Lions cling onto unbeaten start by the skin of their teeth

Ian McGeechan’s British and Irish Lions got out of jail in Bloemfontein, as they hung on to overcome the Free State Cheetahs 26-24 in the battle of the big cats.

When Cheetahs winger Corne Uys intercepted Shane Williams’ pass and sprinted the length of the field to score the converted try that took the hosts to within two points in the 73^rd minute, the Lions looked on the ropes and bereft of ideas.

When Louis Strydom’s last-minute drop-goal drifted agonisingly wide of the posts, the tourists looked nothing short of relieved.

In truth, the Cheetahs should never have been allowed to get so close, but they found the feet when Lions flanker Stephen Ferris was sent to the sin bin, and that momentum almost saw them turn the match on its head.

The tourists had started the match ferociously and, in similar style to their midweek mauling of the Golden Lions, they scored 20 points in the first 20 minutes.

Irish flanker Stephen Ferris got the first Lions try and his second of the tour after ten minutes, showing great pace to pick up from the base of ruck and burst through a gaping hole in the Cheetahs defence.

Eight minutes later and it was another Irishman who extended the Lions’ lead, when Keith Earls put last week’s shaky debut behind him with a classy try.

Welsh fly-half James Hook spotted the space behind the hosts’ defensive line, and sent up a delightful chip that Earls caught comfortably before racing home to finish.

A second penalty from Hook kept up the Lions’ point-a-minute average, before the Cheetahs found their way back into the match after Ferris was sent to the sin bin.

The Super 14 side made maximum use of having the extra man and scored two tries in eight minutes to really get a hold in the game, and underline that they had no intention of capitulating.

Firstly, the Cheetahs kept spreading the ball across the Lions 22, before eventually getting it to lanky winger Danwell Demas who strolled over.

Minutes later, Andy Powell found himself being turned over 10 metres from his own line, and the Cheetahs took the quick ball to set up a mismatch between prop Wian Du Preez and Lion Lee Byrne.

Unsurprisingly, the big man crashed over, and Jacques-Louis Potgieter’s conversion bought the home to within six points, before another Hook penalty gave the Lions a 23-14 lead at the interval.

The second half was a stale, scrappy affair, with neither side showing any kind of attacking prowess, and the only change to the scoreboard coming when both sides scored a penalty each.

The match looked to be fading out before Uys’ score put the tourists on edge. The Lions may have hung on, but it was another unconvincing Saturday showing and no-one made a case to be included in the test side.

Once again there’s room for improvement as the first meeting with the Springboks edges ever closer.

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