There was only five points in it at the end and Gavin Rich, writing on Supersport.com, feels that both sets of coaches will be kicking themselves this morning.

"Both the coaching groups of the two teams involved in Saturday’s first test between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions can look back at the game and feel they may have made a mess of it.

Fortunately for the Springboks, the players were good enough to win it with a controlled opening 55 minutes that set them on the road to a 26-21 victory and first blood in the three match series. This was in spite of what can only be described as a near suicidal spate of second half substitutions that beggared belief and completely robbed the Boks of their earlier momentum.

After being down 26-7, the Lions ended with such dominance that they were able to talk confidently afterwards of squaring the series in Pretoria next week. Confidence was not something they would have envisaged having when their scrum was being destroyed by Beast and company and they were being mauled back 30 metres at a time by the Springboks."

Former Lion Lawrence Dallaglio, writing in the Times, believes that despite going down in the first test match to the Springboks the Lions showed enough in the second half in Durban to take the Boks on in Pretoria.

"IT WAS a Test match that the Lions lost in the first 10 minutes. Even now, an hour after the end of the game, I feel a little sick and shellshocked about John Smit being able to waltz over for that first try. What was it, six or seven minutes, and they haven’t done much but they have seven points on the board. I couldn’t believe that the Lions would start as tamely as they did.

We had promised ourselves we would be brutally physical, that we would not lose that battle. We knew the South Africans were short of match practice, that they wouldn’t have the sharpness that comes from playing serious matches, and that we had to strike early. The opposite happened.

We didn’t stop them on the gainline, we allowed them to ease their way back into Test rugby. We allowed them to boss us at the lineout, at the scrum and at the breakdown. We were brutalised in the first 50 minutes and they demonstrated a lot of power and precision. Their second try, scored by Heinrich Brussow, followed an awesome show of mauling power from their big pack."

Writing in The Times, Nick Cain believes that South Africa's new stadia still have a way to go after their Lions tour debuts.

"Earlier this week the first game was played at the brand new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. It's an impressive 48,600 capacity bowl with a brilliant white ship-sail exterior which has been built for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa at a cost of £83m. However, the opening game featured the oval ball rather than the round one, with the Southern Kings - a South African invitation team - attempting to rob the British and Irish Lions of their unbeaten record in a rough-house encounter.

"The Kings, who lost 20-8, were less successful in their mugging attempts than two armed robbers, thought to be bogus cops, who slipped through the haphazard security at the ground to relieve 25-year-old barman Trevor Sanderson of his day's takings after the match was over.

"A report in Port Elizabeth daily, The Herald, said Sanderson was behind a bar in the stadium when a man came in and started rifling through the money boxes, and he then noticed that he had an accomplice who was holding a gun. Both were dressed in blue uniforms with police badges on them "We had already closed and cashed-up," he said. "This one guy came out of nowhere and started fiddling with the money-boxes. I looked around and saw another robber cocking a gun, and a bullet fell out."

Former Lions fly-half Jonny Wilkinson gives an insight in to the psyche of the tourists ahead of the first Test in The Times.

"Make no mistake, I would love to be out in South Africa in that Lions squad. But then again, who wouldn’t want to be in that squad?

"But this is what I am thinking when I am imagining being around this Lions squad. I am not thinking: “Poor me, I wish I was there.” I am asking myself: “How close, how tight are they as a squad?” And: “Will the Test team be looking around at each other in the dressing room before tomorrow’s game thinking, ‘I respect you and I will put my body on the line for you’?”

"Because the success of the Lions, for me, rises or falls on the trust and the bond that are built. And I know that’s a Lions cliché, so I will rewind to this time four years ago, to the first Test against the All Blacks in Christchurch, and use that horrible, wet night to explain.

"Building up to that Test, there were a lot of nerves. The quality of the sides that we had played in the build-up games made clear the quality of the opposition that we would be facing. And let’s not take anything away from those All Blacks, they won 21-3 and they were superb, but the foundations of the Lions’ defensive game fell away that night and it was trust — or lack of it — that was the cause."

Writing for The Independent, Peter Bills is hoping that some of this year's Lions kick on and make a name for themselves on the world stage.

