Springboks edge out Lions

By Mitch Phillips

PRETORIA (Reuters) - Replacement flyhalf Morne Steyne landed a 55-metre penalty in the last minute to give South Africa a 28-25 second test victory over the British and Irish Lions on Saturday and an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

The thunderously physical match will go down as one of the greatest in the Lions' illustrious history and the Springboks will celebrate long and hard after adding their scalps to the 2007 World Cup triumph.

The Lions deservedly led 18-9 after an hour but the world champions fought back superbly to level the match at 25-all with three minutes to go. Steyne, who helped the Bulls win the Super 14 title on the same Loftus Versfeld pitch a month ago, completed the job with the decisive kick from inside his own half.

The game got off to an explosive start when flanker Schalk Burger was sin-binned in the first minute for a gouge at the face of Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald and was lucky to escape a red card.

The incident set the tone for a ferocious match which was played at a pace and level of aggression several steps up from last week's relatively civilised opener.

The Lions in particular were far more purposeful in everything they did in the first half and had much the better of the furiously contested breakdown.

Stephen Jones was on target with a penalty after three minutes and then delivered a lovely back-of-the-hand pass to Rob Kearney for the opening try.

The Springboks hit back with a try by JP Pietersen after a sharp pass by Fourie du Preez but it was a rare attack by the world champions.