Lions beat South Africa

South Africa 9 Lions 28. The Lions gained some measure of revenge over the Springboks with an emphatic win in the final test at Ellis Park.

Casting off the disappointment of losing the first two tests and making light of their injury woes the tourists showed pride and passion as they swept their hosts aside in a memorable encounter.

Two tries for Shane Williams in the first half and a third for Ugo Moyne in the second made the difference as the world champions failed to cross the line.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

Paul Ackford, Sunday Telegraph: "Astonishing. In a match in which tradition dictates that the touring side are out on their feet, a match in which South Africa were noticeably galvanised by the banning of their iconic lock Bakkies Botha, the Lions reduced the world champions to a rabble. There is no other word for it. At no stage did the Lions look like losing and, apart from a decent effort by Odwa Ndungane in the last five minutes, South Africa never looked like scoring. There was that much between the sides."

Eddie Butler, the Observer: "The Lions had declared that defeat would indicate nothing but total failure and that the very prospect would be their inspiration. The threat of being the first side ever to be whitewashed in South Africa drove them on to a consummate performance in which Shane Williams chose the perfect moment to rediscover his sparkle, scoring two first-half tries."

Stephen Jones, Sunday Times: "On the menu in Johannesburg, just deserts; and also what was, in the circumstances, one of the best and most heroic performances in the history of the Lions. They had to absorb the savage blow of losing a second Test in which they were cantering, they had to absorb such a list of injuries that Mike Phillips, the brilliant scrum-half, had to play the last quarter of this magnificent occasion in the centre, where he would have been roughly the 65th choice. And if you know your rugby touring, if you know how ferociously difficult it is to win the final Test, and especially one played in Johannesburg where the Springboks have hardly ever lost, then you would not devalue this Lions epic by as much as one point."