2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa
The 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009.
The British and Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg, as well as matches against six provincial teams, and a match against South Africa's A team, the Emerging Springboks. The Lions won all six provincial matches and drew with the Emerging Springboks, 13–13.
South Africa won the Test series, defeating the Lions 26–21 in the [|first Test], and then 28–25 in the [|second Test]. The [|third Test] was won by the Lions 28–9. The highlight of the series was the second Test, which the Lions had led until the 76th minute, when they fell 25–22 behind. Two minutes later, Stephen Jones scored a penalty to draw the sides at 25–25 with only two minutes left. However, two minutes into injury time, Morné Steyn scored a 52-metre penalty kick to win the match 28–25.
The tour followed the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and preceded the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.
Background
The tour was confirmed by the South African Rugby Union on 21 September 2007. The Lions chief executive John Feehan stated in November 2007 that no home Test match would be played prior to departure, as had taken place in 2005, and that fewer players and personnel would go to South Africa than had gone to New Zealand in 2005.The tour manager was Gerald Davies, the head coach was Ian McGeechan, and the captain of the squad was Munster captain and Ireland lock, Paul O'Connell.
The tour schedule was announced by the Lions and the South African Rugby Union on 10 April 2008. The final fixture confirmed was the game in Port Elizabeth; on 22 January 2009, SARU announced that they had received permission from the South African government to hold the match on the Youth Day national holiday on 16 June. This match marked the debut of the Southern Kings, a franchise formed in the Southern and Eastern Cape region, following the failure of the Southern Spears.
Head coach Ian McGeechan had planned to take the Lions squad to the Spanish city of Granada, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains for a high-altitude training camp, but on 27 April he announced that it had been cancelled because of problems over player availability. The Lions flew to South Africa on 24 May, arriving the following day.
The format was similar to that of the Lions' 2005 tour of New Zealand. As in 2005, six games were played before the first Test, and a mid-week game between the first and second Tests; unlike 2005, there was no mid-week game between the second and third Tests. Due to its unpopularity, The Power of Four anthem was not used on the 2009 tour. The Bulls were denied the opportunity to play the Lions, even though they were arguably the strongest provincial side in the world at the time, defeating the Waikato Chiefs with a record score of 61-17 in the Super 14 Final a couple of months earlier, as well as being the last South African provincial side to beat the Lions in 1997.
Test series
First Test
South Africa won the first Test in Durban 26–21. Leading 19–7 at half-time and 26–7 after 50 minutes, the Springboks had dominated the scrum until the Lions made several substitutions. The Lions mounted a strong comeback, scoring late tries through Tom Croft and Mike Phillips, but South Africa held on. Inside the last ten minutes of the game, the Lions had two tries disallowed by the TMO. It was later described as an "unbelievable" Test match.Second Test
The second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria was won by South Africa 28–25 with the last kick of the game – a penalty by Morné Steyn from inside his own half. The Lions had led 19–8 after an hour, but tries from Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie allowed South Africa to tie the score before Steyn's series-winning kick. It was described as "devastation" for the Lions, with the team ending the game "looking more like a scene from ER as opposed to a rugby team".Controversy
The week of the third Test was marked by controversy and intense media interest surrounding the suspended Springbok players Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha after a very physical second Test.Burger was yellow-carded in the first minute, after he appeared to gouge Luke Fitzgerald's eye. Burger was subsequently banned for eight weeks for "making contact with the face in the eye area." He was cleared of gouging, as his action was found to be "reckless" but not intentional.
Burger was widely criticised, with many commentators believing he should have been sent off for the incident. Brian O'Driscoll was among many who criticised South Africa coach Peter de Villiers after he said Burger's actions should not even have led to a yellow card.
Bakkies Botha was banned for two weeks for a dangerous charge on prop Adam Jones, which left Jones with a dislocated shoulder. SA Rugby expressed their confusion over the reasons for Botha's ban with the coach calling it a "textbook cleanout". An appeal was lodged but the initial ruling was upheld. Coaches and players expressed concern about the impact such an interpretation might have on a core component of the game, with Lions player Phil Vickery and forwards coach Warren Gatland lending their support to Botha's case. The injured Jones himself later came out in defence of Botha saying:
The Springboks came out for the third Test wearing white armbands with the words "Justice 4" on, in protest over perceived inconsistencies in the citing process. This protest was investigated by the IRB for allegedly "bringing the game in disrepute", and the team and management were fined accordingly.
Third Test
The Lions won the third Test on 4 July at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, beating the Springboks 28–9, in what The Times called "one of the best and most heroic performances in the history of the Lions". Having already won the series, the Springbok squad saw 10 changes from the previous week, and the Lions also saw substantial changes. The Lions led from the start, and Shane Williams scored two tries. England lock Simon Shaw was sin-binned for striking Springboks scrum-half Fourie du Preez with his knee in this test and received a two-week ban as a result. This was the first Test victory for the Lions in eight years, their last being in Brisbane in 2001.Jamie Roberts was voted 'Player of the Series' by the British and Irish media.
