O'Connell and Smit impress Williams
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:07
Class act: British and Irish Lions flank Martyn Williams
Welsh flank Martyn Williams, writing in his column for the BBC, has praised both Paul O'Connell and John Smit for their great 'class' during the recent Lions tour to South Africa - Williams' third, and most memorable, trip with the British and Irish side.
The experienced openside flank played a big role on the recent tour and was an important player for the tourists in their final 28-9 victory over the World Champions in Johannesburg last Saturday. The series itself may well already have been wrapped up but neither side, despite both showing a number of changes, was holding anything back in the final clash of the historic tour.
Williams, writing for the BBC this week, reflects on a truly great six weeks in South Africa and paid particular tribute to tour captain Paul O'Connell as well as the victorious Springboks.
Trailing 2-0 in the series after two incredibly tight tests the Lions knew they needed to dig deep to earn at least a consolation victory over the Springboks and they did just that.
Taking the Springboks on physically, the Lions, led by the like of O'Connell, Williams, Mike Phillips and Jamie Heaslip, produced an impressive display to defeat Peter De Villiers' men at Coca-Cola Park and head back to the UK with their heads held high.
"It would have been easy to let our intensity levels slip for the final Test after losing the first two games but we maintained our performance levels and the credit for that has to go to the coaches and our captain Paul O'Connell," wrote Williams.
Paying tribute to the efforts of his Irish captain Williams said: "Paul has been absolutely immense on this tour and is the best captain I have ever worked with. The way he has handled himself in the last week of the tour speaks volumes about the man.
"He spoke to the group on Friday night, telling us what the final Test meant to him and what an honour it had been for him to play for the Lions.
"Paul told us our performance in the game would leave a legacy for the next four years. It was real hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck stuff."
Turning his attention to the Springboks, Williams said he was very impressed with his opposite number Heinrich Brussow and recalls 'fondly' his confrontation with the young Cheetahs flank and Bulls eighth man Pierre Spies in the second half of the final test.
Much was made in the press regarding the apparent 'needle' between the two sides. This, according to Williams, was never as big an issue as had been made out.
With so much pride and passion on both sides Williams insists that the respect for eachother was always there and that "there were no hard feelings at the end of the series."
With the series finally over though the players did get the chance to socialize off the pitch. Sharing a post series dinner together, Williams said he thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with the South African players and was especially impressed by the hosts captain, John Smit.
"After the game we had a really good function with the South African boys, which was the first time we've been able to get together with them.
"John Smit spoke brilliantly at the dinner, saying the series could have gone either way. What a class act.
"John, Victor Matfield and Bryan Habana each made a point of coming round and talking to all of our lads. They are absolute gentlemen."
He continued: “You could say we were unlucky to lose the series - and there would be some truth in that - but credit to the Boks, because they came up with the goods at the crucial times. They are world champions for a reason."
To read Martyn Williams full column click HERE.