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Twelve years later, Morné Steyn returned to follow the Lions in South Africa when the world champion beat the series in Cape Town.
The veteran kicked off in Pretoria in 2009 to victory and was sent after a five-year international hiatus to choose the winner and send the tourists home with a bag full of regrets.
For an hour it looked like it might be Finn Russell’s night, when the Scot stood up early for the injured Dan Biggar and brought a dreary series to life.
But the Lions could not pay off their dominance, they missed clear scoring opportunities before half-time and when the Springbok rise came after the break, creaked their scrum and they didn’t have enough advantage.
Before he walked away, Biggar missed a kickable penalty, and when the Lions halftime went down and Russell trotted on, Handre Pollard scored the 3rd place : 0, but a heavy scramble gave the Scot a chance to equalize and he committed.
After that, the Russel Control and tourists looked encouraged by the Scottish number 22 to take the risks by taking in the previous two Games happened unseen.
Offloads followed, line breaks occurred and their best attack phase resulted in a penalty. Russell kicked him to touch him and Ken Owens found Maro Itoje before joining the back of a dominant mouth to score.
Since referee Mathieu Raynal insisted that the game be played at a fast pace , the Lions responded with a high quality phase game that resulted in a penalty and possibly more if Liam Williams had found the free Josh Adams on his shoulder.
Russell found the corner, but this time Tom Curry caught his mouth Offside and the Boks could breathe a sigh of relief.
The Lions were at the top, but they couldn’t let their dominance count. Alun-Wyn Jones found Itoje on his shoulder, but Damian de Allende climbed back and won a brilliant penalty to take the pressure off.
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The Lions coughed a free kick at a lineout, Adams knocked on Pollard’s bomb, and Wyn Jones collapsed the crowd. Likewise, Springbok halftime made it a four-point game.
Alun-Wyn Jones turned down a chance to cancel after Tom Curry won a big penalty from kick-off and the decision backfired when Etzebeth was just standing in front of the captain to steal the list. A knock-on gave them a respite, but Siya Kolisi won another breakdown turnover to leave nothing to the Lions for their efforts.
It was a four-point game at halftime and when Wyn Jones was in a scrum kickable range burst, the boks changed direction and Pollard took the corner, but this time the Lions held on and Ali Price got a foot in.
The out half hit the post when they decided the next Opportunity to get up front on the points, and when Russell Cheslin gave Kolbe a bad kick and then went up with the winger, the Springbok-out half missed a tougher chance of making it a one-point game.
The Boks lost their influential suspension Lood de Jager, but a moment of brilliance from Cheslin Kolbe put the world champion in the lead.Ali Price went up and down and Jasper Wiese toppled under pressure from Duhan van der Merwe rear; Lukanyo Am rushed to find Willie le Roux who drew Jack Conan, and when the wing wonder was in space he worked his magic.
This time Pollard got the kick to extend the lead to three, but after Kyle Sinckler flipped the blade with a scrub penalty, equalizing Russell after Wiese hit him with a late tackle.
Steyn came up and within seconds he nudged his side forward from a difficult angle.
Swinging again it. Itoje won a turnover, Russell started pulling the strings and when the Springboks conceded a penalty, Conor Murray – now captain – took the corner. It didn’t come off initially when Mako Vunipola was held over the line.
The consolation was a scrum to the left of the post, but they could never play away when Sinckler collapsed and the Boks could breathe.
Still the Lions came and a mistake by Herschel Jantjes gave Robbie Henshaw a chance to push forward, and when Am was offside against Murray, Russell equalized the series.
Back came the books; Russell knocked and when Lawes was stuck on the wrong side of the rucksack, Steyn made no mistake again.
Henshaw claimed kick-off to give his team one last chance, but there was a scrum and the front row of ‘ Bok licked his lips and won one final penalty to rule her out.
SOUTH AFRICA – W le Roux (D Willemse 79); C. Kolbe, L. Am., D. de Allende, M. Mapimpi; H. Pollard (M. Steyn 65), C. Reinach (H. Jantjies 64); S Kitschoff (T Nyakane 61), B Mbonambi (M Marx 56), F Malherbe (V Koch 56); E. Etzebeth, L. de Jager (K. Smith 54); S Kolisi (Capt) (M van Staden 56), J Wiese (Kolisi 63), F Mostert.
LION – L Williams; J. Adams, R. Henshaw, B. Aki, D. van der Merwe; D Biggar (F Russell 11), A Price (C Murray 59); W. Jones (M. Vunipola 43), K. Owens (L. Cowan-Dickie 53), T. Furlong (K. Sinckler 59); M Itoje, AW Jones (Captain) (A Beard 61); C. Lawes, T. Curry, J. Conan (S. Simmonds 64).
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