Results
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;First Test
| Team | Kick % | Line breaks | Defenders beaten | Passes in contact | Mauls won | Possession lost | Tackles made | Tackles missed | Scrums | Lineouts | Penalties conceded |
| South Africa | 75% | 0 | 2 | 2 | 28/32 | 10 | 101 | 8 | 7/7 | 9/10 | 9 |
| British and Irish Lions | 60% | 4 | 8 | 15 | 78/82 | 11 | 42 | 4 | 11/15 | 9/12 | 12 |
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;Second Test
| Team | Kick % | Line breaks | Defenders beaten | Passes in contact | Mauls won | Possession lost | Tackles made | Tackles missed | Scrums | Lineouts | Penalties conceded |
| South Africa | 55.6% | 4 | 14 | 3 | 56/63 | 16 | 97 | 8 | 5/7 | 8/9 | 11 |
| British and Irish Lions | 100% | 3 | 8 | 5 | 83/87 | 11 | 84 | 14 | 6/6 | 12/15 | 12 |
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;Third Test
| Team | Kick % | Line breaks | Defenders beaten | Passes in contact | Mauls won | Possession lost | Tackles made | Tackles missed | Scrums | Lineouts | Penalties conceded |
| South Africa | 100% | 3 | 5 | 12 | 64/69 | 16 | 93 | 5 | 5/6 | 15/18 | 9 |
| British and Irish Lions | 62.5% | 7 | 5 | 15 | 66/77 | 10 | 102 | 5 | 6/7 | 9/10 | 16 |
Lions squad
The Lions announced a 37-man squad on 21 April 2009. Before the start of the tour Tomás O'Leary, Tom Shanklin and Jerry Flannery all withdrew because of injuries and Alan Quinlan was suspended. During the tour, Leigh Halfpenny, Stephen Ferris, Euan Murray, Lee Byrne, Adam Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll, as well as Ferris' replacement Ryan Jones, were forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury. Nathan Hines was suspended for one week because of a dangerous tackle against the Emerging Springboks.| Player | Position | Home union | Club | Notes |
| Jerry Flannery | Hooker | Munster | Originally selected; withdrew before tour due to injury; replaced by Ross Ford | |
| Ross Ford | Hooker | Edinburgh | Replacement for Jerry Flannery before tour | |
| Lee Mears | Hooker | Bath | ||
| Matthew Rees | Hooker | Scarlets | ||
| John Hayes | Prop | Munster | Replacement for Euan Murray during tour | |
| Gethin Jenkins | Prop | Cardiff Blues | ||
| Adam Jones | Prop | Ospreys | Withdrew due to injury during tour | |
| Euan Murray | Prop | Northampton Saints | Withdrew due to injury during tour; replaced by John Hayes | |
| Tim Payne | Prop | London Wasps | Replacement due to injury to Andrew Sheridan during tour | |
| Andrew Sheridan | Prop | Sale Sharks | ||
| Phil Vickery | Prop | London Wasps | ||
| Nathan Hines | Lock | Perpignan | Suspended for a week for a dangerous tackle against the Emerging Springboks | |
| Alun Wyn Jones | Lock | Ospreys | ||
| Donncha O'Callaghan | Lock | Munster | ||
| Paul O'Connell | Lock | Munster | ||
| Simon Shaw | Lock | London Wasps | ||
| Tom Croft | Flanker | Leicester Tigers | Replacement for Alan Quinlan before tour | |
| Stephen Ferris | Flanker | Ulster | Originally selected; withdrew due to injury during tour; replaced by Ryan Jones | |
| Ryan Jones | Flanker | Ospreys | Replacement for Stephen Ferris; withdrew on arrival in South Africa due to previous injury | |
| Alan Quinlan | Flanker | Munster | Originally selected; suspended before tour; replaced by Tom Croft | |
| David Wallace | Flanker | Munster | ||
| Martyn Williams | Flanker | Cardiff Blues | ||
| Joe Worsley | Flanker | London Wasps | ||
| Jamie Heaslip | Number eight | Leinster | ||
| Andy Powell | Number eight | Cardiff Blues | ||
| Mike Blair | Scrum-half | Edinburgh | Replacement for Tomás O'Leary before tour | |
| Harry Ellis | Scrum-half | Leicester Tigers | ||
| Tomás O'Leary | Scrum-half | Munster | Originally selected; withdrew before tour due to injury; replaced by Mike Blair | |
| Mike Phillips | Scrum-half | Ospreys | ||
| James Hook | Fly-half | Ospreys | Replacement for Leigh Halfpenny before tour | |
| Stephen Jones | Fly-half | Scarlets | ||
| Ronan O'Gara | Fly-half | Munster | ||
| Gordon D'Arcy | Centre | Leinster | Replacement due to injuries among backs | |
| Keith Earls | Centre | Munster | ||
| Riki Flutey | Centre | London Wasps | ||
| Brian O'Driscoll | Centre | Leinster | Withdrew due to injury during tour | |
| Jamie Roberts | Centre | Cardiff Blues | Named the 2009 Lions Player of the Series. | |
| Tom Shanklin | Centre | Cardiff Blues | Originally selected; withdrew before tour due to injury | |
| Tommy Bowe | Wing | Ospreys | ||
| Luke Fitzgerald | Wing | Leinster | ||
| Leigh Halfpenny | Wing | Cardiff Blues | Originally selected; joined tour late due to injury; replaced by James Hook; withdrew due to recurrent injury | |
| Ugo Monye | Wing | Harlequins | ||
| Shane Williams | Wing | Ospreys | ||
| Lee Byrne | Fullback | Ospreys | Withdrew during tour due to injury | |
| Rob Kearney | Fullback | Leinster |