"The class of 2009 is thinly stretched in terms of resources when it comes to genuine world class talent. The acid test, painful yet always appropriate, is how many would be sure to get into a current World XV ? The brutal answer is one, Brian O'Driscoll.

"Yet having accepted the limitations of these Lions and especially those outside the top 15 – the uneven, unconvincing results against many of the below strength provincial sides in the build-up to this 1st Test has merely underlined that truth – there is now a golden opportunity for some of the chosen 15 to kick on and make their names as genuine world class talents.

"If this is a team hardly oozing world class, it is undeniably one with a strong bond, a common cause that coach Ian McGeechan and his assistants have worked hard on creating. Now comes the chance for the individuals to make their name.

"In 1997, you couldn't pretend the Lions began the Test series with a side stuffed full of legends. Martin Johnson was one, Jeremy Guscott another but not that many others came to mind. But on that tour, myriad players – the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Neil Back and Matt Dawson - seized the opportunity to lift their games to another plateau. That triumph took those players all the way on to a World Cup win with England in 2003."

	© Getty Images

Ahead of the tour the debate about the make-up of the squad raged, with opinions from the press drawing fevered reaction from fans. Now however, the predictions are based on performances in five tour games and the selections vary only sparingly, with the second-row, back-row and fly-half providing food for thought.

Commentators fromThe Times, Lawrence Dallaglio, David Walsh, Stuart Barnes and Stephen Jones, The Guardian's Eddie Butler, The Telegraph's Paul Ackford and ESPN Scrum's own Graham Jenkins see little room for manoeuvre in the backs with Lee Byrne, Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Ugo Monye (with a lone voice calling for Luke Fitzgerald) and Mike Phillips present in all selections.

At fly-half, the decision is split between Ronan O'Gara and Stephen Jones. Jones gets the nod here with four votes to O'Gara's two - his middling performance against Western Province apparently forgiven.

Up front, Gethin Jenkins has beaten off competition from Andrew Sheridan, his athletic work at the breakdown securing him the nod. Lee Mears is an ever-present at hooker as is Phil Vickery in the No.3 jersey.

The second-row is not so clear cut. With the lineout an area of overwhelming Springbok
strength, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield surely giving the Lions sleepless nights, the press pack opinion is split. Skipper Paul O'Connell gets the nod for the No.5 jersey from all bar Jones, who goes for the more athletic Alun-Wyn Jones.

In the No.4 jersey it's almost too close to call. Simon Shaw, Nathan Hines and Jones are all in with a shout. Jones wins two further votes in the No.4 jersey, with Shaw also registering two. Hines is the man however - getting three nods as the man to damage the Boks around the fringes.

The back-row has provided endless debate, with Martyn Williams and David Wallace one of the most fascinating duels at openside. Their differing styles, which will affect the entire Lions dynamic, have provided a mixed selection from the press.

Jamie Heaslip is named in every selection at No.8, while Tom Croft makes it in off four votes. His main rival is Joe Worsley, who you feel is a better option alongside the smaller, more expressive Williams. If Croft and Heaslip play however, so does Wallace. He's edged with Williams four votes to three.

There it is then - the commentators have spoken.

The British & Irish Lions Test side according to The Times, Daily Telegraph,Guardian and ESPN Scrum is:

Lee Byrne; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Ugo Monye; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Lee Mears, Phil Vickery, Nathan Hines, Paul O'Connell (capt), Tom Croft, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip

Stephen Jones delivers his latest volley from South Africa and focuses on the storied history of violent games in Port Elizabeth in his Rolling Maul blog for The Times.

"The Campaign for Real Stadium Names is invalidated today as whatever they now call the Boet Erasmus Stadium here in Port Elizabeth, the Lions are not playing there anyway. We are at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, a different place altogether.

"In fact, our youthful taxi driver last night had never even heard of the Boet Erasmus, even though it is one of the great names of South African rugby history. Mind you, that wasn't his worst offence. That was to demand a preposterously high fare from Eddie Butler, whose reaction made us all glad that we were never taxi drivers in Pontypool. In no time at all the driver was desperately trying to pay us for the honour.

