Five takeaways from South Africa ‘A’ v British & Irish Lions
Following the British and Irish Lions’ 17-13 defeat to South Africa ‘A’ on Wednesday, here’s our five takeaways from the match in Cape Town.
Different gravy
The top line of this game is there’s a massive difference between the provincial mismatches we’ve seen on this tour to date and the real deal, which is playing the world champions in their own back yard.
The score ended up in a narrow 17-13 loss for the Lions and from the first moment of the clash, we witnessed an intensity that we’d not seen anything close to. Winning the match without the ball was the name of the game and the Springbok physicality at the gainline, personified by Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, was quite astonishing and for the first 20 minutes the Lions weren’t really in the contest.
But from then on a lot of positives emerged, as the British and Irish Lions reacted well to the change of standard. At the end, South Africa ‘A’ held on, but let’s be frank, it was by the skin of their teeth and the Lions will have learned more about their team in this game than the previous four put together.
The gainline
The gainline battle was enormous and for the first 30 minutes of the game, only Tom Curry and Maro Itoje held the Lions’ fortunes together. One of their biggest issues came from the disjointed and open rugby that they’d played in the warm-up games – time and time again carriers became isolated and ran in solo to be turned over by the eager Boks.
It’s one thing to make a break but you must run and seek support when playing against side at this level and that cost the Lions dearly.
Further, to run into contact and then retain, as they had done so in the other warm-ups, needs immediate reaction from the rest of the team; it took a long time for some of the Lions forwards to get up to reaction speed and to focus on clearing or supporting and retaining before the steal could be made.
But as the game progressed, the Lions learned that variety is the key to unlock South Africa and it was clear that Owen Farrell and Conor Murray were looking to move the Bok defence around a lot more than they did early on. They learned as the game progressed and the lessons they absorbed will stand them in good stead as the real Tests approach.
11 Test players
Warren Gatland said there were 11 Test starters in his team before kick off and that is likely to have changed substantially during the course of this game. On the upside, Itoje and Curry put in performances at a completely different level to anything we’ve seen from either of them on this tour and were absolutely magnificent all day. Curry’s form may mean that he and Hamish Watson start together.
Elsewhere in the forwards, Taulupe Faletau and Wyn Jones both had their moments, with the latter showing great mobility and a nose for the line. However, for the rest, there’s no doubt that the players that finished the game were a significant uplift from those who started, particularly Adam Beard and Luke Cowan-Dickie, who went up another gear completely from the starters Iain Henderson and Ken Owens.
In the backline, other than Anthony Watson the starters didn’t have their best day at the office. Murray was ponderous and slow from the base, Farrell a mixed bag, but overall, marginally in credit, with Chris Harris and Bundee Aki struggling to make an impact. The one glimmer of light was an exceptional display from Elliot Daly, who put in some divine touches in both attack and defence, but questions will certainly be asked firstly of the wider defence but secondly, of the lack of shape and impact of the midfield.
Set-piece
Above all, the biggest positive takeout of the evening for the Lions was the solidity and even slight advantage they got at the set-piece. Itoje wreaked havoc all evening at the lineout, eclipsing the great Etzebeth and stealing a couple from the arms of the huge Springbok in a massive display of controlled set-piece aggression.
The maul defence too was excellent, with no real momentum gained by South Africa and a lot of sackings or turnovers won through selective and intelligent defence. Beard put in a massive shift in this area and was unlucky to be pinged on a couple of occasions when he managed to get through the middle.
At scrum time, the Lions achieved parity and a little more. Jones silenced his critics with a solid performance, whilst both tightheads were excellent, with Kyle Sinckler quite outstanding in the loose too.
The aerial battle was a turning point – a charge down, some aimless kicks and a moment of genius by Cheslin Kolbe were the points of difference for South Africa and the Lions will spend a lot of time with their work-on focus being absolutely on that aerial battle.
Moving forward
Both coaches will have a lot to think about this week, however, the key takeout is that the Lions probably had more than South Africa thought they had, and the Springboks probably had a little less than the Lions expected.
Gatland’s work-ons are simple – increase the gainline intensity, work on supporting isolated carriers with breakdown speed and get the aerial battle right using the players most suited to that battle.
The Springboks have a lot more to consider – they rely upon set-piece and gainline dominance and they achieved only one of those. They relied upon the Lions needing to play catch-up rugby, and by owning the scoreboard. It is absolutely essential that Gatland reinforces into his team the need to nudge ahead on the board – to own passages and periods of play.
What’s particularly heartening is that we know there’s a number of Lions that can come in and improve this side – the likes of Robbie Henshaw, Watson, Jamie George and Stuart Hogg, all world class Test players, whereas South Africa had pretty much their best players on the pitch.
Make no mistake, this may have been a loss for the Class of 2021, but what they’ll learn from it should be them in great stead to pass their exams in 10 days’ time when the Test series starts in earnest.