Script bucking Lions defeat the Boks

 

10 Have your say

As dead rubber massacres at Ellis Park go, 28-9 for the Lions is a contender (with the record 53-8 for South Africa over Australia in the 2008 Tri Nations) for my end of series rugby album.

If it wasn’t for the B-team deniability, the 10 changes to the Bok squad, I’d maybe put the British & Irish Lions dead rubber massacre on top of that list.

I can’t say the British & Irish Lions were brilliant but they were spirited. Well done, thanks for coming, series over and see you in 12 years time.

That’s where the plaudits end in this disappointment for anyone hoping that the ‘script-buckers’ would triumph.

3-0 is a B&I Lions series result South Africa just cannot bank (Whitewashes are so 1980′s).

Bucking the script was a fantasy I can kick myself for falling for again but this time the disappointment I have for my beloved Boks has to do with something more basic.

Discipline. (Surprise?)

Didn’t anyone tell the South African squad that they had little chance of winning this game?

It seems not because it was an embarrasment to have to watch various off the ball niggles develop as a combination of poor refereeing and escalating conflicting ‘loser’ emotions managed to put paid to any hopes of smiley faces at the post series fairplay awards.

I think South Africa could have beaten this British & Irish Lions team. I really do. But South Africa entered the game with everything set up wrong. It was obvious this wasn’t a do or die game and that the 3-0 wasn’t on.

That said. Then you’d expect the losing team to go down with grace and I’m sorry to have to admit South Africa fell flat on their faces on this count. I blame certain overzealous players but ultimately lay all the blame at the feet of Peter de Villiers and his inability to act as the ‘guts’ of the teams discipline.

Kitch Christy, Ian MacIntosh and even Jake White oozed discipline. It’s obvious Peter de Villiers doesn’t and young players believe they have free reign in terms of poor behaviour.

In the end, it turned an inevitable loss into something worse. From a Bok fans perspective it looked like we were frustrated and poor losers. A shame especially with the series already won.

British & Irish Lions fans were gifted a fairy tale ending and I wonder if that’s built into the packages ? All is fair in love, war and rugby, it seems especially in South Africa. No hard feelings, see y’all soon, 2010′s around the corner, bring your friends & family.

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