match to the standard the Lions will face in the Tests.
The Lions attempted to blend the measured with the expansive, and ended up with an ugly hybrid of the two for most of the contest. Their backline attacks were generally far too lateral to trouble the Sharks, and the fact that flyhalf Ronan O’Gara resorted to speculative cross-kicks and grubbers underlined the lack of creativity and incisiveness in the back division.
The Lions signalled their intention to boss the set phases and driving mauls when they opted for a lineout instead of a goal attempt early in the match. They set up three powerful drives until they eventually turned over possession. The Springboks, watching from the stands, would have noted the tactic, as it is sure to be a primary avenue of attack during the Test series.
The next 40 minutes would be characterised by much of the same, as the Lions camped in the Sharks’ red zone, only to be repelled by some determined defence and a spirited breakdown contest. The routine became predictable – they would cough up possession, jog back to the lineout after the clearing kick had found touch, relaunch their attack, only to be turned over once more when a try seemed a certainty.
Much was made of Saturday’s poor showing at the breakdown, and tonight’s performance won’t do anything to dispel a perception that it is a facet of play they are vulnerable in. What amplified their woes is that on Saturday they were devoid of a specialist opensider, whereas tonight they fielded skilled scrapper David Wallace. The Irishman failed to impose himself, and his cause wasn’t helped by the limp performance of his teammates at the tackle point and breakdown.
Skipper Paul O’Connell promised improved physicality in this facet of play. On the evidence of tonight’s performance he won’t be pleased.
Given their absolute domination of possession, and the sheer number of times they got onto the Sharks’ 5m line, they should have led by at least 25 points at the break. Instead, the deficit was just four points – Rory Kockott taking the only scoring opportunity they had – and their ineptitude, particularly at the breakdown, must alarm the Lions’ coaching staff.
Their problems didn’t end there. The scrums, an area of the game the Lions pride themselves on, wasn’t as efficient as they would have hoped either, with Sharks tighthead Jannie du Plessis pressuring Gethin Jenkins throughout their duel.
The black and white wall offered plenty of resistance, but the pressure was incessant, and they were finally breached when the Lions played off the top of a lineout on the 5m line and punched through two phases before hooker Lee Mears powered over from close range. Ronan O’Gara added the extras.
There was a bittersweet moment halfway through the first half which would have further jolted the tourists.
O’Driscoll has been spoken up as a master, and that he might be, but it’s indisputable that he is an ageing master, evident by the fact that his speed eluded him when he most needed it. He intercepted a pass on his 22m and sprinted clear. In his prime, the Lions faithful would have been celebrating the moment O’Driscoll laid hands on the pill, but as he shifted through the gears it became obvious that the once mighty stallion no longer had the speed that was a key feature of his play at the height of his powers.
Sharks youngster Lwazi Mvovo will one day boast to his grandchildren that he hauled in the great O’Driscoll, but it will be a shallow boast.
The half ended as it had started, with the Lions surrendering possession on the Sharks’ tryline, and the tourists trudged down the tunnel looking bewildered.
They did, however, start the second half more purposefully, and scored soon after the restart when Mike Phillips jinked his way through some diabolical defence to score in the corner. O’Gara missed the conversion, but extended the lead to 12 points (15-3) shortly thereafter with a penalty.
The Lions seemed to click into gear thereafter, troubling the Sharks’ defensive line with every foray. A period of sustained pressure yielded another three points to O’Gara.
The Lions were always going to have the upper hand in the back division given the experience they boasted in comparison to the Sharks’ rookies, and it was through here that they scored their third try.
The ball was shifted wide to O’Driscoll, who drew the last defender and offloaded to Luke Fitzgerald, who was left with a clear run in on goal.
Their fourth was the pick of the bunch, Lee Byrne scything through the defence after an overlap had been created by some smart work by his inside backs. O’Gara kicked his fifth goal to take the Lions 32-3 ahead before Jamie Heaslip touched down after the siren to end the contest.
‘Must do better’ should be the assessment in the Lions’ report card. The Springboks won’t be shuddering in fear.
By Ryan Vrede, at King’s Park.
573 Comments
Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 12 » Show All
10 Jun 2009, 19:30 pm
Slegte skop Kockie !
