241 Pizza

And the Lions deserved nothing less than a lead for a bright start, with Phillips and Stephen Jones prompting madly, and with the ball being off-loaded out of tackles. And thrillingly, the Lions scored two memorable tries to pull clear. The first one came at the end of a series of South African attacks, which brought the best from the Lions defence and which ended when Ugo Monye turned the ball over. The Lions counter-attacked, Riki Flutey and Tommy Bowe took the ball on and then Jamie Heaslip battered his way through a series of attempted tackles. Shane Williams then ran a beautiful supporting line and scored at the posts. Disastrously, the ball fell off the kicking tee as Jones was running up to take the conversion and South Africa scrambled it away.

The Lions produced another dazzling move when electric passing from Bowe, Rob Kearney and Flutey sent Williams away down the left, but a clever chip infield by Williams found no Lions chasers.

No matter. They came again. They broke up the South African attack, Flutey took the ball on and chipped ahead, regathered and popped the ball inside for Williams to run to the posts. This time the ball stayed on its tee and Jones made it 15-3.

There was some alarm near half-time when Simon Shaw dropped a knee on Fourie du Preez and was sent to the sin-bin. South Africa swarmed all over the Lions but they managed only one penalty on half-time, and when Shaw returned early in the second half, there was no more damage.

Except to South Africa. They launched probably their most threatening series of attacks just after the 50-minute mark, but the Lions held their forward drives and forced South Africa to go wide. Yet a pass from Wynard Olivier, intended for Zane Kirchner, was picked off dramatically by Monye, and the Lion wing went scorching over 80 metres to the posts.

South Africa did kick a penalty, awarded at the breakdown, but by now the Lions replacements were reviving the team and the Springbok’s attacking potential was confined to doomed blundering by Francois Steyn from full-back.

And the Lions even got a break from the official. The touch judge spotted Phillips being manhandled vigorously off the ball, and also spotted a late charge by Pierre Spies. Stephen Jones calmly put the Lions out of sight with two penalties and the television match official then ruled out what appeared to be a perfectly good try by Odwa Ndungane.

The Lions gathered to applaud South Africa as the series trophy was awarded, then lapped the ground to wave to the massed banks of red. It has been a bizarre tour, in the sense that in defeat the grand name of the Lions has been enhanced. And yet in the end, how painful is the defeat, when you realise that it could all have been so different?

Star man: Rob Kearney (Lions)

Scorers: South Africa: Pens: M Steyn (3)

Lions: Tries: S Williams 25, 33, Monye 54 Cons: Jones (2) Pens: Jones (2)

Yellow card: Lions: Shaw 37

Referee: S Dickinson (Australia)

Attendance: 62,567

SOUTH AFRICA: Z Kirchner (F Steyn 57mins); O Ndungane, J Fourie (F Steyn 24-28mins), W Olivier, J Nokwe (P Spies 65mins); M Steyn, F du Preez (R Pienaar 41mins); T Mtawarira, M Ralepelle (B du Plessis 41mins), J Smit (capt), J Muller, V Matfield, H Brüssow, R Kankowski, J Smith

LIONS: R Kearney; U Monye, T Bowe, R Flutey (H Ellis 55mins), S Williams; S Jones, M Phillips; A Sheridan, M Rees (R Ford 37mins), P Vickery (J Hayes 55mins), S Shaw (A W Jones 68mins), P O’Connell (capt), J Worsley (T Croft 31-35mins; 66mins), J Heaslip, M Williams (D Wallace 76mins)