Well played South Africa — a terrific win after an extremely fractious week. As Martin Johnson warned before the match, when the Boks are cornered they revert to Plan A! They simply execute it far better.
On Saturday night, we saw all their old forward power backed up by a much smarter kicking game and the Lions got sucked into playing how the Boks wanted.
It was really disappointing from the tourists who scarcely managed to fire a shot in anger. There will have to be a serious rethink ahead of next week's decider.
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus (right) is nominally a water boy but is far more
They caught the Boks cold last week but that won't happen again. Now they must find a way of playing a wider game and bringing their attacking backs into it. First, however, they must fix the pack.
The Lions forwards came a distant second and some of the heroes of last week such as Courtney Lawes did not seem to feature. Even Maro Itoje was quiet by his standards and they gave away far too many penalties.
The Boks impressed in the end but in many ways the first period was a shocking half of rugby — at least for the sporting public. The committed Lions and Boks fans will have loved it, all gladiatorial stuff.
What stuck out a mile is that it is totally inappropriate and contrary to regulations for Rassie Erasmus to come onto the pitch in his yellow bib — with no water bottle — as he does time and time again when there is a break in play and a big decision pending.
Remember, he spent an hour via video on Thursday slagging off Nic Berry, one of the officials involved in the decision making process yesterday. He was hovering around when Ben O'Keefe was trying to decide whether Cheslin Kolbe should receive a red card for recklessly taking out Conor Murray in the air.
The man who criticised the referees after the first Test was on the pitch in his supposed role as water boy for all the big decisions in the second - and they nearly all went the Springboks' way
And he was on the pitch again during the halt in play when the possible Robbie Henshaw try was being considered and the Faf de Klerk challenge was being looked at — although we never did get the proper angles on that one. The Boks scrum half looked a little worried after he made contact.
I simply don't see how this is permissible given the regulations covering additional personnel, which state that a member of coaching staff
