British & Irish Lions player ratings vs South Africa after the first test, brought to you by Lovell Rugby.
Warren Gatland's men moved 1-0 up in the series against South Africa as they won the opening Test 22-17 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
An enthralling opening 40 saw no tries with all of the points coming from the tee with Handre Pollard giving the Springboks a 12-3 lead with Dan Biggar slotting one of his two attempts at goal.
The tourists got back into the game after the restart with Luke Cowan-Dickie crashing over from the back of a rolling maul with Biggar converting, 12-10.
But Gatland's men were then lucky to see a Willie le Roux try disallowed, but they wouldn't be so lucky a few minutes later when Faf de Klerk touched down to give the hosts a seven point lead.
Biggar narrowed the gap once again with another three-pointer before slotting a fourth penalty on the hour to put the Lions in front for the first time, 17-19.
Owen Farrell completed the scoring late on to secure the famous win for the Lions.
More to follow.
SOUTH AFRICA: 17 (12)
- Tries: de Klerk 49
- Cons:
- Pens: Pollard 13,17,26,30
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: 22 (3)
- Tries: Cowan-Dickie 43
- Cons: Biggar 44
- Pens: Biggar 19,52,55,62, Farrell 77
RAGING BULL MAN OF THE MATCH:
STATS ZONE – British & Irish Lions:
- Most carries: Jack Conan - 9
- Most metres made: Jack Conan - 43
- Most tackles: Courtney Lawes - 10
- Most tackles missed: Elliot Daly - 3
- Defenders beaten: Anthony Watson - 7
- Offloads: Tom Curry - 2
- Turnovers won: Maro Itoje - 3
- Turnovers conceded: Stuart Hogg - 2
Lions player ratings vs South Africa:
15 Stuart Hogg: 6
14 Anthony Watson: Was easily the Lions’ most potent attacking threat out wide. 7
13 Elliot Daly: Give away a number of needless penalties and failed to make any impact in attack. Also missed his one opportunity with a long-range penalty. 4
12 Robbie Henshaw: Made the cardinal sin of not carrying the ball with two hands on his most significant break of the match. Excellent in defence though and always a willing ball carrier. 7
11 Duhan van der Merwe: Despite his lack of ball, he brought a lot of physicality to the back-three and successfully kept world-class winger Cheslin Kolbe quiet. 7
10 Dan Biggar: Missed a kick that he'd usually slot with ease, but defended well and made most his shots from the tee. 7
9 Ali Price: Pragmatic with his approach, and kept coming again and again. 7
1 Rory Sutherland: Struggled in the scrum against the mighty Springboks before being replaced by Mako Vunipola. 6
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: Lacked the impact he'd shown in previous matches and made a mess of his lineout throwing in the first half, but came up big with a crucial try after the restart. 6
3 Tadhg Furlong: Nché versus Furlong was box office for scrum nerds and it was a pretty even battle. Kept quiet in the loose. 7.5
4 Maro Itoje: World-class. His best work came with characteristically disruptive defence. He stalled South Africa A’s driving game and was a nuisance around the ruck. 9
5 Alun Wyn Jones (c): Led his team impeccably, and made the bold decision to go for the corner early in the second-half to get the tourists back into the game. 7
6 Courtney Lawes: Made a few fantastic breaks in the second-half and was the Lions top tackler. 8
7 Tom Curry: A late tackle on Faf de Klerk aside, he did okay but didn't particularly impress before being replaced by Hamish Watson. 6
8 Jack Conan: The Lions chief ball carrier didn't lack heart, but he didn't make all that much ground for his efforts. 7
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens 7, 17 Mako Vunipola 8, 18 Kyle Sinckler 7, 19 Tadhg Beirne 6, 20 Hamish Watson 6, 21 Conor Murray 6, 22 Owen Farrell 5, 23 Liam Williams 6.
Editors Picks:
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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