A ferocious encounter was claimed with a penalty from inside his own half by Morne Steyn, giving the Springboks a 28-25 win in Pretoria and a two-nil lead in the three-match series.
It was the Lions who set the tempo in the first half, claiming a 16-8 lead with a try from the impeccable Rob Kearney added to the kicking of Stephen Jones.
But the Springboks forced their way back into the game after the interval and, with the Lions losing Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones due to injury, the pressure finally put the hosts into a position to claim the series.
Replacement centre Jaques Fourie scored a try for the Springboks in the 73rd minute – after lengthy deliberation from the television match official – and the conversion put them 25-22 ahead.
Moments later, a high tackle gave the Lions another opportunity and Jones landed a perfect 40-metre penalty from out wide on the left to level the scores.
But with the clock running down to full-time, Ronan O’Gara was penalised for taking out an opponent in the air as the Irishman chased his own high kick and replacement Steyn kept his nerve to strike it cleanly through the centre of the posts.
Croft came through the full 80 minutes, while Leicester Tigers colleague Harry Ellis was also included in the matchday 22 as one of Lions replacements.