"Mind you, the old place didn't half house a few punch-ups in its time. No touring team of any nationality came to the Boet Erasmus without helping to touch off World War 3 and 4 in the same match. It was also at Boet Erasmus that I finally decided on the identity of the hardest man who ever played rugby. I had always narrowed the choice down to around 400 but in 1994 on an England tour, when Eastern Province and the Lions staged the Battle of Boet Erasmus, I realised that Graham Dawe of Bath and England was the runaway winner of the title."

The Sunday Times' David Walsh pays a visit to the Du Plessis family home in the Eastern Free State.

"Bismarck du Plessis had called back with his mother’s offer of lunch and now we are in the dining room of the Du Plessis family home near Bethlehem in Eastern Free State. Eleven in all, seated at a long, rectangular table; Francois and Jo-Helene, two of their sons, Jannie and Bismarck, their daughter Inez, five family friends and a journalist. There is ham, beef, lamb, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, sauces and so much effort that lunch has become the grandest occasion.

We share stories of backgrounds. They have been farmers in this area for generations, counting their blessings when the rains came, surviving when they didn’t. Afrikaner people who worked the land for food, hunted, fished and played rugby. They didn’t have much but they had enough."

Stephen Jones assesses the Lions' chances against the Springboks in The Sunday Times.

"What strengths have the Lions to bank on? First, the excellence of their coaching team, and its unity. McGeechan’s mixture of merry and terse men are clearly working an abrupt magic on this squad, despite the abysmally short time frame. As I have said before, if there is a Test victory out there, then the coaching team will find it, they are more wily and experienced than the home coaching squad.

The Lions also have a very fine scrum, whether or not it is Andrew Sheridan or Gethin Jenkins who plays at loose-head. If we can edge forward those few inches at scrum time and if the referee is not one of those preposterous fools who believes he must even up the scrum rather than allow advantage to the stronger unit, then the Lions could take away some of the legs of the Springboks."

Martyn Williams, Joe Worsley, Nathan Hines and James Hook provided Ian McGeechan with just the selection quandary the Lions head coach has been craving according to Ian Stafford in the Mail on Sunday.

"With the first Test against South Africa in Durban now six days away, McGeechan had much of his starting XV confirmed by the hard-fought victory in difficult wet and windy conditions. But he also now has the happy problem, when he sits down to pick the Test team with his fellow coaches after the final warm-up game on Tuesday, of some fierce competition for places.

More candidates have emerged in the forwards, while there is a genuine two-way battle to back up stand-off Stephen Jones, who did enough to warrant his berth on his way to scoring two penalties and a conversion."

Eddie Butler believes Lions winger Ugo Monye is in line for a place in the tourists' Test side - read his thoughts in The Observer.

"The Lions are not aiming to be sophisticated; they merely demand precision in the simple things they do. That they ended up in a bit of a pickle in Cape Town goes against the strategy. That it was a close game reflects other matches in Rustenburg and Bloemfontein. Simplicity is the message, confused is sometimes the reality.

It doesn't really matter. The unbeaten record keeps morale high. The strategy is more a template for the training field, a goal to be reached not here or in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, but in the first Test. The confusion merely underlines how tight the deadlines are. Will they be ready in time? For a message based on absolute clarity, the race to deliver it means we shall not know until Durban if it has been unscrambled by the Lions."

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Paul Ackford believes that the referees will still have a big part to play as the Lions prepare their Test side.

”Another Saturday, another struggle for the Lions. But, hallelujah, this was a great game of rugby played in front of a healthy crowd. Even the weather contributed to a sense of occasion as the rain, driven by blasting winds, lashed down. Shut your eyes for a moment and you could have been at Croke Park so appalling were the conditions.

“It would be curmudgeonly to suggest this was a match the Lions could have lost because they played some decent rugby especially into the wind in the first half. But they will be concerned at their disciplinary record which allowed Western Province to stay in touch. The Lions outscored Western Province by three tries to one, and Tommy Bowe was magnificent throughout, but it took a long range penalty goal from James Hook with three minutes remaining to make the game safe.

