It is hard to put into words how the players and supporters of the British and Irish Lions were feeling on Saturday evening. By Sunday morning they will have been completely numb, either from drinking through the disappointment or from having shut the whole thing out of their brains altogether. Over time, a few key words have come to the fore in picking over the bones of the bravest, yet most painful of defeats.
Harsh. Harsh beyond measure. So harsh in fact that the brain struggles to process that the events which unfolded before the eyes actually took place. If ever a single rush of blood cost a test series, this was it. In the ultimate team sport, it is especially devastating when one (or two) error(s) ends the dreams of you and your mates. This is the cross that Ronan O’Gara will have to bear. However much you may have cursed him at the time, you would not wish that on anybody.
Luck. Where was the luck? The catalogue of misfortune which befell the Lions in the Second Test beggared belief. The spine of Christophe Berdos, made as it was from the finest French jelly, failed and Schalk Burger received only a yellow card for his assault on Luke Fitzgerald; the props, so dominant, were injured in the same passage of play; the centres soon followed suit; the tightest of tight calls for the final South African try where the video ref should surely have said that there was no conclusive angle and handed it back to the onfield officials.
Courage. The penalty kicked by Stephen Jones to level the scores at 25 all must have been 3 of the hardest won points in rugby, and what a kick it was. With the backline decimated, Brian O’Driscoll tried to soldier on, despite not knowing who he was or what he was doing there; Simon Shaw was extraordinary, Andrew Sheridan immoveable, Mike Phillips irrepressible, Jones unerring.
But courage. Any team who overturns an 11 point deficit having been played off the park for 50 minutes deserves praise. It takes courage to keep believing in what you are doing and make the right calls at the right time. South Africa did this and that is the mark of an excellent team.
Courage? It would have taken courage to send off one of the home team’s star players after 30 seconds but that was what was required. I once played in a crucial game in which our hooker was sent off after 10 seconds for a much less clear-cut offence. The courage of the players on both teams was unquestionable. The same cannot be said of the officials.
Joy. Whichever colour you were wearing, this was one of the most intense, epic, titanic battles you could ever wish to see on any sports field. It was a joy to behold, a privilege to witness. With its rule experiments, north-south divide, maltreatment of lesser teams and turgid kicking duels, rugby has made some negative headlines of late. But we had further evidence that it can provide the ultimate test of skill, athleticism, strength and character. It was truly memorable.
Relief. The Lions will live on. After the teething difficulties the Lions have had with professionalism, spanning the unhappy trip to Australia in 2001 when a truly outstanding team contrived to lose the series, to the full-scale disaster of 2005, the Lions concept was under the cosh. Was it sustainable as a concept? Will a scratch team ever be able to compete? Will it be turgid, second-rate stuff, a desperate grasp at retaining bygone, outdated amateur values? Well be silent ye doubters. These 2 tests have confirmed that the British Lions Tour is the greatest thing that rugby has to offer bar none. And in my book, that makes it the greatest thing in sport.
Devastation. Sheer, unadulterated, eye-wateringly painful, remorseless desolation. The Lions supporters will have been beside themselves on Saturday night. Take that feeling, multiply it by infinity and you may reach where the players were, sitting in a state of shock in a changing room that must have resembled a field hospital. For some, this was their last chance, for some their only chance. The rest will be making a silent pledge that they will never feel like this again. And that bodes well for Australia 2013.
By Stuart Peel
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So to win, the Lions needed;
luck
no injuries
more courage.
The Lions certainly were the better team, but they never, ever deserved to win that game. Poor tactics, a lack of guts and some massively overhyped players contrived to lose to a Springbok team that put together back to back 40 minute performances amongst the worst any Bok team has offered in the last 5 years.
The Lions were bad. Plain and simple. Stop blaming the refs, stop blaming the fact that they weren’t allowed to play 14 men for 79 minutes and 30 seconds, stop blaming the alignment of the stars – the Lions lost those games because their personnel were not good enough to win the games.
I’ll take the World Cup over a Lions tour any day of the week. So would any New Zealand fan, as would any Aussie I suspect. The Heroic Losers that the Lions have come to represent is nothing but another unnecessarily romantic British poster child (see: Bell, Ian and Harmison, Steven).
Stop celebrating your losers and demand they win before you’ll allow them onto the podium.
Are you for real? Are you disputing that the misfortune of injuries alone wasn’t pivotal to the game last week?!
Let’s see if I can get this straight – “the Lions were certainly the better team, but they never, ever deserved to win”…. and “The Lions were bad”. Make your mind up. Perhaps you can also elaborate on the “poor tactics, a lack of guts and some massively overhyped players”. What would you have changed, tactically? And lack of guts? This was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever witnessed. Overhyped by whom?
The Lions went to SA as the self-professed massive underdogs. Last week in particular they over-achieved compared to fabulous opposition, losing by a small margin at the last minute. What you’re reading on this blog is recognition of the fact that they only narrowly lost to the best in the world in their own back yard. It is a lame British tradition to applaud gallant losers for trying their best even when they don’t, but that’s not what we have here. This was a team that showed more passion, commitment and determination than any NH team I can have seen since 2003. Geechs summed it up well.
Nick
Beisdes your first comment on the Lions being the better team…….Im with you all the way. Heroic Losers indeed!
Lets face it…….If you put together the best players from the NH every 4 years they are going to be competitve. But competetive isnt really good enough. The Lions have now lost 7 straight games and I think you guys should be asking a few more questions of where NH rugby stands instead of cursing the gods and bum-tapping your players.
Having said that its a still a fantastic concept and I hope the Lions tour for many years to come. I would love to see all international sides reverting to proper tours.