South Africa 26 British and Irish Lions 21

South Africa 26 British & Irish Lions 21: Read a full match report from the British & Irish Lions' first Test at ABSA stadium, Durban, on June 20, 2009.

A thrilling second-half comeback by the British and Irish Lions was not enough to prevent the Springboks taking a 1-0 lead in the series as the first Test ended in the most dramatic fashion in Durban, on June 20,2009.

The Springboks had looked set for a crushing victory when tries by John Smit and Heinrich Brussow, as well as three penalties by Ruan Pienaar and one by Frans Steyn, had opened a 26-7 lead early in the second half.

But after the Lions had rectified their scrummaging problems with the introduction of Matthew Rees and Adam Jones for Lee Mears and Phil Vickery, the tourists clawed their way back into the contest with a second try for Tom Croft and a further touchdown by Mike Phillips, and came agonizingly close to stealing victory at the death.

The Springboks hung on, but the Lions were left to rue two missed penalties by Jones, and at least three try-scoring opportunities when they were over the line as they now head for the High Veld knowing they must win the Tests in Pretoria and Johannesburg to win the series.

The Lions couldn’t have hoped for a worst start. Stephen Jones missed an early penalty opportunity after JP Pietersen had been offside from a kick by Fourie du Preez and the the Springboks came storming back.

Having stolen the Lions first line-out, Pienaar kicked to the corner almost creating a try for Pietersen. From the resulting scrum John Smit barged over from close range for the opening try in the fifth minute, with Pienaar slotting the simple conversion.

The Lions were able to regroup quickly and almost hit back immediately after Frans Steyn had knocked-on when from the scrum the tourists went blind and from a flat pass by O’Driscoll, Monye dived over in the corner.

But after a long stoppage, the television match official ruled that Jean de Villiers had managed to slip his arm under the ball as the England wing slid over the line.

And when Vickery was penalized for standing up in a retreating scrum moments later, Pienaar slotted the penalty to extend the lead to 10 points in as many minutes.

The next score had to come from the Lions but after a fine break by break by David Wallace culminated in another penalty as Bryan Habana was caught running the ball out of his 22, Jones was off target again.

And when Tom Croft was penalized for taking out du Preez without the ball, the Springboks landed another psychological blow as Steyn slotted a superb touchline penalty to open up a 13-point gap.

The game was in danger of running away from the Lions. Yet a glimmer of hope came when from a line-out steal by Paul O’Connell, Jamie Roberts managed an offload to Brian O’Driscoll who found Croft on his shoulder and the Leicester flanker touched down in the 24th minute, with Jones converting.

Tommy Bowe then had a try disallowed for crossing and the Boks were able to extend their lead when Vickery was penalized again for collapsing the scrum with Pienaar converting and the fly-half was again on target when Bowe was caught in possession in his 22 to establish a 19-7 lead for the home side at the interval.

The Springboks then set the tone with a huge rolling maul at the start of the second half and having a kicked a penaly to the corner, Heinrich Brussow touched down from another drive in the 47th minute, with Pienaar again on target with the conversion to leave the Lions in deep trouble.

But with the Lions’ scrum rectified, the tourists went on to dominate the final quarter. Phillips almost scored only for Botha to knock the ball out of his hand as he reached for the line and Tommy Bowe just failed to hold a chip by O’Driscoll with the line beckoning.

And the drama intensified when Croft finished off another spell of pressure for his second try in the 68th minute, with the pass again coming from O’Driscoll, with Jones again converting.

Monye lost the ball over the line after the Lions had turned down a penalty kick at goal and when Phillips touched down in the 76th minute with Jones again converting, the Boks had to dig deep to hang on in the face of further Lions pressure.

Match details:

South Africa XV: F Steyn (Sharks); J P Pietersen (Sharks), A Jacobs (Sharks), J de Villiers (Stormers), B Habana (Blue Bulls); R Pienaar (Sharks), F du Preez (Blue Bulls); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks), J Smit (Sharks, capt), B Botha (Blue Bulls), V Matfield (Blue Bulls), H Brussow (Cheetahs), J Smith (Cheetahs), P Spies (Blue Bulls).
Replacements: D Rossouw (Blue Bulls) 51 for Brussow; J Fourie (Golden Lions) 57 for de Villiers; A Bekker (Stormers) 57 for Botha; G Steenkamp (Blue Bulls) 64 for Mtawarira; D Carstens (Sharks) 64 for Smit; M Steyn (Blue Bulls) 64 for Pienaar, R Januarie (Stormers) 69 for du Preez.
Tries: J Smit, H Brussow
Cons: F Pienaar (2)
Pens: F Pienaar (3) F Steyn

British and Irish Lions XV: L Byrne (Wales); T Bowe (Ireland), B O’Driscoll (Ireland), J Roberts (Wales), U Monye (England); S Jones (Wales), M Phillips (Wales); G Jenkins (Wales), L Mears (England), P Vickery (England), A-W Jones (Wales), P O’Connell (Ireland, capt), T Croft (England), D Wallace (Ireland), J Heaslip (Ireland).
Replacements: R Kearney (Ireland) 37 for Byrne; A Jones (Wales) 44 for Vickery; M Rees (Wales) 51 for Mears; M Williams (Wales) 66 for Wallace; D O’Callaghan (Ireland) 69 for Jones.
Tries: T Croft (2) M Phillips
Cons: S Jones (3)

Referee: B Lawrence (New Zealand).

Attendance: 47,813