IF LIONS coach Ian McGeechan was guaranteed a 39-3 victory against the Sharks in the ABSA Stadium without having to play the match, he would probably have accepted it. However, having managed to achieve that result he might quibble when he reflects on the performance which had a curate’s egg-like quality.
Spurning more try-scoring opportunities in the opening 40 minutes than is ordinarily healthy for a team with ambition and anticipating a three-Test series against the world champions South Africa, the tourists did manage to discover a ruthless streak post-interval that allowed them to pull away.
There was also the mitigating factor of referee Jonathan Kaplan who didn’t appear to want to burden the game by consistently interpreting too many of the laws. Despite winning by 36 points it was the Lions who transgressed more often according to the official as they lost the penalty count 16-11. Goodness knows what would have happened if the Lions had dominated less.
McGeechan, though, preferred to see the glass as half full, at least for public consumption. “I am very pleased as we have very strong discipline and patience. I’m pleased with the cumulative effort through the 80 minutes. It was a strong performance. We didn’t panic. We just kept building a performance and reaped the benefits of it in the second half. Our defence was superb.”
He was appreciably coy about the performance of the referee, preferring to observe obtusely when asked about the number of penalties a dominant Lions scrum conceded. “We’ll keep talking to the referees to get clarification. I thought our breakdown work was excellent. Hopefully we can get a consistency there that we can understand as well as our opponents.”
The Scot confirmed the medical prognosis on centre Jamie Roberts, who damaged a shoulder in the first half and came off after the interval, was good. “There is no problem. It’s just bruising and we wanted to give Riki Flutey some game time. He took a heavy bang on it in the first half. (The doctor) James Robson is happy with how it looks. There is no issue there.”
McGeechan also confirmed that far from being concerned by the statistic that the Lions suffered 13 turnovers, it was a figure he found acceptable. “If we can keep it around that mark, it reflects a pretty good performance. Some are from kicks and not all at the tackle area. If we are down at the 10 mark, then I’ll be happy.”
Captain Paul O’Connell praised his team for the focus they retained even when things were not going to plan. “That was one of the things about the game. If we didn’t trust each other, it would have been easy to get frustrated. We had a lot of possession and a lot of territory but we stayed patient with each other and reaped the benefits.
“It was a tough challenge. The Sharks are a tough franchise even without their Springboks. We had a lot of possession but didn’t convert the chances in the first half. In the second we took our chances and racked up a good score.” He also expressed his delight that the team kept their try line intact. “We all come from different defensive systems so to concede only three points was really pleasing.”
Sharks captain Johann Muller was magnanimous. “They are a really good side, overall; really well coached. They do the basics well, scrum, lineout and I thought they were much better at the breakdown than in the Cheetahs match. We made one line break tonight so their defence was outstanding. That is a really, really good Lions side.”
