IT WOULD be tempting to dismiss last night’s fare as Lions versus pussycats, but it would be churlish to demean what was an excellent team performance by Ian McGeechan’s charges. The touring side, containing just three starters from the weekend victory in Rustenburg, gave free rein to the obvious talent that the squad harbours.
They were accurate from the opening whistle and suffered none of the jitters that undermined the previous display, facilitated by a host of brilliant individual contributions. McGeechan reiterates at every opportunity his belief that players grow into a Lions shirt and several vindicated that assertion.
Jamie Roberts was a deserving man of the match, but it could equally have gone to Tommy Bowe, Alun Wyn-Jones or the outstanding Jamie Heaslip. The Ireland number eight covered every blade of Ellis Park, but it was his no-nonsense carrying and witheringly abrasive tackling that stood out.
David Wallace, in his more natural role of openside, formed a huge, effective and athletic backrow along with Heaslip and Tom Croft; the Englishman was another to thrive on his debut.
The Lions captain for the night, Brian O’Driscoll, formed an assured midfield partnership with Roberts laden with Test-match potential.
O’Driscoll looked sharp, with his offloading and ability to beat the first tackle a lucrative outlet for others. Needless to say, he enjoyed the evening.
“I thought the bigger pitch suited us. We managed to hold onto the ball through the phases. People expect us to click immediately. We have so many good individuals in this squad but it takes a little time to grow as a unit and get things right.
“We didn’t turn over ball; more passes stuck. We are far from the finished article, but we will take a lot of positives from this game.
“If you score 70 against a Super 14 team people will have to take notice. I was equally as pleased that we stuck to our patterns and in the second half didn’t let them across our line. We spoke about that at half-time and that was a pleasing aspect of the performance too.
“The more we train together, the more we play together, the better we’ll get.”
O’Driscoll praised Bowe, as the Irish wing produced a wonderfully rounded performance. “Tommy’s playing very well with a lot of confidence. It’s a tough ask for him to play two games in four days, but he is a strong, physical player and you saw the skills out there on the pitch, especially for Ugo’s (Monye) try.”
One of the lighter moments in the press conference was provided by O’Driscoll’s midfield partner Roberts when asked to describe what it was like to play alongside the Irishman.
Roberts smiled and replied: “I’m not going to embarrass him, but it was pretty special.
“I remember watching him as a boy,” (at this point the whole auditorium cracked up laughing, including O’Driscoll) before Roberts continued, “I just hope I get a few more chances. It is now up to those guys who go out on Saturday to keep the momentum going. The tight five tonight were fantastic and freed up a lot of space for us backs.”
McGeechan was similarly enthused in watching what he described as a very pleasing display. “I thought there was a lot of accuracy, good tactical decisions and we finished well. They were very disciplined with what they did. It probably exceeded expectations. It was about good players playing well off each other.”
Of his centre partnership, he smiled: “When we did get a bit of space, they both looked positive. It was a good performance. There are certain things we want to do . . . It has given us a good sighter. We know we have to lift our performances a notch or two. We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. We will put our heads down and work out the creases.”
