The Springboks decided to wear white armbands, in protest about Botha’s suspension. Pity they didn’t wear protest armbands 30 years ago to protest about apartheid, but then the argument was to keep sport and politics separate. I bought that argument at the time, so why bring petty bickering about a suspension into things now? Accept the decision of the ruling body, given the authority to run the sport. Move on, play sport. I think this was a really silly gesture. If we want to get really petty, why did Quinlan get 12 weeks when Burger only got 8? But I’d rather think about the game.

Rant over for now The Lion’s restored pride with a very strong performance, dominating most aspects of the game and taking their opportunities well. Nice hand work for both of William’s tries, and Moyne’s intercept was excellently timed. Some SA’s were commenting that this was a second team, to blood some new players, but that was their choice. I don’t think a change in SA personnel would have made too much difference. The Lions had to prove themselves and were out to do so.

To start ranting again, the Springboks’ discipline broke down near the end, throwing Lions to the ground and showing completely uncalled for off-the-ball aggression. I just don’t know why they think they can behave like this. The Lions were very mature in their approach, with no need for the famous 99 call this time.

Tour over. I enjoyed it and can’t wait until the next one. Yes, it would be nice to win a tour, but that can happen. Here’s my quick review of how the Irish contingent got on.

O’Connell – I think his leadership was more important that his individual play on the field. I don’t think we saw the huge performances we’ve seen in the red of Munster or in a green shirt, but he will have learned from this.
O’Callaghan – didn’t really get opportunities to play and had strong competition for the number 4 jersey. Good that he was on tour.
Wallace – grows and grows and I think some of his performances were world class. There was debate as to whether Williams or Wallace should start the first couple of tests, but he is an amazing player and he benefited from the tour.
Heaslip – could be there for another couple of tours and I’m sure he’ll also grow as a player. Immense
Ferris – didn’t get to the test stage, but was amazing in all of the build up games. He’s there for another tour or two if he keeps the momentum in his growth up.
O’Gara – not quite as bad as his 2007 RWC, but close. Disaster of a tour and I’m sure he’ll look forward to the beach
O’Drisscoll – amazing tour, and made up for having the NZ tour cut short. Thrives without the burden of captaincy.
Fitzgerald – good tour and again he’s young enough to make one or two more. Might need to develop a kicking game, but his defence is good.
Kearney – star of the show – he became a bit of legend during the tour and rarely put a foot wrong. And he’ll be back in a red jersey.
Bowe – I don’t think I knew how good he has become, even though I watched him often enough for Ulster.

Players to note from the other countries – Byrne, Martyn Williams, Phillips, Roberts, Flutey all impressed me, together with the Welsh front row.

1: Sheridan
2: Rees
3: Vickery – another chance
4: Shaw
5: O’Connell
6: Worsley
7: Williams
8: Heaslip
9: Phillips
10: Jones
11: Williams
12: Flutey
13: Bowe – in the centre
14: Moyne
15: Kearney

What a game. It got off to an mazing start – Burger showed himself to be a bit of a thug, possibly cheat with only 30 seconds on the clock. What a really silly decision to gouge Fitzgerald at the first breakdown. He deserved his time in the bin, including the 10 points it cost SA, and he was probably lucky to get back on. However, what better motivation for the Lions, particularly the six other Irishmen who would be palying out of their skin to avenge for what happened to Fitzgerald. This might well have contributed to Kearney’s motivation, but he was immense – catching everything, running at pace, creating great lines. I thought Byrne was good at full back, but Kearney became world class during this game.

The Lions did really well fro most of the game, but the injuries and changes can’t have helped them to sustain the performance from the first half – losing both props and both centres is bound to have an impact on any team, and the compromises made (Jones and Bowe in the centre) weren’t going to help. The Beast was pretty much contained, although SA did take their tries well – both wingers and then a great try on the wing, which ROG wasn’t going to do to much to stop. O’Gara still bemuses me – in the Six Nations, he can be playmaker extrodanaire and never put a foot wrong, but when he is not on song (RWC 2007 ring a bell?) he can be woeful. It wasn’t that he did anything particularly wrong, and I’m not blaming him for the weak tackle resulting in the SA try, or for causing the penalty which let them clinch the game, but I’m sure he’ll want to forget this game pretty quickly. I won’t – a cracker of a game and bad luck Lions. Looking forward to the re-match in 12 years.

What does all of this mean for team selection for Saturday’s second test.

