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Four Lions match play errors that proved fatal in the third Test

Warren Gatland /PA

As ever, on small things do big match hinge, and so it was for the British & Irish Lions who failed to beat the Springboks in a third Test, series decider in Cape Town Stadium last night.

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What might sting the most for Warren Gatland’s men is that it felt like the game was theirs to be won but for a string of errors that ultimately saw the Springboks wrestle the game from their clutches.

LIAM WILLIAMS MISSED 2-ON-1 – 27 MINUTES

The Lions had struggled to score tries throughout the Test series, not least ones that involved their three-quarter line. When Liam Williams made a break down the right-wing, with Handre Pollard ahead of him and Josh Adams on the outside with a clear run to the try line, it felt like five points were in the offing. Williams instead shows the pass to Pollard before thinking better of it in an attempt to jag back infield for a go at the Bok flyhalf’s inside shoulder.

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RugbyPass OFFLOAD | Episode 41 | The third test showdown, the dark arts and the death of rugby

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RugbyPass OFFLOAD | Episode 41 | The third test showdown, the dark arts and the death of rugby

Pollard makes the tackle and the move was shut down.

Given it was relatively early in proceedings, it’s might be argued it’s unfair to characterise it as a fatal error, but tries had proved pivotal turning points for the Springboks in the ‘South Africa A’ game and in the second Test, as did Kolbe’s brilliant solo effort in the second half of the third.

TOM CURRY OFFSIDE – 29 MINUTES
The men in red appeared to have scored a second try only to be hauled back care of  a moment of ill-discipline from Tom Curry, who had needlessly broken his bind as the Lions maul trundled over the line. The score would have seen the Lions go 17 – 3 ahead, with the proviso of a tricky confusion for Russell to come.

ALUN’S LOST LINEOUT – 38 MINUTES
With momentum still behind them, Finn Russell and the Lions kicked the corner after Curry had won a penalty off a restart. The odds were short that the subsequent lineout maul drive would result in a try for the Lions, but Eben Etzebeth had other ideas, poaching the ball from Alun Wyn Jones in a potential series saving intervention. The Lions were awarded a scrum in a decent attacking position a few minutes later but the imminent danger of the lineout maul had passed and the Lions couldn’t capitalise on the scrum.

SINCKLER’S SCRUM PENALTY – 70 MINUTES
The dire state of the surface at the Cape Town Stadium had made the Test match scrums an absolute mess, with neither side able to gain any sustained advantage at the setpiece.  With frequent scrum collapses the order of the series, referee Mathieu Raynal and his officials were looking for any reason to make a case for either side winning any given scrum contest. When replacement tighthead Sinckler took a knee a few moments before one such collapse in the 70th minute, it was enough to see the Lions penalised. With the score 16 – 13 to the Springboks, it felt like the ball game right there.

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Flankly 48 minutes ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 58 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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