Lions Tour: Star performers from first test victory and players who need to improve ahead of the second test

The British and Irish Lions fought back from 12-3 down at the break to win their opening test against South Africa — beating the 2019 World Cup winners 22-19 at the Cape Town Stadium, and now Warren Gatland’s men will be hoping to secure a second victory on Saturday, all but wrapping up the tour with one game still left to play.

It was a mammoth victory for the Lions, and with the betting exchange now firmly in the favour of the tourists landing an overall test triumph — getting revenge for their 2-1 defeat in 2009 — let’s take a look at the star performers from last Saturday’s narrow win, whilst also asking more of the players who somewhat underperformed.

Star performers

Maro Itoje – second row

Where better to start than with Maro Itoje? The second row was, without question, the Lions’ best player in the first test, and that was fairly reflected when the England and Saracens forward was named as the Man of the Match. He turned the ball over numerous times in the first half, keeping Gatland’s men in the game, even as some ill-disciplined decisions saw South Africa pull away. It was, of course, yet another turnover from the 26-year-old that stopped a dangerous attack from the hosts in the dying embers, and allowed Stuart Hogg to kick for touch and end the game.

Dan Biggar – fly-half

Picked by Gatland for the number 10 role ahead of England captain Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar’s boot had a huge part to play in the tourist’s first test victory. He converted one penalty and missed another in the first half. However, he looked far more composed in the second 40 minutes, converting Luke Cowan-Dickie’s try before slotting three more three pointers between the sticks, including one from an extremely tight angle, and firing the Lions into the lead.

Courtney Lawes – flanker

Whilst the overall performance wasn’t the best we have seen from a Lions side, Courtney Lawes put on one hell of a show at the Cape Town Stadium, and was a close second to Itoje for the MOTM award. The Northampton Saints second row completed eight runs, carrying the ball a total of 33 metres, made nine huge tackles and caught six of the Lions’ 13 successful lineouts. If the tourists want a second test victory on Saturday, they will rely massively on another top-class performance from this man.

Captain Alyn Wyn Jones, Tadgh Furlong, Duhan van der Merwe and Anthony Watson also deserve honorary mentions.

Underperformers

Elliot Daly – centre

Elliot Daly was on the receiving end of a big tackle from South Africa’s Lukhanyo Am early on, and he never seemed to get back into the match from there. His day went from bad to worse when he missed a crucial kick from distance just before half time. The Englishman’s uninspiring performance has resulted in him being dropped to the bench for the second test, with Chris Harris taking the No.13 shirt.

Ali Price – scrum-half

Earned his place in Gatland’s starting XV due to his performances in the warm-up games, Ali Price failed to step up to the mark when the pressure of test match rugby was applied. Playing opposite Faf de Klerk was never going to be an easy task for the 28-year-old Scottish international, but he was completely outshone by the South African. It’s no surprise that he has been dropped in favour of Ireland’s Conor Murray, who should have started at No.9 last weekend, for the second test.