“In the end the decisive area was the scrummage, an area which is certain to be an issue in the Test series which starts in Durban on Saturday. The problem these days is that no-one - players, coaches or spectators - has the faintest idea as to what referees require. In the first half Lions captain Phil Vickery seemed to be in a spot of bother as Western Province attacked his side of the scrum. But when Euan Murray took over in the last quarter, and Wicus Blaauw the belligerent Western Province prop was replaced, the Lions scrum powered up. Referee Mark Lawrence gave three scrum penalties to the Lions in the final 10 minutes and one of them led to the kick with which Hook won the game. Who says referees don’t influence games?”

The Lions may be winning but what has been noticeable thus far has been the lack of interest from local South African fans in their visit. Dan Retief, writing on Supersport.com. , believes that greed has caused the tour of '09 to be a let down and that the Lions face extinction.

"It’s quite hard to admit, but the Lions tour has been a dreadful letdown… and the worst is, I should have seen it coming. When the Lions landed I waxed almost lyrical about the excitement generated by a tour.

I had been researching their history; I had been closely involved with the ’74, ’80 and ’97 sides and I couldn’t wait for the matches to start.

However I took my eye off the ball.

I should have known that fans would not be enthused over supporting provincial teams and pick-up squads that contained none of the star players that normally attract them to part with their money, but most of all I should have heeded the warnings dropping into my own inbox."

Writing in The Independent, Peter Bills is worried by the Lions' lack of finishing prowess as they build towards the Test matches.

"Look past what appears to be a one-sided scoreline. The age old failing of northern hemisphere rugby was writ large all over the Lions game in Durban tonight.

"An inability to finish off scoring chances has been the bête noire of the game in this hemisphere for years and the failing was laid bare against the Sharks at the ABSA stadium.

"Never mind their ultimate win. For the Lions to have reached half time holding only a slender 7-3 lead over the Sharks 2nd XV was the ultimate indictment of northern hemisphere rugby players’ lack of accuracy, precision and patience in the vital last few yards before the opposition try line.

"Watch an All Black team if you wish to see the complete opposite. They are clinical, ruthless and deadly in their finishing. If they get into the opposition 22, chances are they will come away with a score. In Durban last night, the Lions had 80% of possession in the first half, a hatful of scoring opportunities and countless chances to put points on the board. Lee Mears’ 23rd minute try excepted, they failed every other time."

The New Zealand Herald's, Daniel Gilhooly assesses the statistical worth of Richie McCaw as player and captain.

"Who will the All Blacks miss more - Richie McCaw the captain or Richie McCaw the player? The influence of world class flanker McCaw has become increasingly central to the All Blacks' cause, so much so that his injury absence from this month's two tests against France is enough on its own to give the tourists hope in the eyes of many.

"His No 7 jersey will be worn by Adam Thomson and the captaincy handed to fullback Mils Muliaina. Both will hope they can do a better job than those charged with replacing an injured McCaw last year, a period when the All Blacks lost their only tests of 2008, to South Africa in Dunedin and Australia in Sydney.

"McCaw's presence this week ahead of the first test at Carisbrook has been important in helping Thomson and the raw loose forwards find their feet, while carrying out test promotional work."

Springbok lock Victor Matfield talks to Donald McRae ofThe Guardian, about his memories of the Lions' 1997 tour defeat to Northern Transvaal and smiles at the idea of Paul O'Connell 'bossing' him.

"The one happy memory I have of that tour was that the Lions lost. It was a close match but we won. I was nowhere near the Bulls team but I remember a lot of happy people in Pretoria that night," he said.

"My one regret is that we won't get to see the Bulls play the Lions on this tour. But I'll be even happier to beat them with the Springboks this time.

Matfield, the most capped Springbok lock with 80, is certain to be in direct opposition with Lions captain Paul O'Connell in the line-out. And former Lions captain Wille John McBride claimed that Matfield would be "bossed" by the Munsterman.

"That's very interesting. O'Connell is the Lions captain and it's good he's supported by his people back home. But the idea of being 'bossed' by him makes me smile a bit. We'll see what happens."

Writing in The Guardian, Eddie Butler evaluates the Lions' breakdown blues.

