Props can play key roles, but this time Boks will be wary!

Jun 26 2009 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

IF only referees in rugby union Test matches could take the same flexible approach to time keeping as their cousins in Premiership football.

If that were the case and the Lions had had just another four or five minutes against that tiring Springbok defence, they would have carved out and taken the opportunity that would have levelled or even won the first Test in Durban.

Wishful thinking you might say, but joking aside, and regardless of the number of replacements sent on by Peter DeVilliers, there was only one side in the hunt in those final minutes at the Kings Park Stadium.

In fact, if Stephen Jones had landed the two penalty kicks he missed in the first half, the argument would be academic and we’d be heading to Loftus Versfeld tomorrow a game up.

As it is, any Springbok supporter can point out that for the first hour, apart from the odd chance for the Lions, there was really only one side controlling the game.

The odd thing is that if you look at the possession and territory stats for the whole game, the Lions ought to have dominated.

But for all the possession they enjoyed, it was the South Africans who were more inventive and incisive when it came to creating and finishing off scoring opportunities, hence their 26-21 victory.

It has been widely suggested that had we started off with Adam Jones and Matthew Rees in the front row, the game would have been ours for the taking.

I think there is an element of truth in that but we are simply not going to get the chance to prove it as the Boks will be well prepared for the kind of front-five assault that McGeechan and his coaching staff appear to have shied away from in Durban.

Yes the pack didn’t function as it should, but if you look right down the line, the Lions were off the pace from the start.

That’s what allowed John Smit to wander through the line and go over with only minutes on the clock – a big blow early in the match.

From there, the Lions were always going to be playing catch-up as the South Africans had a points cushion against which to work out any ring-rustiness that may have built up since their last Test outing at Twickenham in November.

The fact that we couldn’t pressurise the likes of Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn, who were able to kick from hand with impunity, was nothing to do with the front row either.

There is no doubt that the midfield needs to be more effective at stopping the Springboks before the gainline.

In terms of changes for Pretoria, I’m pleased Jones and Rees are starting as they made a remarkable impact.

Last week I called for Simon Shaw to be included in the starting line-up due to his immense scrummaging ability and sheer presence in the second row.

If nothing else, the last half an hour in Durban will have told the South Africans that this Lions side, no matter how far behind they may be, will continue to scrap to the very end, and it’s great to see Simon in the side from the off.

That first hour, however, did seem to reinforce the major concern I had before the Test series kicked off.

That was that if the Lions did not start well and somehow wrest a victory from the Springboks at the first opportunity, then they would lose the series.

The remarkable second-half comeback has gone a long way to change my mind on that front.

There may be a number of factors stacked against them – not least the return of the awesome Schalk Burger, the effects of playing at altitude in Pretoria, and the fact that the Boks will be expecting a Lions backlash.

But in 30 passion-filled minutes in Durban, this Lions side proved that they are made of stern stuff and are very capable of turning this series around.

Bring it on!

l Lawrence Dallaglio is an ambassador for Greene King IPA, the official beer of England Rugby.