Jamie Roberts is hoping his current rich vein of form will continue and carry him right into the British & Irish Lions Test team.
The 22-year-old Cardiff Blues centre helped himself to the Man of the Match award as the Lions swept aside the Golden Lions 74-10.
The Cardiff Blues giant ran in two tries against the Johannesburg-based Super 14 outfit at Coca Cola Park, h latest stunning performance coming only four days after he caught the eye in the opening match against the Royal XV.
But Wednesday night’s showing came in conjunction with Leinster’s legendary Brian O’Driscoll and the young Welshman was thrilled at launching a partnership with one of the game’s true greats.
“It was pretty special playing with Brian. As a boy I grew up watching him and I can remember seeing him back in 2001 and 2005,” said Roberts.
“It was great to finally get the chance to play alongside him. Fingers crossed I will get another chance again.”
While all the talk pre-tour was of Lions head coach Ian McGeechan looking to blend the old master with the new kid on the block in his Test midfield, Wednesday night proved the two can play in almost perfect harmony.
O’Driscoll popped an inside pass to Roberts for his first try and the 6ft 4in tall Blues giant made break, after break through the middle to create space for his co-centre and others outside him.
But even though he now has two wins under his belt in the Lions jersey, Roberts was keen to keep his feet firmly on the ground.
“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I’m sure we will look back at the video and see there is plenty to work on,” he said.
“It’s now up to the guys playing on Saturday to raise the bar again. The tight five were fantastic and freed up the space for the backs.
“It was a good team performance and much better than Saturday. We were much more clinical and then our defence shone through in the second half.
“If we can stop teams playing a wide game with our press defence then maybe we can get some more of those interception tries. Happy days!”
