Lions maul weakened Sharks

Jamie Roberts © Gallo Images

The Lions maintained their 100 per cent tour record by grinding out a 39-3 victory over a disjointed Sharks side in their match at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Wednesday night.

Blow-by-blow scoring

At the final whistle the Lions had scored five tries to nil in return for their massive domination of possession and field position in a match that at times gave the impression the tourists were more set on going through their formations and patterns rather than pushing for an emphatic victory.

That it eventually ended up in a 36-point victory would have given the Lions’ management great satisfaction for the tourists sometimes eschewed, and sometimes squandered a number of scoring opportunities.

Although the scrums were unsettled for most of the game the Lions would probably feel that they had the edge on Jannie du Plessis and Deon Carstens while the rest of their basics worked well -- especially their strong, tight formation in the rucks and mauls, their ability to drive the lineout and Shaun Edwards’s defensive systems were extremely effective when the Sharks did have the ball to test them.

In the first half the Lions seemed intent on establishing their superiority in the forwards. Paul O’Connell elected to chase three penalties to the touchline, they actually had the ball over the line four times without scoring, had two clear chances that came to nought, went for two cross-kicks that did not work and twice conceded penalties when they were hovering on the Sharks’ line.

This profligate use of the ball meant the Lions went to the break with a lead of just 7-3 but in the second period they changed tack, put more width on the ball and rattled up four more tries and 32 points to yet again demonstrate that an outstanding yest XV can be drawn from the 30 on tour.

It took 22 minutes for the Lions to get on the board with their first try by hooker Lee Mears after Brian O’Driscoll surprisingly failed to outrun replacement Lwazi Mvovo after grabbing an interception near his own 22.

The star centre had however carried play back into the red zone and the Lions’ third penalty kicked to touch finally produced pay-dirt when Mears forced his way over -- the try having been made by eventual man-of-the-match Mike Phillips’s sharp break and pop-up to Jamie Heaslip.

Rory Kockott’s penalty in the 29th minute cut the gap to 3-7 and sadly that would be the only points registered by the home-side.

Returning to the field after halftime the Lions immediately changed tactics by taking a lineout ball wide and Phillips took advantage of the Sharks poor defence close to the break-down to score a superb try.

The big Welsh scrumhalf, who has been one of the outstanding players on the tour so far, broke behind referee Jonathan Kaplan and outflanked all the Sharks defenders as he tracked to the left-hand corner on a run of fully 40 metres.

It was clear that McGeechan had instructed his charges to make sure of victory and the score jumped to 18-3 after 53 minutes as Ronan O’Gara slotted two pressure-induced penalties.

The Sharks, who had lost centre Riaan Swanepoel early on, were starting to feel the effects of constant tackling and they finally lost their grip as the match moved into the final quarter as O’Driscoll engineered arguably the try of the tour thus far for Luke Fitzgerald.

O’Driscoll arguably has been the finest centre of his age and he showed why as he accelerated around the outside of the defence and made hay down the left-hand touchline before slowing and feinting inside to prise open the gap to allow Fitzgerald to flash over in the corner.

Next a lovely skip-pass from O’Driscoll allowed Lee Byrne to cut though, hand off Jacques Botes, and roll through the tackles of Terblanche and Dumond for the tourists’ fourth try.

With O’Gara’s kicking right in the slot the score had grown to 32-3 and with the result beyond doubt it was time to send on the replacements -- but the pattern of the game did not change.

The Lions continued to hold the upperhand, the Sharks desperately tried to construct a consolation try from deep, Phil Vickery and Keegan Daniel got themselves yellow-carded and it all ended in disaster for Johan Muller’s young team, who had defended so bravely, when Jamie Heaslip, after the hooter sounded, tapped a penalty to himself and scored the Lions’s fifth try.

Scorers were:

Natal Sharks (3) 3: Rory Kockott kicked a penalty.

Lions (7) 39: Tries by Lee Mears (22 min), Mike Phillips (41 min), Luke Fitzgerald (59 min), Lee Byrne (67 min), Jamie Heaslip 80 min). Ronan O’Gara kicked three conversions and two penalties and James Hook a conversion.

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