South Africa A hand the Lions their first loss of the series

The South African A side hatched a 17 – 13 win over the Lions in Cape Town Stadium last night

The Lions faced their first real challenge of the tour last night against a star studded South African A side. South African director of rugby and former Munster boss Rassie Erasmus, named a very strong match day 23 for their first encounter with the tourists, with 18 World Cup winners named.

Despite the world champions having played very little since lifting the trophy in Japan, they disproved the assumptions of many by emerging organised and physical, like all great Springbok sides do.

The Lions began to gain momentum after a slow opening 10 minutes, however that momentum would be abruptly halted by the stature of South African lock Eben Etzebeth, who charged down a chip kick from Owen Farrell to be regathered by Munster’s Damian De Allende, shipping it on to Springbok speedster Sibusiso Nkosi who went the distance to score the A’s first try

The Lions, now spooked by their opposition’s energy, struggled to create any further momentum or scoring opportunities. An Owen Farrell penalty got the tourists on the board but was quickly replied to by the quick feet of Cheslin Kolbe, who set up Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am for the A’s second try, a second conversion from Morne Steyn extended the A’s lead to 14 points over the Lions.

The Lions were eager to reduce the Springbok lead before half time, despite their efforts they were unable to get points on the board but did get a different form of advantage. Two yellow cards to A’s scrum-half Fat de Klerk and back-row Marco van Staden within a minute of each other would see the A’s start the second half with just 13 men.

The Lions began their second half with a try thanks to Welsh prop Wyn Jones, after just 3 minutes. Owen Farrell’s conversion narrowed the hosts lead to just 4 points but the Lions still struggled to grasp control of the game.

Despite counting vastly more carries, possession and meters carried, the Lions failed to convert those assets into points. A disallowed try from Louis Rees-Zammit followed by a missed penalty kick from Steyn in the 62nd minute, marked the end of scoring opportunities for either side.

Rassie Erasmus appeared to toy with the Lions throughout the games final minutes, by substituting Herschel Jantjies for Jasper Wiese, the A’s saw out the game with an extra back and one less forward.

Sadly for Conor Murray, this fixture is his first and last game as tour captain, due to the immaculate recovery and return of Welsh lock Alun Wyn Jones, who was originally named as tour captain before he sustained a shoulder injury in the tour’s warm up game against Japan.

The Lions are set to face the DHL Stormers in the tour’s next fixture this weekend on Saturday July 17th in Cape Town Stadium at 5:00pm.