"They call this column The Breakdown and it is precisely here that the Lions are finding life hard. Well, obviously not here, as in these words, because that would be silly - but at that zone of doubt that follows the tackle. Or which begins even before the tackle is made.

"You could see the cogs turning in the Lions' minds as they took the ball up into contact. How far am I from support? How quickly do I go to ground and present the ball? How exactly do I present the ball and how is this defender going to tackle me?

"There were signs in the Wednesday night game in Johannesburg against the Golden Lions that the slightly mechanical decision-making processes were giving way to something more instinctive. However undistinguished the challenge of the home side at Ellis Park, there was a fluency to the tourists that suggested they were getting to grips with the breakdown. It had been the curse of the tour in 2005 and it appeared that it was not going to be such a problem in South Africa."

Nick Cain meets South Africa's Pierre Spies, the self proclaimed best No.8 in the world, in The Times.

"The self-confidence of some of 2009 Lions squad may be feeling a little fragile after Saturday's 26-24 escape against the Free State Cheetahs, but as the tour goes on it will also be dawning on them that South African rugby players do not do self-doubt.

"Their self-belief is best highlighted by Pierre Spies, the player dubbed the Springbok Superman, who said this, after being asked in a recent SA Rugby magazine interview who he considers to be the best No 8 in the world: "That player is still in the making. It's me."

"Quizzed further on whether the 23-year-old Spies really believes that to be the case - he is the same age as the Lions backrowers Stephen Ferris and Tom Croft - he responded that he is not going to apologise for having confidence in his own ability despite the world-class credentials of Italian No 8 Sergio Parisse."

Paul Ackford offers his thoughts on the Lions' latest encounter in the Sunday Telegraph.

"Paul O’Connell, the Lions captain, doesn’t appear able to galvanise his charges. O’Connell had a fine match in the lineout and he worked tirelessly all game but in terms of leadership he was off the pace. O’Connell’s Lions were 20 points to the good after the first quarter but at the end of this match they were reduced to fighting for survival, so swiftly had the energy and passion left them. That doesn’t speak well off the captain’s ability to change the flow of the game.

Yet the Lions remain unbeaten, they did blood another nine players in head coach Ian McGeechan’s endless quest to bond one team, and they did scrummage superbly. Those aspects, and some fine individual performances, notably from Stephen Ferris, Andrew Sheridan and Joe Worsley, before he tired, were positives which the Lions can take away from Saturday’s work."

South African internationals are avoiding contact with the Lions in the hope of springing a surprise in the first Test, writes Stuart Barnes in the Sunday Times.

"South Africa have adopted a sporting scorched earth policy by withdrawing their 28-man Test squad from contact with the Lions. Instead of Jaque Fourie and Juan Smith getting an early sight of the tourists with the Golden Lions and the Cheetahs, the visitors have been left to face lesser names. Encountering a frontline South African international before the first Test is about as likely as encountering an elephant in downtown Johannesburg.

Peter de Villiers might be thinking back to the 2007 World Cup where the All Blacks, starved of a competitive pool match, crumpled when the pressure came on in the quarter-finals. Four years ago New Zealand did the same thing to the Lions, who duly headed with delusions of English grandeur to the first Test and three weekends of humiliation.

The flip side of the coin is that many of the home team will not have played for five weeks or more (excluding the routine warm-up game against Namibia). Such potential rustiness could suit the Lions to perfection. By trying to be too clever, the Springboks may be acting stupidly."

The below-par tourists avoided defeat by an inch after a mighty scare, writes Chris Hewett in the Independent on Sunday.

"Forget the Wednesday night waltz in Johannesburg. South African rugby showed its hard face at the Free State Stadium yesterday, the locals testing the Lions to the limit in a compelling game ultimately decided by the strength of the tourists' set-piece and the two or three centimetres that denied Louis Strydom a match-winning drop goal a minute into stoppage time. Strydom struck boldly from near the halfway line, but saw his kick slide to the right of the posts. It could barely have been closer.

But for the Lions' scrum – and, to a slightly lesser extent, their line-out – the Free Staters would have won. They made life horribly difficult for the tourists at the breakdown, robbing them of possession like some band of rugby-playing highwaymen."

