Lions fans all making the same point as Boks battered in Jo'burg

The Wallabies’ staggering 38–22 comeback over the Springboks in Johannesburg has not only shaken up the Rugby Championship, it’s sparked a flurry of Lions fans reminding South Africans of one very awkward truth.

Despite weeks of crowing from Bok supporters that their world champions would have wiped the floor with Andy Farrell’s Lions, who edged the Wallabies over three games, the tables have turned.

If anything, South Africa’s Ellis Park implosion showed that the Lions side who won the series in Australia would more than hold their own against the Boks.

From 22–0 down inside the opening 18 minutes, the Wallabies somehow turned the contest on its head with one of the great Ellis Park comebacks. Dylan Pietsch’s first-half try offered a flicker of hope before Joe Schmidt’s side unleashed a remarkable four-try blitz after the break. Angus Bell’s deft short ball sent Harry Wilson over for his first, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii picked off Manie Libbok for an intercept score, and Tom Wright streaked clear to lay on Wilson’s second.

James O’Connor then produced a pinpoint long pass for Max Jorgensen to finish spectacularly, before Wright iced the result himself. A famous win, and Australia’s first at altitude over the Boks since 1963.

Former England fly-half and RugbyPass columnist Andy Goode set the tone: “The Lions would have beaten the Springboks 3-0.”

Another piled in: “Awful lot of Springbok fans owe the Wallabies and Andy Farrell an apology after the crowing they did about the Lions’ quality after the third Test.”

Others kept it simpler: “So the Lions would batter the Springboks then.” Or, more cuttingly: “So much for all the Springboks supporters who laughed at the Lions’ ‘poor’ series … who’s laughing now.”

“Always a significant achievement to beat the Springboks,” wrote another. “And in SA too! Perhaps the Lions weren’t that bad after all!”

Other fans pointed out that the Springboks may have been undercooked after a relatively undemanding summer series against Italy and Georgia.

“Australia off the back of Lions Test matches, Springboks playing Italy and Georgia. Huge difference in preparation. Australia were battle-tested and we were doing Sunday drills. Now look.”

Plenty of South African fans were also happy to doff their figurative hats to the Wallabies and admit the Springboks needed a wake-up call: “The Springboks needed this wake-up call. We haven’t been that good against the Italians and Georgians.” And: “Too much hubris in the Springbok team, they’ve forgotten how hard you need to work to win … so many soft penalties and handling errors.”