South Africa 9 British and Irish Lions 28

South Africa 9 British & Irish Lions 28: Read a full match report from the British & Irish Lions' third Test at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg, on July 4, 2009.

The British and Irish Lions signed off their tour of South Africa with a rousing victory in the third Test at Ellis Park today to deny the Springboks a first-ever series whitewash against the tourists.

Two tries by Wales wing Shane Williams and a 75-metre intercept try from England’s Ugo Monye provided the platform for a comprehensive win, with Stephen Jones also kicking three penalties and two conversions, as the Lions restored more than a modicum of pride as the series ended in a 2-1 victory for the Springboks.

Yet while the tourists’ performance, in what was their first victory since their win over Australia in June 2001, helped ease the pain of the two narrow defeats in opening two Tests, it also no doubt left the 20,000 Lions supporters in the stadium with a sense of what could have been.

The Springboks, who could only muster three penalties by Morne Steyn, were never able to recreate the intensity of their previous two victories and had clearly been disrupted by Peter de Villiers’ 10 changes to his line-up. In contrast, the Lions, fielding seven changes themselves, played some of their best rugby of the tour.

It may have been a dead rubber but the contest was played a with a real edge which at times boiled over into brawls or off-the-ball incidents. Each Springbok player also wore a white armband as a mark of protest at Bakkies Botha’s two-week ban for a shoulder charge on Lions prop Adam Jones in the second Test in Pretoria.

The Lions set the tone from the off, with Jones unable to convert an early penalty attempt after a bright start featuring a number of open-field breaks by Martyn Williams while Robert Kearney was also able to launch a thrilling counter-attack from a hack ahead by Jongi Nokwe.

But the Wales fly-half made no mistake in the ninth minute when the Lions won a penalty from the first scrum as Chiliboy Ralepelle stood up under severe pressure.

The Springboks levelled the scores from the restart however when after a poor clearance kick by Shane Williams, Jamie Heaslip was penalized at the breakdown and Morne Steyn converted from in front of the posts.

Yet the Lions powered on when after a bullocking break by Heaslip, which took the Ireland No 8 deep into the Springboks’ 22, Williams arrived on his shoulder to race over for the game’s opening try.

Intricate handling from Tommy Bowe and Heaslip then put Williams in the clear again but there were no support runners for his chip inside.

It mattered little however for a moment of brilliance from Riki Flutey culminated in a second try for Williams when from turnover ball Matthew Rees found Flutey and the England centre provided the champagne moment of the match when his flick from his own chip ahead put the Wales’ wing clear in the 34th minute.

A yellow card for Simon Shaw for kneeing Fourie du Preez in the back took the sheen of an excellent first-half for the Lions and despite a superb tackle by Flutey on Wynand Olivier which won a relieving penalty, Steyn reduced the gap to nine points.

A scything break by Bowe at the start of the second half created the platform for more sustained pressure by the Lions but the tourists failed to make it count when they conceded a penalty underneath the Springboks’ posts.

Inevitably, even after Shaw’s return, the Springboks rallied and it took a try-saving tackle by Bowe on Kirchner to prevent a try. Yet in the heat of the Springbok revival, the Lions landed their killer blow as Monye intercepted pass from Olivier to Kirchner on the Lions 22 and the England wing outpaced Odwa Ndungane to score in the 54th minute, with Jones adding the conversion.

After Kearney missed with a penalty attempt from inside the Lions half, Martyn Williams was penalized for killing the ball and Steyn slotted his third penalty to bring South Africa to within two converted tries.

But after the game erupted into a brawl after Heinrich Brussow had thrown Mike Phillips to the ground, Jones slotted his second penalty in the 70th minute and from the restart, a late challenge by Du Plessis on Jones allowed the Wales fly-half to extended the Lions lead to 17 points.

Ndungane was denied a consolation try when the television match official ruled that his foot was in touch from a tackle by Bowe as the Lions closed out a deserved victory.

Match details:

South Africa XV: Z Kirchner (Bulls); O Ndungane (Sharks), J Fourie (Lions), W Olivier (Bulls), J Nokwe (Cheetahs); M Steyn (Bulls), F du Preez (Bulls); T Mtawarira (Sharks), C Ralepelle (Bulls), J Smit (Sharks), J Muller (Sharks), V Matfield (Bulls), H Brussow (Cheetahs), J Smith (Cheetahs), R Kankowski (Sharks).
Replacements: F Steyn (Sharks) 23-27 for Fourie and 57 for Kirchner; B du Plessis (Sharks) 40 for Ralepelle; R Pienaar (Sharks) 40 for du Preez; P Spies (Bulls) 64 for Nokwe; G Steenkamp (Bulls), D Carstens (Sharks),
Pens: M Steyn (3)

British and Irish Lions XV: R Kearney (Ireland); U Monye (England), T Bowe (Ireland), R Flutey (England), S Williams (Wales); S Jones (Wales), M Phillips (Wales); A Sheridan (England), M Rees (Wales), P Vickery (England), S Shaw (England), P O'Connell (Ireland, capt), J Worsley (England), M Williams (Wales), J Heaslip (Ireland).
Replacements: T Croft (England) 30-40 and 66 for Worsley, R Ford (Scotland) 37; H Ellis (England) 54 for Flutey; J Hayes (Ireland) 54 for Vickery; A Wyn Jones (Wales) 67 for Shaw; D Wallace (Ireland) 76 for M Williams
Yellow cards: S Shaw (37)
Tries: S Williams (2), U Monye
Cons: S Jones (2)
Pens: S Jones (3)

Referee: S Dickinson (Aus)

Attendance: 58,318