"Barbarians mauled by Lions" ... Well not quite.
Reading the Zimbabwean national newspapers this morning you would be forgiven for believing that yesterday the ISB were thoroughly outplayed by a superior oufit. In reality the ISB lost a tight, physical encounter which could have gone either way by a single point; a penalty kick knocked over by the Lions with 10 minutes to go proving decisive as the tourists went down 23-22.
Since arrival we have been subject to much public and press interest and it was no surprise that a crowd numbering well over a thousand turned out to watch the first game by an English touring side on Zimbabwean soil for ten years.
The ISB, resplendent in their neon pink shirts, marched out with purpose only to be rather taken aback by the directness of the Lions play. Within three minutes, the Lions had marched upfield through some strong running and with the referee playing advantage their fly half sent over a simple drop goal to get the Lions on the scoreboard.
However, the ISB came back into the game strongly, establishing dominance at the scrummage through the powerful front row of Poulton, Brown, Pakenham-Walsh and some good handling gave Wild the opportunity to take on his opposite number with his gas too much to handle. Jewers sent over the conversion to make it 7-3.
In a game which was end-to-end stuff a penalty given away at the breakdown allowed the Lions the chance to have a line out in the red zone. Although this was overthrown by the Lions' hooker and stolen by Harries at the back of the line, the referee blew up for a technical offside offence. A lapse in concentration by the ISB defence allowed the Lions to take a quick tap and allow their no.8 to power over. The conversion was missed to leave the score at 8-7.
Straight from the kick-off the Lions brought the game to us and after the ISB defence failed to fold round the the blindside of a ruck the Lions made their overlap count sending their winger crashing over in the corner.
Trailing by eight points the ISB needed to up their game and this they managed, winning numerous penalties at the breakdown and establishing a stranglehold on the game. Eventually territory and possesion counted as Wild scored a second in the exact same manner as his first. With the conversion slightly wider this time, Jewers pulled his kick wide.
ISB dominance continued, with Tokely and Smart causing disuption at the line out and a center pairing of Prentice and Man of the Match Jewers incisive in midfield.
With continued dominance came the ISB third try, Higgins squeezing over in the corner. Jewers missed a difficult conversion.
The Lions' persistent indiscipline was leading to a high penalty count, with the ISB wondering when the yellow card would come. Frustrations grew when Bliss turned and stretched his body over the line only to lose control of the ball. However soon before the break Huxtable showed his guile and awareness to send Caton-Brown through with the winger finishing smartly. Half time came with the score at 15-22.
With changes being made at half-time, the ISB never looked the same force with balls going down and the line-breaks drying up. What did not change however was the dominance at set-piece, keeping the ISB in the game. Eventually the defence creaked to allow a score in the corner, cutting the lead down to two points.
A further swing in the balance of the game looked on the cards when the Lions' no.6 was sent to the bin for killing the ball. However the men in pink failed to put points on the board during their time of numerical advantage, instead the Lions earned themselves a penalty straight in front of the posts which went over.
During a frantic finale the ISB applied huge pressure to the oppositon line and with the final play of the game the ISB scrummage won yet another ball against the head, sending Jaggs through only for the referee to pull the game back for an unknown offence.
A dissapointing result to start the tour and the frustration of the whole squad was clearly evident at the final whistle. We are keen to put in a big performance tomorrow in preperation for Wednesday.
Yours in rugby,
Poults.
Reading the Zimbabwean national newspapers this morning you would be forgiven for believing that yesterday the ISB were thoroughly outplayed by a superior oufit. In reality the ISB lost a tight, physical encounter which could have gone either way by a single point; a penalty kick knocked over by the Lions with 10 minutes to go proving decisive as the tourists went down 23-22.
Since arrival we have been subject to much public and press interest and it was no surprise that a crowd numbering well over a thousand turned out to watch the first game by an English touring side on Zimbabwean soil for ten years.
The ISB, resplendent in their neon pink shirts, marched out with purpose only to be rather taken aback by the directness of the Lions play. Within three minutes, the Lions had marched upfield through some strong running and with the referee playing advantage their fly half sent over a simple drop goal to get the Lions on the scoreboard.
However, the ISB came back into the game strongly, establishing dominance at the scrummage through the powerful front row of Poulton, Brown, Pakenham-Walsh and some good handling gave Wild the opportunity to take on his opposite number with his gas too much to handle. Jewers sent over the conversion to make it 7-3.
In a game which was end-to-end stuff a penalty given away at the breakdown allowed the Lions the chance to have a line out in the red zone. Although this was overthrown by the Lions' hooker and stolen by Harries at the back of the line, the referee blew up for a technical offside offence. A lapse in concentration by the ISB defence allowed the Lions to take a quick tap and allow their no.8 to power over. The conversion was missed to leave the score at 8-7.
Straight from the kick-off the Lions brought the game to us and after the ISB defence failed to fold round the the blindside of a ruck the Lions made their overlap count sending their winger crashing over in the corner.
Trailing by eight points the ISB needed to up their game and this they managed, winning numerous penalties at the breakdown and establishing a stranglehold on the game. Eventually territory and possesion counted as Wild scored a second in the exact same manner as his first. With the conversion slightly wider this time, Jewers pulled his kick wide.
ISB dominance continued, with Tokely and Smart causing disuption at the line out and a center pairing of Prentice and Man of the Match Jewers incisive in midfield.
With continued dominance came the ISB third try, Higgins squeezing over in the corner. Jewers missed a difficult conversion.
The Lions' persistent indiscipline was leading to a high penalty count, with the ISB wondering when the yellow card would come. Frustrations grew when Bliss turned and stretched his body over the line only to lose control of the ball. However soon before the break Huxtable showed his guile and awareness to send Caton-Brown through with the winger finishing smartly. Half time came with the score at 15-22.
With changes being made at half-time, the ISB never looked the same force with balls going down and the line-breaks drying up. What did not change however was the dominance at set-piece, keeping the ISB in the game. Eventually the defence creaked to allow a score in the corner, cutting the lead down to two points.
A further swing in the balance of the game looked on the cards when the Lions' no.6 was sent to the bin for killing the ball. However the men in pink failed to put points on the board during their time of numerical advantage, instead the Lions earned themselves a penalty straight in front of the posts which went over.
During a frantic finale the ISB applied huge pressure to the oppositon line and with the final play of the game the ISB scrummage won yet another ball against the head, sending Jaggs through only for the referee to pull the game back for an unknown offence.
A dissapointing result to start the tour and the frustration of the whole squad was clearly evident at the final whistle. We are keen to put in a big performance tomorrow in preperation for Wednesday.
Yours in rugby,
Poults.
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