Lions edge thrilling Test opener against South Africa

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The British and Irish Lions staged a second-half comeback to defeat South Africa 22-17 in a thrilling Test opener in Cape Town.

Despite trailing 12-3 at the break, the Lions fought back through a Luke Cowan-Dickie try and three penalties to give themselves a 1-0 lead in the series.

From the first whistle a hard-working, hard-hitting test match unfolded, and despite it being scoreless in the first 10 minutes, the pace of the game had been set.

The Lions struggled to cope with the ferocious physicality of the Springboks in the first-half, and the conceding of two soft penalties resulted in Handre Pollard kicking South Africa into a six-point lead on his 50th cap.

Despite Dan Biggar reducing the points difference with a penalty of his own, Pollard doubled his total with two more kicks to extend the lead to nine points. Warren Gatland’s side had been sloppy in conceding penalties, and they then missed the opportunity to score two themselves before the interval.

The Lions finished the half with a glimmer of promise created by Ireland centre, Robbie Henshaw, who burst clear into the 22, but an excellent tackle from Willie Le Roux forced the knock-on to keep the nine-point lead intact.

The tourists came out for the second-half a changed side, and they scored the Tests first try when Cowan-Dickie crashed over at the back of a driving maul. At the first opportunity, the Exeter Chiefs hooker guided his way expertly to the line before he pounced to score his second try of the tour.

South Africa almost responded instantly when Le Roux chased and touched down a troubling kick. However, after a lengthy TMO review, the full-back was judged to be in front of the kicker and subsequently, the Lions remained two points behind the world champions.

That difference however didn’t last long as the Springboks crossed for their first try of the series minutes later. A well-worked move set the hosts up metres out, and despite Stuart Hogg’s best efforts to hold Makazole Mapimpi out, the winger managed to offload to Faf de Klerk who was in the right place to make the score 17-10.

The Lions continued their impressive second-half performance and they moved a point behind South Africa when Biggar successfully kicked two penalties to take his points tally to 11.

Gatland’s side took the lead for the first time in the match with 18 minutes remaining when Biggar made no mistake from the tee, unlike Pollard, who missed a penalty attempt of his own two minutes after.

The tourists had their hearts in their mouths when Damian de Allande appeared to have touched down with 10 minutes left on the clock. After another lengthy review upstairs, the try was chalked off after an earlier knock-on, much to the relief of the Lions.

Victory for the Lions was confirmed when substitute Owen Farrell slotted his first kick of the game with two minutes remaining and despite losing the restart, the Lions were able to regain possession to end the game.

Both sides were made to pay for ill-discipline across the 80 minutes, but a strong second-half showing from the Lions, and an incredible individual performance from Maro Itoje, gave the tourists victory in the Test opener.

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