2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa

South Africa won the first Test in Durban 26–21. Leading 19–7 at half-time and 26–7 after 50 minutes, the Springboks had dominated the scrum until the Lions made several substitutions. The Lions mounted a strong comeback, scoring late tries through Tom Croft and Mike Phillips, but South Africa held on. Inside the last ten minutes of the game, the Lions had two tries disallowed by the TMO. It was later described as an "unbelievable" Test match.[10]

The second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria was won by South Africa 28–25 with the last kick of the game – a penalty by Morné Steyn from inside his own half. The Lions had led 19–8 after an hour, but tries from Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie allowed South Africa to tie the score before Steyn's series-winning kick. It was described as "devastation" for the Lions, with the team ending the game "looking more like a scene from [American television series] ER as opposed to a rugby team".[11]

The week of the third Test was marked by controversy and intense media interest surrounding the suspended Springbok players Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha after a very physical second Test.

Burger was yellow-carded in the first minute, after he appeared to gouge Luke Fitzgerald's eye. Burger was subsequently banned for eight weeks for "making contact with the face in the eye area." He was cleared of gouging, as his action was found to be "reckless" but not intentional.[12][13]

Burger was widely criticised, with many commentators believing he should have been sent off for the incident.[14][15] Brian O'Driscoll was among many who criticised South Africa coach Peter de Villiers after he said Burger's actions should not even have led to a yellow card.[16]

Bakkies Botha was banned for two weeks for a dangerous charge on prop Adam Jones, which left Jones with a dislocated shoulder.[17] SA Rugby expressed their confusion over the reasons for Botha's ban with the coach calling it a "textbook cleanout". An appeal was lodged but the initial ruling was upheld. Coaches and players expressed concern about the impact such an interpretation might have on a core component of the game, with Lions player Phil Vickery and forwards coach Warren Gatland lending their support to Botha's case.[18] The injured Jones himself later came out in defence of Botha saying:

"Botha shouldn't have been banned for it, nowhere near it. I don't have any complaints. He just cleared me out of the ruck and I got caught. Everyone counter-rucks nowadays and, if anything, I was in the wrong place. He just hit me and I was unlucky. So I was surprised to see he got banned. I know we didn't cite him so I don't know why the independent commissioner did. It was just a fair ruck from a hard player. When I have met him before he seems like a tidy enough bloke so I'm not seeing it as anything malicious."[19][20]

The Springboks came out for the third Test wearing white armbands with the words "Justice 4" on, in protest over perceived inconsistencies in the citing process.[21] This protest was investigated by the IRB for allegedly "bringing the game in disrepute", and the team and management were fined accordingly.[22]

The Lions won the third Test on 4 July at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, beating the Springboks 28–9, in what The Times called "one of the best and most heroic performances in the history of the Lions".[23] Having already won the series, the Springbok squad saw 10 changes from the previous week, and the Lions also saw substantial changes. The Lions led from the start, and Shane Williams scored two tries.[24] England lock Simon Shaw was sin-binned for striking Springboks scrum-half Fourie du Preez with his knee in this test and received a two-week ban as a result.[25] This was the first Test victory for the Lions in eight years, their last being in Brisbane in 2001.[26][27]

Jamie Roberts was voted 'Player of the Series' by the British and Irish media.[28]