A tense match against the Free State Cheetahs was the preparation the Lions needed for tougher tests ahead writes Brian O'Driscoll in the Observer.

You learn a lot when you are pushed to the limit, far more than in an easy win. We were defensively strong against the Cheetahs and our set-pieces worked well, but we suffered from turnovers again and we have work to do at the breakdown, which is such a key area of the game.

We thrive on quick ball and the Cheetahs managed to slow a lot of our possession down. A unique feature of this tour is that some of the warm-up games are being controlled by referees from Britain and Ireland, starting with England's Wayne Barnes yesterday.

Some may have thought that would work in our favour, but we struggled with his interpretations at the breakdown more than we had in the games controlled by South African officials. It made it tougher for us and, again, that gave us something positive to take from the game."

If the Cheetahs had shown a little more patience in the final minutes, they could have claimed the scalp of the Lions, writes Peter Bills in the Cape Argus

"In possession, driving off the forwards and two points behind, it became clear a late drop goal could snatch the game. All it needed was patience by the forwards to keep driving forward, take the ball up to the Lions 22 and then release it.

Instead, they panicked. Replacement Louis Strydom was given the ball too far out and his attempt, from close to halfway, sailed wide. It was a golden opportunity lost by the Cheetahs, but it told us more about the Lions than the locals.

So ordinary a display by the tourists just three days after the sumptuous performance in Johannesburg reminded us the quality and class does not go very deep in this Lions squad."

Paul Ackford vents his spleen at the lack of atmosphere on the current Lions tour of South Africa in The Daily Telegraph.

"And that is not the only thing that is devaluing this Lions tour as a memorable experience. You could just about live without seeing this country's finest players if the atmosphere surrounding the games was worthwhile.

"But the matches to date have been played out in front of stadiums which were less than half empty. On average, they have been a third full.

"There is next to no buzz at the games, hardly a decent traffic jam to worry about. Even the biltong sellers look bored. Leicester on a wet Saturday afternoon in December had more atmosphere than Bloemfontein on Saturday.

"This would not be an issue if this Lions tour had not been held up as one of the rallying points of world rugby. Everyone loves the Lions, we are told. They are the biggest draw card around, bigger than the All Blacks, as big as World Cups."

Ian McGeechan is willing to go into first Test without fielding first-choice side in bid to keep South Africa guessing according to Paul Rees in the Guardian.

"The Lions have three matches left before the first Test against South Africa in Durban and they are considering going into the Test series without once playing their first-choice side, both to keep the Springboks' analysts up nights and to keep the flame of hope burning for very nearly all their players until next week.

The Lions may not have arrived in South Africa with the legions Sir Clive Woodward took to New Zealand in 2005, but it is still a military operation. Ian McGeechan and his management team have been planning their strategy over the last 12 months and they believe any disadvantage they may suffer by not giving the Test team a run before the opening game against South Africa will be offset by the uncertainty it will create among the Springboks."

Writing in The Times, Stuart Barnes warns the Lions not to underestimate the challenge posed by the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

"So much for the likely new Lions. What about the smaller game cat, the Cheetah? Bottom in the Super 14 but they played some good rugby in the latter stages, notably a fine home win against the Crusaders and a determined effort in a 29-20 defeat by the Blue Bulls that was probably better than they played any time this season.

"This is proud rugby territory and the Lions will need to be sharp not to let the Cheetahs undo much of Wednesday night’s excellent work. Paul O’ Connell’s leadership could do with reaching the heights of Brian O'Driscoll's, his Irish captain. He should also be forced to perform near his best such was the strength of Nathan Hines and Alun Wyn Jones’s performances.

"Preparing to face the Lions is the unluckiest rugby player in South Africa. The open side, Heinrich Brussow, has been omitted from the Springbok squad of 28 even though there is no other open side bar Schalk Burger. Brussow will be determined to make a fool of his national coach by causing the Lions back row all manner of problems. Behind the scrum watch out for the pace of Danwel Demas on the wing and the strength of Hennie Daniller from full back. It is a big day for the Free State and one can only hope the stadium fills up as the others have not thus far. The Lions did their bit to increase the tour excitement by scoring 74 points. Let us hope the partisan home crowd arrive in their thousands to give us a game with atmosphere and quality."

