Lion king Warren Gatland knows the job is only half done

Going after the Springboks’ strengths worked on Saturday but the Lions will need to go up a level to finish the job

Robbie Henshaw makes a break during the Lions' victory over South Africa in the first Test in Cape Town. Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Sportsfile

Ruaidhri O'Connor Twitter

July 26 2021 02:30 AM

Another notch on Warren Gatland’s belt which must be fraying at the edges at this stage. As Lions head coach, he has now won Test matches against all of the southern hemisphere big three and while four years ago in Wellington may be a personal highlight, this victory deserves its place in the pantheon.

Of course, the back-drop undermined the enormity of the achievement. The Covid outbreak in the Springbok camp, their lack of game-time since 2019, the compromised tour and the fact that playing all three Tests at sea level levels the playing field has made this a very different Lions tour.

And yet, the tourists are existing in a hotel far from home for an extended period with nobody but themselves for company. This tour could easily go off the rails, but clearly Gatland had the buy-in of his players.

At half-time, things looked bleak.

Nine points down, the Lions looked in real trouble and the game resembled the World Cup final. The scrum wasn’t quite as dominant, but the Springboks were living in the Lions’ half and owning the ball, picking off their points when the tourists coughed up cheap penalties.

Most observers watched Dan Biggar and Elliot Daly miss penalties before half-time and nodded knowingly. When Robbie Henshaw compounded those moments of profligacy by knocking on after a rare line-break, it seemed like a fait accompli.

The lineout was in trouble, the scrum was creaking, their discipline was poor and the Boks were on top in the ruck.

At half-time, Jacques Nienaber summoned his ‘bomb squad’. His front-row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane had been excellent, but on paper the combination of Steven Kitschoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe is next level.

The touch paper never lit, the bomb turned out to be a dud. None of that trio had an impact on the game and instead, the Lions’ replacements had the bigger say.

In the first half, the Springboks had been good in the air but after half-time their back-three were cleaned out.

Duhan van der Merwe was first to Ali Price’s box-kicks, the Lions’ chasers were hungrier for ball and ravenous on the ground.

Mako Vunipola came in for the hapless Rory Sutherland and added a layer of power and skill, Ken Owens brought calm after a skittish 50 minutes from Luke Cowan-Dickie.

They don’t have a cool nickname like ‘the bomb squad’, but the Lions’ bench was far more effective.

Hamish Watson stepped things up after coming on for Tom Curry, although he was lucky not to get at least a yellow card for his tip-tackle on Willie le Roux, while Conor Murray and Owen Farrell brought leadership and direction and Liam Williams oozed class.

Tadhg Beirne only got eight minutes because Courtney Lawes had been so good, but he did everything in his power to play a role.

Before the game, both coaches had been shadow-boxing in the media but Gatland’s decision to heap pressure on the hometown TMO Marius Jonker proved decisive.

Up in his box, the South African seemed determined not to give a hometown call.

Nienaber refused to criticise the officials, but the call to rule out Le Roux’s try for being marginally ahead of the kicker was very, very tight. The Watson decision was mystifying considering the full-back went off for a head injury and never came back.

Gatland’s record as a coach of Connacht, Ireland, Wasps, Wales, Waikato and the Lions is littered with big decisions that came up trumps.

Picking Courtney Lawes ahead of Beirne proved a masterstroke, Price repaid his faith and while he never got tested in defence, Van der Merwe was dominant in the air. Jack Conan never put a foot wrong. And yet, Gatland will be tempted to change things up for the second Test.

He has an excellent squad and the Springboks are promising fire and fury.

Despite the win, some of his players did not play particularly well and while the Lions’ injury list appears to be light enough, the coach will surely look to shake things up to a point.

The balance lies between rejuvenating the starting XV and keeping that strength in reserve.

There is huge value in Murray and Farrell observing the play for an hour before guiding the ship home, but could their input be more valuable from the start?

Could Farrell help run things in the centre as Gatland looks to replace Elliot Daly, who had a poor game, or would a strong defender like Chris Harris or Bundee Aki make more sense?

Up front, Mako Vunipola is better than Rory Sutherland but his performance against the enormous Frans Malherbe suggests they’re well matched.

In the back-row, Tom Curry looks the most vulnerable but he’ll surely improve next week.

It’s a delicate balance, but one Gatland knows well.

He has negotiated this terrain before. After his team won the opener in 2013, he made changes to his team but injuries played a big part in those decisions.

Everyone expects the Boks to be better for the game, to have a strong reaction to the defeat, but the Lions will also hope to improve.

Gatland is facing into another defining week as Lions coach, and no one knows the terrain better.