Goeie skop Stefan !
10 Jun 2009, 19:30 pm
Ou Briscoll O Drien is lus vir hardloop.
10 Jun 2009, 19:30 pm
O donner, Tjarks senter beseer en af….
Hoop nie dit byt hulle nie !
10 Jun 2009, 19:31 pm
haha, BOD is so bloody slow, what a joke
10 Jun 2009, 19:32 pm
Faark, maar dit was naby!!
10 Jun 2009, 19:32 pm
Hardloop daai ou vir BoD in met gemak….
10 Jun 2009, 19:33 pm
Oom Brein O Disco het stadig geword.
10 Jun 2009, 19:35 pm
TRy Lions… Mears
10 Jun 2009, 19:36 pm
Well deserved. Pressure Pressure Pressure.
10 Jun 2009, 19:36 pm
THE SA REFS ARE SOOOOOOO CHIT
THE SA REFS ARE SOOOOOOO CHIT
ALL OF THEM ALL OF THE S14
SHARKS DAMAGED BY THEM.!!!
GREEN TEAM AGAINST BRITISH LIONS FIRST GAME
FREESTATE CHEATED BY SA REFS
NOW ANOTHER SA REF IS CHEATING!!!!
WHAT IS IT, IS THR RAND SOOOOOOO POOR THAT BRIBES COUNT OR ARE THE REFS JUST TRYING TO GET VOTED INTO BEING A TRINATIONS OR INTERNATIONAL REF TYPE POSITION?????
SHARKS GAME 15 MINUTED 25 SECONDS, JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHAT WENT WRONG WHEN BY WHO REFFED BY WHOOOOOOOOO????
MUHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH 20 20 CRICKET IS BETTER AJUDICATED AT FULL SPEEED THAN RUGGA AT REPLAY BS
EISH EISHHHHH ;(((( ( ;(
10 Jun 2009, 19:36 pm
Lions 7 / 0
10 Jun 2009, 19:37 pm
Eish, die Sharks moes eerste punte gekry het, nou gaan dit moeiliker gaan.
10 Jun 2009, 19:38 pm
Ag kak man!
10 Jun 2009, 19:39 pm
du plessis getting his head shoved thru his arse…
10 Jun 2009, 19:40 pm
#60 Chuckwoodybumblespri: Stadig ou maat, jou sleutelbord gaan breek.
10 Jun 2009, 19:41 pm
#64 gunther: Carstens ook !
10 Jun 2009, 19:42 pm
#60 Chuckwoodybumblespri: give it a rest!
10 Jun 2009, 19:42 pm
Lions 7 / 3
10 Jun 2009, 19:43 pm
BRITISH LIONS PUSHING BEFORE THE BALL IS IN ALL GAME!!!
NOT BINDIG ALL GAME!!!
SA BULLCITH REF ONLY NOTICES IN MINUTE 28 ???
hahahahahahah
MUST BE A CREDIT CRUNCH REF HAHAHAHA
10 Jun 2009, 19:43 pm
OFFSIDES BS REF HAHAHAHA YOU GOT THE SHARS REF BULLCHIT PERSON
10 Jun 2009, 19:44 pm
#69 Chuckwoodybumblespri:
you are actually right about that happened in the cheetahs game as well..
10 Jun 2009, 19:44 pm
#69 Chuckwoodybumblespri: boet just p!$$ off!!!
10 Jun 2009, 19:45 pm
the sharks still don’t swing **** to their backs, kockott still kicking everything forward hoping for mistakes…robberts & BOD don’t have to do any defending…
10 Jun 2009, 19:48 pm
32 MINUTES 30 SECONDS
SHARKS FULLBACK RIPS BALL AS TACKLER, LIONS OFF SIDES AND GET BALL BUT VELLY VELLY MUCH CHIT SA REF SAYS ITS OK AS BRITISH LIONS ARE GOOD!!!!!!!
OH DEAR SA RUGBY SUPPORTERS WE ARE VELLY VELLY FLUCKED DUE TO THE KLEDIT KLUNCH, OR IS IT THE LIONS SHARE OF THE REFS!!!
hahahaha HAHAHAHAH
10 Jun 2009, 19:48 pm
#73 Transformation: Sharks aren’t playing well bru
10 Jun 2009, 19:49 pm
Sharks moet nou nie punte afstaan voor halftyd nie.
