News

Lions reflect on satisfying conclusion

July 04 2009

A series defeat, but in every other significant statistic, the touring Lions had the beating of the Springboks over three matches after the third Test.

They won on aggregate points, on tries scored and certainly on their professional and friendly approach to the business that being on the modern tour is.

So it was with immense satisfaction that coach Ian McGeechan and his captain Paul O'Connell sat after Saturday's 28-9 victory and explained how their team had lifted themselves from last week's disappointment in Pretoria.

"It was very satisfying, it's been a tough week for everyone this week, knowing you are out of the series," said O'Connell.

"This week was one of the toughest in our career when it should have been one of the most exciting. It could have been a very tough summer. We could have been looking at 'what ifs' for a long time.

"We really had to dig deep. But everybody stood up and was counted and everyone really pulled out a big performance, not just for the Lions jersey but for the atmosphere we have created as a group as well.

"It would have been tough for all of us, with that in mind, to have come away with a 3-0 defeat, so I am proud of the way the boys dug deep and produced."

McGeechan paid tribute to his captain initially, lauding him as the epitome of what a Lions captain should be - rich praise indeed from the man whose legacy to the Lions will be the biggest of all.

"Paul has epitomised what a Lions captain should be," said McGeechan.

"You pull players together, tell it how it is."

"The fact we can play so well with so many changes shows how well the players have integrated into the environment they have created and Paul has led that."

As for the result, McGeechan simply put it down to the intensity that the tourists were once again able to find after a long and arduous season in many instances, as well as a touch of luck

"We got a couple of 50-50s today we hadn't been getting," he said.

"All the games could have gone either way, but we didn't have the breaks before. We could have come here 2-0 up, that's how tight it's been.

"It's been all little edges hasn't it?

"Sometimes it's gone sometimes it hasn't. Eight points difference in the first two Tests.

"We were very accurate today, very intense, but we kept it tactically the way we wanted to play."

It will be McGeechan's final Test in charge of the Lions, with the first victory for Britain and Ireland's finest in eight years a fitting exit salute to the three-time coach.

"It's a very pleasant victory to go home with - this lasts for four years," he quipped.

"There are no regrets. This is international sport and international rugby, which is played on the edge.

"It's been a fantastic series and I have to congratulate the Springboks. They've won the series we both wanted and congratulations to them for doing that."

By Danny Stephens in Johannesburg