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What did Andy Powell do wrong?
July 03 2009
The curtain clings by one remaining thread before falling on what's been another fine British and Irish Lions series, with Johannesburg set to host this duo's last meeting until 2021 - hard to believe isn't it?
Gerald Davies and Arthob Petersen once again named the teams, with predicted changes duly confirmed after the toughest of games at Loftus Versfeld, which left physio James Robson in a state of shock upon sifting through the wreckage.
Seventeen new faces were called into starting XVs alone then on Thursday as Ian McGeechan and Peter de Villiers failed to let us down - the latter admitting he contemplated rolling out his big guns for one more hurrah but thought better of it with the Tri-Nations looming.
So here lies a massive opportunity for those on respective cusps to shine...
That is not the case for Andy Powell though, who has failed to feature throughout this three-Test series despite heading into the tour with such high hopes. Why has he missed out?
It is hard to fathom as, after watching the bustling forward dominate the ball-carrying stakes at Newlands against the Emerging Springboks, he's not even made a bench spot in Durban, Pretoria and now at Ellis Park.
All three berths have gone the way of Ireland's back-rower Jamie Heaslip, who certainly offers something markedly different to his team-mate at the base.
Let's get one thing straight; Heaslip cannot be faulted for his efforts against Pierre Spies and the like. But what he possesses in experience and close-quarter knowhow, Powell surely makes up for in line-breaking ability as an impact man, at least.
At the maturing age of 27, many Celtic followers would wonder what took so long for this sizeable former Scarlets and Beziers man to emerge onto the international scene.
The answer would be injuries and lots of them, as Powell was certainly made to pay his dues on the rugby circuit, gently nurturing himself back to full fitness in such places as Tbilisi during the summer of 2008 for Wales Sevens.
One year on and his rise came to its peak after strong Heineken Cup and Six Nations performances led to a place on the 2009 British & Irish Lions plane.
But where did it go wrong during the past five weeks?
Right from the first Saturday there was once again another frustrating injury stumbling block after being named to start against the Royal XV - David Wallace replaced Powell due to the latter's hand problem.
He then subsequently found himself amongst the replacements for arguably the Lions' 80 minutes of the tour against the Golden Lions before being handed the number eight jersey in Bloemfontein.
The fired-up Cheetahs had already fully earned the label of giant killers after their Super 14 exploits during 2009 and proved that point in taking the tourists all the way on June 6.
Was it unfortunate scheduling luck due to being sidelined then that saw Powell fall away as he found himself lining up with the so-called 'fringe players' until the Tests? Or was it just that Heaslip is the better all-round forward?
McGeechan and his coaching staff would surely give an objective view to this question - so too I expect would the Welshman - and hindsight is a wonderful concept as the Lions continue to lick their wounds while the Boks stand on the verge of a memorable whitewash.
By Adam Kyriacou