We may have ended up with more points that than our opponents, but still I call this a “virtual defeat”.
By that I mean that only due to something out of our control, ie the quality of the Cheetahs’ goal-kicking, the tourists could be smarting from a double-digit defeat on Sunday morning.
Now, let’s see…the Lions struggle in games one and three, yet canter home in game two. Could this have something to do with the ability of the captains? Would that be an overly-partisan question for this Leinster fan to ask?
Well, possibily so, but I certainly wouldn’t put it down to the inexperienced midfield selected for the match at Bloemfontein. They rarely got the ball in open play, with Messrs Hook, Worsley, Powell and Ferris taking the – er - lion’s share of possession from the base of the rucks and scrums.
It was a shame that Luke Fitzgerald wasn’t given more of a chance to show what he can do, and only for an unlucky bounce of the ball the try that Keith Earls scored could have been his.
Now according to Stephen Ferris, the Cheetahs were by and large Cheaters. That’s an interesting assertion from the one player to actually be sin-binned on the day, especially since that ten-minute spell is where the home side got their first try and started to believe they could get back into it.
At the start, it seemed to be a continuation of our dominance from midweek, with two quick tries, but little did we know they were to be our only ones.
Now maybe it is true that the Super14 outfit, some of whom appear to have had a point to prove for not being selected for representative squads, might have taken a few liberties when Wayne Barnes wasn’t looking.
But isn’t that all part and parcel of the game? Surely it’s not the done thing to whine about it afterwards?
Can we be quite clear on who our opponents were yesterday. Here’s the Cheetahs’ record in the Super14 for the past four seasons…
2006 – 10th 2007 – 11th 2008 – 13th 2009 – 14th (which is of course rock bottom)
In other words, they are to South African rugby what Connacht are to Ireland.
So despite the Geech’s optimism in his post-match interview, I really don’t know if there is a way you can spin this performance in a positive light for the tour as a whole, especially when the tourists have so few warm-up games to prepare for the Test series.
You have to wonder if our next opponents who have a much better Super14 pedigree, the Sharks, can sense blood in the water…
With only James Hook really impressing on the day, here’s my revised notion of how I see Geech’s First Test XV shaping up. Definites in capitals, otherwise the probables with challengers in brackets.
- Jenkins (Sheridan)
- MEARS
- Murray (Vickery)
- SHAW
- O’CONNELL
- CROFT
- M Williams (Worsley)
- Powell (Heaslip)
- Phillips (Ellis)
- Hook (O’Gara)
- S WILLIAMS
- Roberts (D’Arcy)
- O’DRISCOLL
- BOWE
- BYRNE
