Lions head coach Ian McGeechan was delighted with his side's performance under pressure against Western Province.
Head coach thrilled with manner of victory over Western Province
British and Irish Lions head coach Ian McGeechan was delighted with his side's performance under pressure against Western Province.
The Lions prevailed 26-23 in difficult conditions at Newlands, replacement James Hook sealing the win with a 50-metre penalty through a swirling wind in the 77th minute.
The tourists scored three well-worked tries, Tommy Bowe scoring one and creating another for Ugo Monye in the first half, while Martyn Williams crossed from close range after the break.
McGeechan's men have now won five out of five in South Africa and head into next Saturday's first Test against the world champion Springboks in good spirits.
"I thought some of the execution today was excellent," McGeechan told
Sky Sports.
"We probably tried to force it a bit against a team that was playing a total kicking game but maybe we just have to have a bit more patience about how we play when a team is doing that.
"Each time we've been under pressure we've responded very positively and with great play, which shows how much the players are working for it. We saw that again today.
Combinations
"There's a number of players playing well and each time we are putting a team on the field, the players are responding. As a coach you can't ask for any more than that.
"You keep starting with new combinations but the players have really bought into what we are doing, and it doesn't matter who is alongside who, they're playing really hard for one another."
Hook, who came off the bench to replace Rob Kearney, admitted that the unpredictable wind had played a part in his match-winning kick - having earlier missed from a similar distance.
"I was just concentrating on striking it well," said Hook. "I mis-hit the first one and didn't kick it as well as I would have wanted, but the second one I got lucky and it went through the posts.
"For the second kick the wind was probably in my favour and for the first one it wasn't. As I went to kick it was still behind us and it went through.
"The ball didn't really budge, it went straight through, but on the way down here there was no wind whatsoever, so we couldn't have prepared for this."
Intense
Lions assistant coach Graham Rowntree believes the narrow victory will stand the squad in good stead in future matches.
"We've got a big game next week and that is a good run out for us just beforehand," Rowntree said.
"'Hooky' put that one over at the end but it was a good hard game, a real intense game. The lads have come through it and that will do us well for next week.
"We should have been more points clear, we've got to look up the accuracy of what we're doing for sure, but at the end I thought we kept some good composure there.
"We've got stuff to work on but that's just what we needed for a Test series that starts next week.
"That's a pressure kick (by Hook) and we have big pressure players here to do that."