The positions that I think might be up for grabs, are 3, 4, 7, 10, 14 and 15. It’s hard to know what to read into some of the substitutions in last nights game – where these to rest the team candidates for Saturday, or to give those with any question marks over their selection and extra few minutes to prove themselves? So bringing off Hayes – is that a sign that he has a chance of starting or was it to give Vickery another go? Similarly Martin Williams. Based on this, I find it a bit difficult to pick Saturday’s team – but here goes, with a bigger Irish influence:-

1: Gethin Jenkins
2: Lee Mears
3: John Hayes
4: Donnacha O’Callaghan
5: Paul O’Connell
6: Tom Croft
7: David Wallace
8: Jamie Heaslip
9: Mike Philips
10: Stephen Jones
11: Shane Williams
12: Jamie Roberts
13: Brian O’Driscoll
14: Tommy Bowe
15: Rob Kearney

You know I almost picked an Irish team there. Has O’Gara a hope at 10?

I heard Paul O’Connell after the match, suggesting there were too many penalties, suggesting the ref might have awarded a few too many. This makes it difficult, but Jones didn’t help – missed two, one in front of the posts. Those six points would have kept them a bit closer. As it was, although the Lions had a lot of possession, it was the Springboks that took their scores. I was surprised Steyn didn’t start slotting them in from his own 22, as he landed every other effort.

Two of the Lion’s tries were very similar, O’Drisscoll with ultra-flat passes to Croft on his shoulder. The hard work from Croft was getting into the right position and he took his scores easily. The second Lion’s try was an important one. They’d been camped on the Sprinbok’s goal line for a long time before Philips found the break, but this was on 68mins and left them with just too much to do. It kept the last 20 interesting, Lions in control and the Springboks really showing signs of tiring. 5 points short, but I’m sure that is no consolation for the Lions, who now have a huge task to try and win the series. But it’s not over, ’til the fat lady sings.

O’Drisscoll must have been man of the match for the Lions, but great performances from his centre partner, Roberts. Kearney did really well when he joined the game and could push for a start next week. Not sure Jones is the man to have at fly half now, missing a couple of critical kicks – with little variety to his game. I was a little disappointed by O’Connell. Maybe he is just trying too hard, but he lost a few lineouts and was penalised a few times. They can’t really drop the captain though, and I’m not sure Hines, Shaw or O’Callaghan would struggle to replace him. Heaslip didn’t impress as much as he can, but there are two games to go. Roar on to Pretoria.

Can’t say there were any amazing individual displays from the Lions. It was nice to see Earls do some running, with great lines, but he had a few aimless kicks, detracting from his performance. O’Gara’s kicking was solid (mostly) which could gain him a test spot, if that’s a tactic in the armoury. I’m impressed with Shaw’s ability to be all over the pitch. O’Callaghan solid again. Blair had a few too many gaffs and Fitzgerald didn’t do too much to win a place. An outside bet would be Darcy, who has come good and would be a good bet for the bench.

The Lions game against Western Province was the event I was looking forward too most. The Lion’s sneaked the win in the end, with a late penalty, but overall they controlled the game and should have put the result beyond question earlier. Impressive kicking from WP kept them in touch. Nice to see the Irish players do well again. Bowe was pretty amazing with a great try and an incredible take late on. Moyne’s try was on the button too – impressive. Good performances from Rob Kearny and Wallace. Wallace must be pushing for a test position, but by now the ink must be dry on Bowe’s name on the teamsheet.

On other rugby, Ireland A had a convincing 40 – 5 win over Georgia in the Churchill Cup. I only saw a few minutes of this one, but a good result and great experience for the emerging players. France’s win over the All Blacks was one to talk about. I love the way you can never tell which French team will turn up, and the All Blacks were experimenting a bit, but it’s great to see the French performing and the half backs were impressive.

Big GAA weekend- Cork came good against Kerry who from what I read they should have put away a week earlier. This was a big win. Will Kerry be their in September? – probably. Antrim had a footy win over Donegal as the shock of the weekend. I didn’t see the hurling, but the Davey Fitz’ v Justin McCarthy dual the press were building up will have to be run again – the headline I read was a disappointing draw!

Selection for the Lions 1st test, next up.

Most of the Leinster guys put in great performance and should be challenging for test places. O’Driscoll with a few great breaks. He also set up a well worked try for Fitzgerald, who was also on song, breaking the line a few times. Heaslip was immense and must be a shoe-in for the test place, and to cap it off he sneaked a cheeky try in injury time. Not sure the Munster players are fully on form since the Heineken Cup semi- some great plays from Wallace – as usual you don’t see half of the great work he does on the ground. O’Connell was solid, but we haven’t seen him totally shine on tour. O’Gara’s kicking was solid, but he probably did a little too much with the boot.

On test selection, Jones or Hook could challenge O’Gara. I was impressed with Alwyn Jones who must be the favourite to partner O’Connell. Lee Byrne continues to impress at full back, scoring another great try and Kearney will have his work cut out to start on the test team.

Still a bit of work to do before the tests, but there does seem to be a bit of momentum.