10 Jun 2009, 19:50 pm
These guys are going to need a lot more finishing if they want to beat the Bokke.
Dissapointing.
10 Jun 2009, 19:51 pm
Daa kak ‘n Diesel engine
10 Jun 2009, 19:52 pm
that’s a knock on. Can’t be a try
10 Jun 2009, 19:54 pm
Lions are freegin strong up front… freegin strong…
10 Jun 2009, 19:54 pm
Personally I think Kaplan is being a great ref tonight.
10 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
Jannie Dup is een moesa vuil speler.
10 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
Lemoenetyd.
Wat drink ons ??
10 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
Coke
10 Jun 2009, 19:55 pm
Lions have a whale share of possession AND territory…
10 Jun 2009, 19:56 pm
IF THE BADDY REF ALLOWS THE SHARKS THE RIGHTS THAT THE LIONS GOT IN THE SECOND HALF,,,, THE LIONS ARE GONNNNNNN AGOOOOO DOWWWWWWWWWWN
10 Jun 2009, 19:57 pm
#84 Ed_the_Lion: Wel, ek het nou ‘n bierglas vol Jerretjie-pik-my gegooi….
Moeeeeeeeeedersmelkies !
10 Jun 2009, 19:57 pm
the last movement, kockot gets the ball, passes to dumond, dumond looks outside once, then kicks to nowhere!! What the ****?
10 Jun 2009, 19:57 pm
Mooi, Sharks hou uit, maar hul moet nou meer aanval ook, kan nie net verdedig nie, soek punte.
Ou Stefan is betroubaar, maar het nie meer die spoed om in die lyne te kom met daai ou bene van hom nie.
Zane is die antwoord.
10 Jun 2009, 19:58 pm
#86 Chuckwoodybumblespri: Chucky-with-a-woody… tone down man !
Is jy gesuip ??
10 Jun 2009, 19:58 pm
#84 Ed_the_Lion: Koffie in hierdie koue !
10 Jun 2009, 19:58 pm
#80 grootblousmile:
Agreed but their binding has been questionable IMO. I think Kaplan has had a good game he’s been reasonably fair but it is obvious the scrums are going to be watched closely in the Tests after these warm-up games. We’ll have to watch their technique especially. Jannie giving his all though.
10 Jun 2009, 19:59 pm
#87 grootblousmile: Dit klink lekkerder as koud, maar te warm vir een van daai hierso.
Geniet hom GBS!!
10 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#91 BDB: Niks soos ‘n koffie in koue nie. Ek sal maar na werk ‘n koue bier moet drink in hierdie hutte.
10 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#93 Ed_the_Lion: Sorry man, ek klink gesuip “lekkerder as coke”.
10 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
wow. only a half time and whingeing in full bloom by someone.
10 Jun 2009, 20:00 pm
#92 Thameside Bok fan: Yip… would like to see the Tjarks on attack though… see what their forwards can do close to the Lions goal line.
Lions goal line has’nt been under any form of attack yet.
10 Jun 2009, 20:02 pm
THE LIONS # 1 OR PROP FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT KNOW POSITIONS HAS NOT BOUND ALL GAME AND HAS NEVER BEEN RULED. HE CAN EVEN DO HIGH TACKLES AND BE IGNORD
10 Jun 2009, 20:03 pm
Dumond is even worse than Frans Steyn at 10!
10 Jun 2009, 20:03 pm
Poefta boys should be thanking their lucky stars, this score should be about 60-3 to the Lions already. Been over the try line about 8 times already with only one try awarded.
And anyone still touting Jannie Dup as a springbok tight head goodness gracious great balls of fire this telly tub can’t stand up once in 40 mins.
One way traffic even worse than against the Xerox team last week except no one wants to put the ball down over the try line for the Lions. Own worst enemies tonight should be game over about 30 mins ago already.
Bokke should get ready for a mauling I got suspicions this series is no walk over and one slip and this tour can go same way as 97
Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 12 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.