This was definitely not the most thrilling Test match the British & Irish Lions have ever played and the outcome also fell a long way short of expectations. South Africa were deserved winners, their second-half forward dominance as significant as the Lions’ failings both aerially and with ball in hand. This time around the New Zealand referee, Ben O’Keefe, awarded 15 penalties against the Lions and ruled with an iron first, with virtually all the marginal calls going the way of South Africa. Big games are not meant to be pretty but rare are the successful Lions teams who play scarcely any rugby at all. Pollard missed the conversion but the Lions’ failure to deal with a couple of high balls in the buildup was still glaring.

Source: The Guardian July 31, 2021 18:41 UTC