Steyn shatters Lions' pride
Morne Steyn's last-gasp penalty clinched South Africa a 28-25 win at Loftus Versveld - and with it a series victory over the Lions.
By Rob Lancaster
Last Updated: 27/06/09 7:38pm
Morne Steyn came off the bench to kick South Africa to a 28-25 victory in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions - securing the series in the process.
The replacement fly-half kept his cool with time expired to slot over the three points that clinched an absorbing contest in favour of the Springboks.
While one replacement was the hero another was left in the role of the villain. Ronan O'Gara was guilty of giving away the crucial penalty, the Munster man clipping Fourie du Preez as the scrum-half soared to take a high ball.
Steyn made his fellow number 10 pay by converting the chance from long range, in the process writing another chapter in his fairytale season that has also included booting the Blue Bulls to Super 14 glory.
Cruel
Defeat was cruel on the Lions, who for so long seemed set to take the three-match series to a winner-takes-all decider in Johannesburg.
Having been dismantled for an hour in Durban only to be denied at the death the tourists yet again suffered heartbreak. It had all looked so good, too, for Ian McGeechan's men when they led 16-8 at the break thanks to Rob Kearney's early try and 13 points from kicker Stephen Jones.
The decision to make changes in the pack paid off in spectacular fashion, with the all-Welsh front row of Adam Jones, Mathew Rees and Gethin Jenkins turning the tables on Tendai Mtawarira and co.
Simon Shaw was also an inspired choice, while another new boy - Luke Fitzgerald - had a major impact on proceedings, albeit not with ball in hand.
The Ireland winger found a finger from Schalk Burger stuck in his eye at a ruck, forcing referee Christophe Berdos to pull out his yellow card after just 30 seconds of play. The South African was fortunate it wasn't red.
With a man extra, the Lions roared forward - a Jones penalty putting them in front before the Wales fly-half produced a stunning offload out the back door to set up Kearney in the right corner.
As expected of world champions, the Boks - back to 15 with Burger's return - bounced back from the early blitz to cross with their first meaningful attack.
Du Preez's made a burst off good line-out ball before releasing JP Pietersen, who picked a perfect attacking line to scythe through almost untouched.
Ruan Pienaar converted, only for Jones to respond with a penalty and a drop goal to push the visitors into a lead that they completely merited. Even when Francois Steyn found the target with the last kick of the half to cut the gap by three, the Lions still looked on course for victory
But the break proved a hinderance more than a help, an inability to recapture the same tempo in attack and a plethora of injuries to key players allowing the Boks to clear their heads before producing a shocking late KO.
Within the space of a minute Jenkins and Jones were forced off, leading to uncontested scrums, though the most crucial loss of all was that of Brian O'Driscoll. Having left Danie Rossouw dazed and confused with a borderline hit, the centre was forced to sit and watch as his team-mates proved unable to cling on.
When he went off the Lions remained clear thanks to Pienaar's failure to land two relatively straightforward penalties. The second miss led to calls of 'Morne, Morne' from the Bulls followers, and they soon had their wish when the local hero stripped off his tracksuit and entered the action.
Habana surge
His first job was to convert Bryan Habana's superb try, the winger bursting into life with a well-timed run that sent him surging through a massive hole.
A Steyn penalty then cut the gap to one - only for Burger to gift the three points straight back when he was caught offside. That set up a frantic final 10 minutes which saw the lead switch hands on three occasions.
Jaque Fourie's fine solo try on the right put South Africa in front for the first time, the sub somehow squeezing his way over without going into touch.
O'Gara, who had failed to stop the marauding centre out wide and then stepped aside to allow Jones to kick a penalty with three minutes to play that made it 25 apiece, then had the type of nightmare moment that will haunt him for the rest of his days.
Du Preez only needed a nudge to flip over in the air trying to deal with the Irishman's up-and-under, leaving Steyn to send over the match-winner and give South Africa revenge for the Lions' series win 12 years ago.
