BEFORE last week's first Test, the main area of speculation here centred not on who would win, but by how many points the Springboks would prevail. What a difference a match has made - not alone to the odds, but also to the assessments.

Revisionism rules; suddenly the realisation has dawned among the exceedingly demanding South African rugby public as fickle a force as it is possible to get - that the world champions face not alone a formidable foe in the Lions, but one very much underestimated in so many respects.

This afternoon in King's Park in Durban, the second in the three-match series is being awaited not with the old confidence and arrogance but with trepidation and apprehension. Now the emphasis has been infinitely more recriminatory than objective. Some of the comments and criticism are absurd, with cool assessment totally submerged in disappointment.

One illustration of the anxiety that permeates the scene here was the heading on a daily newspaper, Boks in crisis". Crisis is the word recurring throughout the week.

The Springboks coach, Carel du Plessis, is being assailed from all sides. He is a man under siege and intense pressure. Former Springboks players and coaches are offering a medley of advice, some of it confused, a lot of it contradictory. But that is Springboks rugby, and as du Plessis and his team captain Gary Teichmann have said, "It goes with the job here".

This afternoon a series can be clinched if the Lions win, a series can he saved if the Springboks prevail. Were the home side to come through, it will be winner take all in the third Test at Ellis Park next Saturday

The match is being described in some quarters as "one of the most important in the history of South African rugby". That too has more than a touch of the revisionist about it. A few weeks ago this Test series was seen as merely very good preparation for the Tri-Nations series.

Du Plessis is adamant he will not change course and direction of what he is attempting to achieve, and will not turn to members of the old guard, such as Francois Pienaar, Joel Stransky and Kobus Wiese. Then there is Hennie Le Roux, about whose availability speculation continues apace.

The belief prior to the first Test was that the Springboks would out-scrummage the Lions, subdue and penetrate, and then run rampant. But the Lions stood up to the pressures in the scrum, offered a superb defensive screen around the fringes of the forward exchanges, and elsewhere defended and tackled with great effect. They forced the Springboks to make mistakes and then, in the last 10 minutes, struck the crucial blows with tries from Matt Dawson and Alan Tait. Once Plan A went wrong for the Springboks, there was really no Plan 13.

Their outside-half, Henry Honiball, lay far back behind his forwards and kicked a lot - and not very well. His long passes outside were often ill-directed, and the Lions read the situation well with Scott Gibbs' tackling at times devastating.

Du Plessis said yesterday that the Springboks made too many mistakes last week and did not use possession to good effect. He is right on both counts, but some of those errors were induced by the tenacity and alertness of the Lions.

Lions forward coach Jim Telfer also made the point yesterday that the Lions did not win as much overall possession last week as the Springboks did, and that the Lions must redress that balance.

The Lions know the match last week could have gone either way. But the character and resolution revealed by the Lions notably their superb defence and the opportunism of Matthew Dawson were crucial factors in the success. Equally, the Lions finished by far the stronger team.

The manner in which the Lions scrum stood up to the pressure put on it, and the superb line out performance from Jeremy Davidson, were also vital. Lions captain Martin Johnson expects the Springboks to "hit us with everything, especially in the opening 20 minutes. They have got a real roasting from press and public and will react to that."

Like Telfer, Johnson is hoping that the Lions will win more possession this time and play more attacking rugby. "That is what basically this tour by us has been based on," said coach Ian McGeechan.

Both teams have studied the video of the first Test. "It was revealing in several aspects," said

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