Smit praises special Springboks after comeback win

By Mitch Phillips

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa captain John Smit paid tribute to the character of his players after their stirring comeback to win the second and decisive test against the British and Irish Lions on Saturday.

The world champions trailed 10-0 after seven minutes and 19-8 with 17 minutes to go but hit back with two tries before replacement flyhalf Morne Steyne secured a memorable 28-25 victory with a 55-metre penalty in the last minute.

"I have to apologise for us raising the blood pressure of the country by 20 percent but this is a special crop of players who find victories in the darkest of rooms," Smit said in an on-pitch interview.

"Not many teams could have come back from 10-0 down and one man down and I'm very proud of them," he added in reference to the first-minute sin-binning of flanker Schalk Burger.

"I said 'wake up' at halftime. We were down on physicality and intensity but we managed to step it up in the second half. Today was a far bigger test than last week.

"From the crowd reaction, it was if we had already won the game when Morne Steyn came on. He's a special talent and hopefully he can keep winning games for South Africa."

Simon Shaw delivered a man-of-the-match performance in his first Lions test appearance, despite having to operate in the front row for the last half hour because of injuries. Shaw was the last survivor of the 1997 squad who won 2-1 in South Africa.

"It was difficult for me today, but I just hung in there," he said.