South Africa 26 Lions 21

A brave second-half fightback was not enough for the British & Irish Lions in the first test against South Africa. Trailing 19-7 at the break, and falling further behind from Heinrich Brussow's try early in the second half, the tourists hit back when Tom Croft crossed for his second score on Lions debut, and Mike Phillips' try forced a nervy last five minutes. The World Champion Springboks held on though, to leave the Lions with it all to do with two tests at altitude to come.

The home side dominated the scrummage from the off in Durban, Phil Vickery enduring a torrid afternoon at the hands of 'the beast' Tendai Mtawarira. Referee Bryce Lawrence continued to penalise the England prop, Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn kicking four first-half penalties. Tries at the beginning of each half from captain John Smit and Brussow, who excelled for the Cheetahs against the Lions earlier in the tour, pushed South Africa seemingly out of sight. The Springboks rang the changes and lost momentum however, the tide turning in the Lions' direction in the final twenty minutes. Centre pairing Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll combined impressively for both of Tom Croft's tries, his second on 68 minutes sparking a rousing late comeback. When Mike Phillips then scored from close range, there was just five points in it with five minutes to play. But the Lions couldn't force a final try, the Springboks clearing to seal victory in the first of a three-test series, although the tourists will travel to Pretoria for next Saturday's game buoyed by their second-half display.

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For 60 minutes, the Lions offered no more than a whimper, unable to get anyway near the 15 men facing them in terms of intensity, set-piece technique and, seemingly, preparation. Press surmisings of an 'undercooked' Springboks side were made to look ridiculous, Frans Steyn extending their lead to 13-0 as the clock ticked past the twenty minute mark. Set pieces were a nightmare. Victor Matfield didn't come close to showing why he's heralded as the best line-out forward in the business: he didn't have to. Lee Mears' throwing wasn't good enough, and there was not enough variety in the skipper's line-out calls, Tom Croft noticeably underused. A struggle at the line-out was on the cards though; a battering in the scrummage was not. I called on the referee to allow the scrum to be contested and reward the team on top, and he duly obliged. But it was Phil Vickery who Bryce Lawrence repeatedly punished, the Lions veteran put out of his misery four minutes after half-time following a Tendai Mtawarira-inflicted beating. His replacement Adam Jones was far more at home, putting his hand up for a second-test start.

It should be an all-Welsh front row: Gethin Jenkins remains untouchable, Jones to face up against 'the beast', and Matthew Rees, who busily burrowed and threw-in well once he replaced Mears. When the Lions consolidated the scrum a bit more, Jamie Heaslip looked pretty comfortable picking the ball up at the back. Fourie du Preez is a genius of a scrum half going forwards, but doesn't put great pressure on his opposing 9 and 8 at scrum-time. If the Lions can at least secure their own ball at scrum-down next Saturday, the Irish No.8 can feed the dangerous darting runs of Mike Phillips. But the idea of the scrum as an attacking opportunity felt a hell of a long way off this afternoon. The Springboks exerted pressure and secured possession - but scrum-time was more damaging than that. 12 points from first-half penalties - and it could have been more - were fatal.

It was good to see Paul O'Connell in the referee's ear towards the end of the half, but the damage had already been done. It would be wrong to focus on the referee's performance. Front-row merchants would argue that Mtawarira out-thought as well as out-muscled Vickery. But, especially in games as high-profile as the Lions against the World Champions, can it be a charming quirk of the modern game of rugby union that officials either side of the equator see the contact area so very differently? The Lions can be optimistic knowing that Frenchman Christophe Berdos will be in charge on Saturday.

The tourists' kicking game was not up to scratch either - including from man of the tour-contender Lee Byrne, who found the Springbok wingers' hands nearly every time. Ruan Pienaar, by contrast, expertly sent his opponents, and his pacemen, scampering after numerous well-placed kicks from hand. That said, we saw a lot of very good things from the Lions' backs today. Attack coach Rob Howley will be the happiest of the backroom staff, having seen a real cutting edge from Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll in particular. The tourists scored three good tries, and will be regretting three more near-misses this evening. When the ball was on the pitch, in play, the Lions were comfortably the better side - not just in the final twenty minutes, but throughout. Support-play was great at times, the red shirts more than competing at the breakdown, where they were expected to struggle. The Springboks are smart though - they will continue to break the game up at every opportunity on the next two Saturdays, and exploit a supremacy at the set piece that was almost professional vs amateur at times.

Ian McGeechan and co. will have to work out what changed for the last twenty minutes, allowing the Lions to fight their way back in to contention, and indeed not a long way from an unlikely victory. As well as Adam Jones suring up the scrum, the comeback coincided with the replacement of David Wallace with Martyn Williams at flanker. The wily Welshman may well be wearing 7 next week. The worrying reality for McGeechan is that it was only after the Springboks removed their main men, their 'test match animals', that the Lions were finally able to roar.