After righting his ship in 2011 and finishing the season strong to become New York's No. 2 starter in the playoffs, Nova scuffled through a sub-par 2012, where the Yankee brass often said he was losing focus.
The match threatened to boil over when Lions center Brian O'Driscoll scuffled with Juan Smit, then the Lions took a 10-0 lead after only seven minutes when full-back Rob Kearney forced his way past Habana from Jones' superb offload following a blindside scrum move.