British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Three points separate Western Province and Lions
The British and Irish Lions travelled to the birth place of South African rugby this week to take on Western Province in Newlands. It was a crucial match as it was played just a week before the Lions are to take on the Springboks in Durban and they want to make sure that they are peaking at the right time.
At one point the Lions were definitely in a controlling position with a lead of 18-9 but Western Province proved that they are a team to be reckoned with and they put up a relentless barrage against the Lions. This eventually paid off when Joe Pieterson scored a try and this followed onto an earlier drop goal. An additional drop goal and four penalties made sure for an action packed final ten minutes.
The Lions managed to pull through though and narrowly defeated Western Province 26 – 23. This means that thus far the British and Irish Lions are undefeated on their current tour and this places them on a good footing in the last week before the first Test.
WESTERN PROVINCE: Joe Pietersen; Tonderai Chavhanga, Morgan Newman, Peter Grant, Gcobani Bobo; Willem de Waal, Dewaldt Duvenage; Wicus Blaauw, Tiaan Liebenberg, Brok Harris, Martin Muller, Anton Van Zyl, Pieter Louw, Duane Vermeulen, Luke Watson (capt).
Replacements used: Gio Aplon for Chavhanga (38 mins), De Kock Steenkamp for Muller (65), Zandre Jordaan for Louw (73), JD Moller for Blaauw (75). Not used: Hanyani Shimange, Conrad Hoffmann, JJ Engelbrecht.
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: Rob Kearney (Leinster/Ireland); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland), Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland), Riki Flutey (London Wasps/England), Ugo Monye (Harlequins/England); Stephen Jones (Scarlets/Wales), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers/England); Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks/England), Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales), Phil Vickery (London Wasps/England) (capt), Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster/Ireland), Nathan Hines (Perpignan/Scotland), Joe Worsley (London Wasps/England), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales).
Replacements used: Ross Ford (Edinburgh/Scotland) for Rees, Euan Murray (Northampton/Scotland) for Vickery, Simon Shaw (London Wasps/England) for Hines (all 57 mins), James Hook (Ospreys/Wales) for Kearney (64), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers/England) for Worsley (69). Not used: Shane Williams (Ospreys/Wales), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster/Ireland).
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)