Writing in The Independent, Peter Bills believes that the Lions have arrived in South Africa after their 74-10 drubbing of the Golden Lions.

"This was the start of the real Lions tour, after the stuttering opening of last weekend in Rustenburg. And several players put their hands up for possible Test selection.

"Chief among them were Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Bowe, Jamie Roberts, Tom Croft, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones, Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones. That’s nine players which is almost two thirds of a team. It won’t persuade hard task masters like the Lions coaches to think the job is nearly done; far, far from it.

"But the key thing was, there was a clearly discernible shape and structure about the Lions and the effect was apparent on the scoreboard.

"Ulster’s Stephen Ferris got the chance to join the party early in the second half, a special moment in the career of the Irish flanker. The astonishing 60 metre try he scored directly from his own turnover in the final minute was reward for his mighty effort in the last half hour."

Brendan Gallagher calls for the drugs issue in rugby to be addressed in the wake of the ongoing troubles at Bath The Daily Telegraph.

"Although not the time for alarmism, complacency would be just as dangerous as we wait to see events at Bath unfold and the full truth be made public.

"Dealing with performance-enhancing drugs first, we should note that as long ago as 1998 Ireland second-row forward Neil Francis wrote in his Sunday Tribune newspaper column that he knew some Irish players had been taking them since 1988. Pierre Berbizier, the former France captain and coach, wrote in L'Equipe that the use of such drugs was a "reality" in the French Championship.

"But few top players have ever been caught – South African lock Johan Ackermann was an exception – which is encouraging given the now comprehensive anti-doping testing operated by the unions and the International Rugby Board, in conjunction with Sport UK and the World Anti-Doping Agency."

Stephen Jones, in his Rolling Maul blog for The Times, is concerned at the lack of criticism being levelled at the Springboks squad.

"Last night, the wraps came off the Springbok squad for the Test series and this morning, there was a deathly silence. Very, very worrying for the Lions. Every time I have toured here, the announcement of any South African squad has been greeted by a barrage of criticism, horror, inter-provincial jousting and multi-media savaging.

"I have combed the morning papers and websites and caught some of the sporting radio programmes. Apart from the odd outbreak of muted whingeing and the priceless observation from Peter de Villiers that Earl Rose, a young and unproven fly half, is the equivalent of Tiger Woods, there has been nothing. This country is united. It likes the Boks squad.

"It suggests that the squad is settled and dangerous. It is hard to attack in terms of finding weaknesses for the Lions to exploit. Fly half? Morne Steyn, the likely No 10, is not a contender for the pantheon but is perfectly serviceable and Ruan Pienaar, the other contender, was superb at Twickenham last season. Not much change there."

The Lions should be mindful of the strength in depth boasted by South African rugby, writes Robert Kitson in The Guardian.

"Very shortly, though, things are about to get deadly serious. The naming of the Springbok squad for the Test series has concentrated minds in both camps and further underlined the depth at South Africa's disposal. Here is an illuminating quiz question for you: how many South African-born players were plying their trade at a decent level in European club rugby last year? The answer is positively frightening: according to the excellent SA Rugby Annual, there were no fewer than 228 of them living in voluntary exile, including 37 full Springbok internationals.

"When you add that little lot to the battalions of homegrown provincial Currie Cup players and schools representatives you begin to appreciate why even a scratch team like last weekend's Royal XV contains players good enough to give a decent Lions side the runaround. As well as the 2007 World Cup, South Africa have just won the World Sevens title and their coach believes they also have a decent chance of winning the upcoming World U20 championship in Japan. The Bulls' demolition of a Waikato team containing half a dozen All Blacks was merely the icing on an increasingly substantial cake. No wonder Saracens believe that recruiting a bunch of South Africans to play in the Guinness Premiership next season is worth a punt.

"The upshot is that competition for places in the Springbok squad can rarely have been so intense. "It's amazing to see how blessed we are as a nation in terms of the amount of talent we have," observed their captain John Smit after the list of names to face the Lions had been announced live on television. When the interviewer asked for assessments of certain individuals, Smit's smart response - "I'm really happy they're on my side" – pretty much said it all."