British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland said his players felt “bullish” in the cloakroom despite going down 17-13 to Rassie Erasmus’ South Africa ‘A’ team in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Two Springbok tries by winger Sbu Nkosi, and captain Lukhanyo Am were enough to hand SA ‘A’ victory in a match characterised by stoic South African defending and diabolical officiating by Jaco Peyper.
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The Lions had their overwhelming share of possession and camped in South Africa’s 22m area, especially when they had SA ‘A’ down to 13 men late in the first half.
However, they weren’t able to break through until the 44th minute when prop Wyn Jones burrowed across the line for their only try of the night.
Gatland said they took a lot from the game, having gotten their first real intensive test before the three-Test series begins 24 July at the same ground.
“I thought we got more out of tonight than South Africa,” said Gatland.
“Considering they were pretty much at full strength, we got a good feeling for how it’s going to be. We needed that tough hit out. The players are pretty bullish in the changing room; they are confident that we can handle whatever they throw at us going forward and we’ll definitely improve.
“We need to do a lot of work in the breakdown area and start a bit better than we did today (Wednesday), where we had to come from behind.
“I thought we finished strong and looked strong. Even that second-last scrum … I felt we were unlucky not to get a penalty from that situation as well.
“A few calls went against us, but that happens in international rugby as well, so I’m going to blame the referee. But there were a couple of tight calls and tries disallowed.
“There were lots of positives for us and things we can easily fix in terms of some the things we gave them to keep them in the game.”
The Lions next face the Stormers in Cape Town, a game that is likely to come down a few notches in intensity after Wednesday’s clash.
