Scotland reborn as a British and Irish Lions nation as Hogg & Price impress
- Published
Stuart Hogg played his part as the British and Irish beat South Africa
Sixty-four minutes had been played in Cape Town when Hamish Watson went into a breakdown and executed a clear-out that made everybody gasp with something approaching dread and horror.
Everybody in British and Irish Lions red, that is. Everybody in Springbok green might have liked what they saw, a lift on Willie Le Roux that took the South Africa full-back just above the horizontal and down to earth with a crash.
The Lions had just taken the lead a few moments earlier, Dan Biggar's penalty putting the tourists ahead for the first time in the Test. Now, hearts hit mouths and the prospect of a Watson yellow card loomed large. He'd only just appeared on the pitch. On the TV coverage on Sky, veteran referee Nigel Owens sized it up and thought a card might be coming.
But it never did. You might call it a break - and there was another. There was a penalty to come, a shot at goal for Handre Pollard. And he missed. He shouldn't have, but he did.
The Lions rode their luck, for sure. The Boks will be livid at the chances they created but didn't score. They'll regret some tight decisions that went against them. Given the hullabaloo during the week about the nationality of the TMO - South Africa's own Marius Jonker - the Lions could have no complaints about the refereeing or the TMO-ing.
That Watson moment was scary. The game was right in the balance. The call went the way of the Lions - and the Test soon followed - 22-17 to the tourists.
'In terms of weirdness, it rates highly'
Hamish Watson came on in the second half
This was a day when Scotland was reborn as a Lions nation, three starters becoming four when Rory Sutherland was parachuted into loosehead in place of the injured, and desperately unfortunate, Wyn Jones. Two Welshmen, three Irish, four Scots. Think back to the dog days of 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 and bask in those numbers.
The quantity was great for Scotland, but being a Lion is one thing, being a Test Lion is another thing but being a winning Test Lion is a different thing entirely.
In cataloguing the collisions of the Lions and the Springboks it's hard to know where to place this latest chapter, played out against empty stands around the pitch and empty energy levels on it by the end of what was as savagely physical a Test match as we'd all predicted from our position behind the couch, wincing.
What went down in Cape Town wasn't as barmy as the 1903 Test that saw South Africa, inspired by the spectacularly named threesome of Birdie Partridge, Klondyke Raaff and Uncle Dobbin, beat the tourists. Not as mesmeric as the 1924 event that had Bennie Osler putting on one of the all-time great displays in a 17-0 Bok victory. Not as gripping as the Lions' 23-22 thriller in 1955 or anything that happened in 1974 and, in terms of jawdropping drama, it could not be compared to either of the moments in 1997 when Matt Dawson dummied, Jerry Guscott dropped and the Lions beat the supposedly unbeatables.
Where does this rate? In terms of weirdness? It rates highly. This was, of course, a magnificent Lions comeback, but it was all very odd. Heroic, but peculiar.
In horribly uncertain times in South Africa there are two certainties tomorrow - the sun will come up and everybody will think about the unstoppable Maro Itoje, the colossus who sparked the revival. If the Test is remembered over time it will be Itoje's name who springs to mind most readily.
The Lions were a mess in the first half, playing out from places where they shouldn't have been playing out from, getting soundly beaten on the floor, in the scrum and out of touch. They trailed 12-3 but it felt like more. They had no control, no carriers and not nearly as much discipline as they needed. They shipped seven penalties in the opening 40 minutes. For the Boks, it was just too easy.
The Lions scrum had some tough times early on but it rallied. The Boks began by peppering Stuart Hogg and Duhan van der Merwe in the air but got little change out of either of them. Van der Merwe wreaked no havoc with ball in hand but, then, neither did his opposite number, the most fearsome of all wings, the genius Cheslin Kolbe.
It was the breakdown that was causing the Lions so many problems. Ali Price was terrific in dodgy circumstances. When things started to turn, it was Price, again, who was close to the heart of the resurgence. The weirdness of the game lay in the complete collapse of the Springbok effort.
Without a meaningful Test since winning the World Cup in 2019, their reserves of power and poise ran out quicker than any Lion could have hoped for. Faf de Klerk put them 17-10 ahead in the 50th minute but then they beat a retreat in the face of the red waves. Either side of that score they conceded six straight penalties, the last of them being the one that put the Lions just one point behind. They were pinged left, right and centre. For a good chunk of that second half it was a veritable pingathon.
Scots make their mark
Rory Sutherland was a late inclusion to the Lions line-up
At that point, 17-16 to a declining South Africa, Sutherland made way for Mako Vunipola. The Hawick man's story is that of science fiction. From a wheelchair to a win with the Lions. No wonder he had a slightly glazed, if thrilled, look on his face in the aftermath. His rise and rise from the brink of retirement has been stunning.
Some of those outside Scotland couldn't get the selection of Price ahead of Conor Murray. Perhaps they get it now. Some outside Scotland wouldn't have had Hogg in the team. Perhaps there'll be a recalibration there, too. The Lions wouldn't have gone wrong had they opted for Liam Williams, but Hogg got some grief in some quarters about his aerial ability and his defence that wasn't warranted.
This was a special moment for him. We all know why. He's spoken about the impact his injury on the 2017 Lions tour had on him, how it hurt him not only physically but mentally, how it brought him to the point where he questioned whether it was worth playing on anymore. That thought came and went, but the scars remained. This was not his greatest performance on a rugby field - it was not that type of contest - but it was probably his greatest day.
Once Itoje ripped ball from Springbok hands at the death, Hogg hoofed it into touch and ended it. The Lions had outscored the Boks 19 points to five in the second 40. They'd gone from 43% possession and 42% territory in the first half to 60% possession and 64% territory in the second.
Cooler heads prevailed. Warren Gatland won the coaching battle and he didn't even have to carry a water bottle in the process. He's now been Lions head coach for seven Tests and has won four and drawn one. His 2021 Lions with their five Test Scots and Gregor Townsend and Steve Tandy in the coaching nerve centre have taken a big step towards history.
It's not a parochial way of looking at it. It's borne of relief that Scotland has at last returned to Lions relevance. The biggest step of all is to come, though. History tells us that if the Springbok is a scary beast then the wounded Springbok is scarier still. They're coming. Of that there is no doubt.