Lions head coach Ian McGeechan was proud of his side's late rally in the 26-21 first Test defeat to South Africa.
Lions left to rue poor discipline as Springboks hang on in series opener
British and Irish Lions head coach Lions head coach Ian McGeechan was proud of his side's late rally in the 26-21 first Test defeat to South Africa, admitting he thought they were going to complete a remarkable comeback.
The Springboks appeared to be coasting to a 1-0 lead in the three-match series when they led 26-7 with just 12 minutes left to play in Durban.
However, the Lions came roaring back in the closing stages, tries from flanker Tom Croft - his second of the game - and scrum-half Mike Phillips getting them to within five points.
In the end, though, they had left themselves with too much to do, meaning they now must win the last two Tests to repeat their series triumph of 1997.
Proud
"I thought in the last eight minutes we'd have another crack and nick it in the end. We had them on the back foot," McGeechan admitted.
"We broke (through) them consistently in the first half but unfortunately the penalties killed us.
"It was a long way to come back but I thought we'd get one more opportunity, and they did as well."
He added: "I'm hugely proud of the rugby. That was high quality rugby. The players have done us proud in that respect but we're just hugely disappointed because we just feel there are so many points on the board for us today that we should have been comfortably away from them."
The Lions had looked down and out after a disastrous first 40 minutes that saw them dominated in the scrum by the home side's powerful pack.
England World Cup winner Phil Vickery endured a half to forget against Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira, allowing fly-half Ruan Pienaar to kick South Africa into a commanding lead after skipper John Smit's early try.
Lions captain Paul O'Connell was far-from happy with the performance of referee Bryce Lawrence, feeling the official from New Zealand had been harsh on the visitors.
"I think we ran out of time," the Irish lock said after the final whistle. "But when the ref gives that many penalties against you, you don't really stand a chance.
"It was just penalty after penalty after penalty. Undoubtedly some were our fault but it was a killer for us."
McGeechan refused to be drawn over the performance of Lawrence, instead pointing out that the penalties had just allowed the 'Boks to pull too far clear in the final reckoning.
Momentum
"It's difficult to say," the Scot replied when asked if some of the penalties against his players were unjust.
"You are always slightly biased towards your own side but we will have to look at them carefully. It did take the momentum away from us, there's no doubt about that.
"Without playing much rugby South Africa were able to accumulate quite a few points.
"It's all to play for now in Pretoria, we know that. We've got to be more accurate, maybe a bit patient some times. We probably played more rugby than they anticipated."
