The best script writers always give fly-halves the leading role. It would have seemed unfathomable not so long ago that Morné Steyn would kick a late penalty to win the series against the British & Irish Lions 12 years on from having done precisely the same thing, and equally Finn Russell seemed destined to play just a watching brief only a few weeks ago.
All credit to the Springboks and Steyn for once more displaying icy veins when the pressure was at its greatest, but Russell’s performance in this nerve-shredding decider was equally significant and for large spells it looked as if he might just be the star turn. This has been a series in which taking risks has at times seemed like a serious offence so it does not feel like hyperbole to say the mercurial Scotland fly-half almost single-handedly brought it to life. The turgid nature of these Tests has been a turn-off but, when Russell is on the pitch and in the mood, it always pays to watch.
It has to be noted that Russell’s mistake – a knock-on in the closing stages – ultimately gave South Africa the platform to kick the winning points and Warren Gatland was not afraid to highlight it. But to focus on that error does a disservice to the impact that Russell had in the previous 65 minutes and it was not he who gave away the decisive penalty.
Furthermore, in an age of over-analysis, of endless data and depth charts it is refreshing in the extreme to watch a player so at ease in displaying his obvious talent and capturing his audience as he does so. Players such as Russell will always make mistakes but after a series so rooted in a safety-first approach, someone who lives on the edge must be celebrated rather than vilified. His performance also makes one wonder what might have happened had he not gone down with an achilles injury earlier in the tour – this was his first outing for a month.
“I’m happy I got the chance to show the style of rugby I would have played against South Africa,” said Russell. “It was pleasing to have actually got on and chucked it around a little bit. I just went on knowing we had to move them around a bit and play some expansive rugby. I just went on and played my style of rugby. That showed in that performance tonight.”
And if the Lions ultimately look back and rue missed opportunities, they deserve credit for finally creating them – none more so than Russell. Indeed, the decision to kick to the corner in the 70th minute, rather than the posts, was the ultimate example that a second series draw was not a satisfactory outcome.
Having been finally included in the Test 23 Russell would have expected a brief cameo in the final quarter but Dan Biggar’s 11th-minute shin injury put paid to that. Once Russell was introduced, however, suddenly the Lions started to play. It was almost as if his mere presence on the pitch had released the handbrake.
He spent a minute or two laughing away, giving a pretty convincing impression of being the calmest man in the stadium, while he waited for confirmation he was coming on and it is remarkable how much positivity one man can give a side, how much of a spring he brought to his teammates’ step. That is not to do a disservice to Biggar but Russell’s intent to play brought something out of the Lions that had not been seen in the two previous Tests.
Jack Conan suddenly found a gap in the Boks’ defence and fought his way through it, Alun Wyn Jones was offloading and then there was Russell, head up, playing what was in front of him and finding Josh Adams on the right wing with a pinpoint crossfield kick. Within a few minutes of coming on Russell had made more passes than Biggar did all game in the second Test.
It was his kick to the corner that led to Ken Owen’s pushover try, he added a fine conversion for good measure and he brought Bundee Aki to life outside him. The Lions really ought to have had a second try when Liam Williams got outside the South Africa defence on the right and, had he released Adams, the Wales wing would surely have gone over in the right-hand corner.
Williams opted for the dummy, though, and no one was buying. Russell kept the Lions on the front foot, however, his kicks to the corner leaving little room for error but giving the touring side the platform from which to strike.
The Springboks began the stronger in the second half but, when Pollard’s penalty hit the left upright, there was no panic, no insistence to kick first, and Russell’s hanging floated pass to Aki again demonstrated a bravery from the Lions that had hitherto been seldom seen.
With Russell there is always an element of risk – that is what makes him so captivating – and he was fortunate to escape without a card when he was penalised for a high tackle on Cheslin Kolbe in the 54th minute. He was trying to make up for his own mistake – a mis-hit kick to the South Africa wing – and while there was mitigation with Kolbe slipping, a yellow card appeared the most obvious punishment.
The Lions certainly needed him on the field because, after Kolbe’s try was awarded, they were approaching the final quarter with South Africa back ahead by three points. Russell levelled the scores at 13-13 with a lengthy, albeit fairly straight, penalty and did so again at 16-16 with less than six minutes left on the clock.
There he was, too, flinging passes around in the final minutes as the Lions sought the telling blow. It did not come but credit Russell for striving for it, rather than dwelling on his knock-on.
