British Lions Tour Review 2009

British and Irish Lions v the Springboks of South Africa

Jul 17, 2009

The class of 2009 restored some pride in the Lions concept and despite losing the series 2-1 to South Africa played some scintillating rugby and made a lot of friends.

The British and Irish Lions rugby team failed in their bid to emulate the 1997 team and beat the world champion Springboks on their own turf in South Africa, but it was a fantastic tour that more than re-established the Lions brand after the debacle of Woodward’s 2005 tour to New Zealand.

The selection of McGeechan as coach for an unprecedented third time ensured that the Lion’s traditions would be maintained in this tour. In 2005, Woodward had pretty much selected his test team before the Lions left the UK, but McGeechan gave every player a chance to prove himself worthy of a test sport and in some cases to play their way out of one.

The result was a more harmonious tour, there were no divisive blogs and newspaper columns from inside the camp and the images and reports which did come out showed a harmonious and happy squad, something which all successful Lions teams have in common.

In the professional era, the Lions always start on the back foot. They are a scratch side on a short tour, made up of players from four countries who, for three and a half years spend their time knocking lumps out of each other. In the space of a couple of months, they have to come together as a coherent unit capable of competing against one of the best sides in the world. The 2009 Lions test team didn’t really take the field until the first test. An extra week with a strong final game would have helped this.

South Africa offers some challenges not found anywhere else in the world, with the games played at altitude posing significant physiological difficulties. The 2009 tour schedule involved an initial period at altitude before heading for the coast and then, crucially, returning to altitude shortly before the second test when the initial acclimatisation benefits had been lost. Future tours should look to avoid this if the Lions are to be competitive.

The Lions are one of the biggest draws in world rugby and only visit a country once every 12 years, but a combination of high ticket prices and regional teams shorn of their Springbok stars meant that many games were played in half empty stadia. The next tour needs to be priced for the local markets rather than the incoming Lions fans and the strength of the regional sides has to be improved to maintain the integrity of the last true tour in international rugby.

British Lions 2009 – The Test Series

Every Lions tour stands and falls on the test series and South Africa 2009 was spectacular.

In the first test, the Springbok pack crushed the Lions thanks mainly to the destruction of Phil Vickery by Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira, who won penalty after penalty. Despite this, the Lions centres Roberts and O’Driscoll caused havoc in the Springbok defence. At 26-7 Springbok coach de Villiers took several of his stars off, thinking that the game was won, only for the Lions to come roaring back to 26-21. With the Lions missing another four clear cut chances, this was an opportunity missed.

The second test will go down in history as one of the most brutal, pulsating and exciting matches ever played. Both sides suffered a number of serious injuries and the game was marred by a gouging incident in the first minute where Springbok flanker Burger should have been sent off. He was subsequently banned for eight weeks.

The Lions roared into a first half lead, but lost both props leading to uncontested scrums and then both of their stellar centres. This proved their undoing and with the Lions clinging on with minutes left, substitute Ronan O’Gara missed a tackle to allow a converted try and then gave away a stupid penalty which allowed Morne Steyn to kick a long range penalty at the death to win the game and with it the series.

The Springboks, with an eye on the TriNations made wholesale changes, some enforced as Burger and Bakkies Botha were banned for foul play in the 2nd test. The Lions were similarly patched up, but took the game at Ellis Park by the scruff of the neck. Two tries by Shane Williams helped the Lions race out to a first half lead and when the Springboks were pressing in the second half, Ugo Monye intercepted a pass five yards from his own line and ran unopposed to score, sealing the third test. and maintaining the Lions record of never having been whitewashed by the Springboks.

British Lions 2009 Test Series 2-1 to South Africa

The copyright of the article British Lions Tour Review 2009 in International Rugby is owned by Neil Hughes. Permission to republish British Lions Tour Review 2009 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.