Matt's the way to do it!

The Lions restored the nation's pride last night with the kind of red- blooded display which Mike Atherton's men in white would do well to follow at Lord's this morning.

In the shadow of Table Mountain, the mighty world champions were humbled by the boot of Welsh wizard Neil Jenkins and the genius of Matt Dawson.

Dawson's try, featuring a joyous one- handed dummy which fooled the entire Bok back line, destroyed the home side - and Alan Tait's injury- time touchdown put the icing on a deliciously rich cake.

It was a night to remember for a side written off before this tour began - and whatever happens now, the three-match series is set to be a corker for the 5,000-strong Barmy Army who turned Newlands into Twickenham for long spells last night.

Ironically, five minutes before the whistle, the South Africans had handed their Rugby World Cup over to the British - but only so we can use it for promotional purposes for the 1999 tournament.

After last night's display, they might just have lost their grip on it for good.

The South Africans reckon it's only on loan until they win it back in Cardiff - but they might find they'll have to do that without coach Carel du Plessis, who now comes under massive pressure for the second Test in Durban on Saturday.

It all started so badly. From Jenkins' first miscued kick-off, the Lions barely touched the ball early on as they scrummed for their lives against monsters like 19-stone Os du Randt.

The Lions were soon penalised for bringing the scrum down and Edrich Lubbe popped it over for a 3-0 lead.

It was five full minutes before the Lions had any sort of possession, and superb breaks from Tim Rodber and skipper Martin Johnson opened the Boks right up.

When referee Colin Hawke awarded the Lions their first penalty, Jenkins made no mistake from 20 yards - 3-3 after six minutes.

With Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, watching Mandela-style in his green-and-gold jersey, the blood and guts began in earnest. Du Randt took out Welsh giant Scott Gibbs, then Dawson crunched record-breaking Bok wing James Small.

In a bitterly cold gale this was no place for faint hearts. The Lions, whose ability to produce the tough stuff has been questioned on this tour, were giving as good as they got.

Lubbe missed an eminently kickable penalty after 14 minutes, but the Boks continued to keep the Lions under pressure with a series of astute tactical kicks from scrum half Joost van der Westhuizen - and a little help from referee Hawke's whistle.

Only superb defensive tackling from the Lions - particularly Gibbs and Dawson - kept the Boks out. But the forwards were taking a pounding.

A penalty close to the Lions' line saw the Boks choose not to go for goal. They chose the line-out and that man Os - that's Ox in English - ploughed through the wilting Lions to score the first try after 23 minutes.

The Lions knew the boot of Jenkins would be their main weapon, but even the Welsh wizard was misfiring - he failed from just 30 yards with a penalty which would have closed the gap to two points. And shortly afterwards he fluffed an attempted drop goal.

On another night, those six missed points might have come back to haunt the Lions, but they were getting a taste for it now and giving the Boks a real battle up front at last.

Before half-time Jenkins slapped over two penalties and they went into the break leading 9-8, with the Barmy Army in full voice.

Jenkins added a further penalty just after half-time and a serious upset looked on the cards. But the Boks, perhaps stung by a half- time rollocking and the realisation that they really were facing world-class opposition, struck back in devastating style.

Half-time replacement Russell Bennett, only on the field for a couple of minutes, produced their second try and Henry Honiball added a penalty to put the Boks 16-12 ahead. Jenkins made it 16-15, but it still looked like a home win would be the likely outcome as the Lions struggled to break out of their own half.

Nobody could have forecast what lay ahead as Gibbs stopped Ruben Kruger with the kind of tackle which makes the earth shake.

The Lions were fighting to stay in the game when Bennett had what would surely have been a decisive second try disallowed for a forward pass.

Then came the seven minutes which will linger long in the memory banks. Northampton scrum half Dawson, who had tackled his heart out all day, finally found some space. In one smooth movement, he dumped the entire Bok back line and surged over for the kind of try which deserves to win such momentous Test matches.

And when we thought it just couldn't get any better, Alan Tait roared over to wrap it up for the Lions.

Then came the magic moment - the massed ranks of Lions fans chorusing "We shall not be moved."

It was the Boks who were doing all the moving - as they shuffled sadly off to the exits.

SOUTH AFRICA

A Joubert, J Small, J Mulder, E Lubbe (rep. R Bennett), A Snyman, H Honiball, J van der Westhuizen, O du Randt, N Drotske, A Garvey, H Strydom, M Andrews, R Kruger, G Teichmann (capt), A Venter.

SCORERS: Tries, Du Randt, Bennett; Pens, Lubbe, Honiball

BRITISH LIONS

N Jenkins, I Evans, S Gibbs, J Guscott, A Tait, G Townsend, M Dawson, T Smith (rep. J Leonard), K Wood, P Wallace, M Johnson (capt), J Davidson, L Dallaglio, T Rodber, R Hill.

SCORERS: Tries, Dawson, Tait; Pens, Jenkins (5)

REFEREE: C Hawke (New Zealand)

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