The former Leicester head coach Heyneke Meyer, the man many believe will be the beneficiary if Peter de Villiers does not deliver a series win for South Africa over the Lions, said yesterday that a problem for the Springboks in Saturday's first Test would be that the tourists have shown little variety in their loose-forward play.
"I do not think they have shown everything at this stage," said Meyer. "They tend to play to a same-way pattern and then come back with their penetrative backs."
Yet there was a difference at the breakdown against Western Province, an area in which the Saturday side, which has been the heavier of the two packs fielded by the Lions, have struggled.
It was the first time they went into a weekend encounter with a balanced back row, having played three open-sides in Rustenburg and a trio in Bloemfontein the following week who had spent the bulk of their careers on the blind side or at No8.
At Newlands, the Lions had Martyn Williams fit again on the open side, Andy Powell at No8 and Joe Worsley on the blind side, where he plays most of his rugby for Wasps. After a turnover count in double figures in both the opening Saturdays, the Lions dominated the area in the opening half after a subtle change of emphasis.
Powell had spent most of the previous weekend charging straight at opponents, getting dumped on the ground and often surrendering the ball because of a lack of support or because it was jolted out of his grasp. Against Western Province, he invariably took a step before making contact with a tackler, giving him a better chance of getting through and providing him with the chance to slip a pass if held.
"I have had my critics over the past few weeks and perhaps I have been guilty of being a bit too direct," said Powell. "I was using footwork in contact, committing the first defender and getting the offload away. That is my game and I was pretty happy with the way it went overall after a frustrating couple of weeks."
Powell played with his right hand strapped up to protect a bone fracture. "I took a couple of pain-killers before I went out and the injury did not bother me," he said. "I would like to think I dropped a hint to the management ahead of the first Test, but if Jamie Heaslip is chosen ahead of me I will give him my total support. I will naturally be disappointed, but the team comes first."
Powell stepped out of two tackles to help set up the Lions' opening try, one of the best they have scored here, assisted by Williams, who took and gave a pass in one movement to set the backs away. "We went out there with the intention of looking for space rather than the man and we achieved that," said Williams. "It made a big difference, especially in the first half, but we lost momentum after going 23–15 ahead and we stopped being clinical.
"We have had three close games on the weekend, but we have come out on the right side each time and you learn far more from them than you would romping home by 50 points. We are in far better shape than we were at this stage in New Zealand four years ago, but we also know that we are going to have to crank it up this week ahead of the first Test."
The Western Province No8, Luke Watson, who announced yesterday that he had signed for Bath on a two-year contract, said he felt that the Lions would match South Africa physically – but as the day of destiny in Durban draws nearer it is the tourists' unknown quantity, as Meyer acknowledges, that may give them the edge they need in the opening 25 minutes.
