South Africa 26 British and Irish Lions 21

UGO Monye underlined the British and Irish Lions’ crushing sense of frustration after a first Test defeat that has left them needing to create history against world champions South Africa.

As the Lions regrouped in Cape Town yesterday – venue for their final midweek tour game – they could only painfully reflect on one that got away.

Few players felt the hurt more than England wing Monye, who could – and probably should – have scored two tries on his Lions Test debut.

Had one of them counted, let alone a disallowed Tommy Bowe effort or scrum-half Mike Phillips’ failure by millimetres to touch down under pressure, then the Lions would have completed arguably the greatest fightback in their 118-year history.

But they will arrive in Pretoria next Saturday knowing the Springboks have never lost a Test series against them after going 1-0 up.

It is a statistic that suggests their dream of emulating Martin Johnson’s triumphant 1997 tourists in South Africa might already be over.

Their recovery from 19 points adrift with 12 minutes left to finish a gripping contest camped deep inside Springboks territory as 26-21 losers, at least gives them hope.

With both remaining Tests being played at altitude on the Highveld, it is a task of Everest proportions, but one the Lions should not fear.

When they watch a video rerun, Monye and company could be excused for thinking it was a sequel to Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty came in much of the Lions’ back play that was a class above their illustrious hosts, but South Africa had The Beast – Zimbabwe-born prop Tendai Mtawarira.

His scrummaging demolition of Lions tighthead and England World Cup winner Phil Vickery was completed with indecent haste, setting the tone during a first-half dominated by raw Springboks power.

Vickery found himself hauled off just five minutes into the second period as the tourists suffered a punishing ordeal up front.

But their revival was sparked by Wales prop Adam Jones’ appearance off the bench, superior fitness levels, and Springboks coach Peter de Villiers’ staggering complacency in making seven substitutions in 17 minutes.

The Lions shaded the trycount 3-2, Phillips scoring late on and flanker Tom Croft claiming the first double by a Lions forward against South Africa, but those missed opportunities hurt them.

‘‘I thought I had scored the try,’’ said Monye of his disallowed effort eight minutes into the contest.

‘‘I didn’t even think the referee was going to go to the television match official. But the longer it goes on for, there is a bit of doubt in your mind.

‘‘It will spur me on. If I do get another opportunity next weekend, I will make sure I am in the right position and doing the right things to make sure I can get over that whitewash.’’ Springboks substitute Morne Steyn knocked the ball out of Monye’s hand to deny him during the frenzied closing minutes, by which time South Africa were hanging on grimly, struggling to cope with wave after attacking wave.

‘‘We’ve got confidence in what we are about, and if we can take some of that frustration into next Saturday and put away some of those chances, I think we will definitely be in better shape,’’ added Monye.

‘‘We looked like the fitter team, that was for sure. When we got to move their tight-five around, holes opened all over the place. As backs, I thought we exploited that at times.

‘‘I am frustrated. We’ve lost the game, and I’ve had an opportunity where I might have been able to influence that.

‘‘We had nothing to lose at 19 points down. It was about lifting the tempo, getting a try and putting ourselves back in the game.

‘‘When (Springboks scrumhalf) Ricky Januarie dropped the ball about 40 metres out, those kind of moments you think ‘this is it lads, this is our time’. There were about two minutes left and we had a good attacking platform.

‘‘Right up until the end, we thought we could definitely win that game.

‘‘When we worked our pattern and game-plan, I thought we created holes all over the pitch.

‘‘If we start like we finished this game, I think we will be a real tough side to beat next Saturday.’’ South Africa could not cope with the Lions’ mercurial midfield combination of Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts, while an aggressive Phillips never lost his appetite for the physical and verbal battle.

Croft too, proved a tower of strength, like Roberts delivering a performance of stature way beyond his tender years, yet the Lions’ problems could all be traced back to one painful area – the scrum.

It was no shock that both Springboks tries came from forwardsm, skipper John Smit and flanker Heinrich Brussow, with Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn adding 16 points from the boot.

‘‘Decisions went against us on the right hand of the scrum,’’ said Lions loosehead Gethin Jenkins.

‘‘I’m not too sure what was happening because I had my head down on the other side, but I am sure we will look at the video and see what happened there.”