TWO men, Fran Cotton and Ian McGeechan, who 23 years ago as players shared in a great Test series success for the Lions over the Springboks, were at the heart of another historic Lions triumph over South Africa on Saturday. This time they were, respectively, manager and coach of the team that clinched the Test series by taking an unassailable two-nil lead in the three-match series.

For both it was the kind of occasion when tears and laughter were intermingled. "Nothing I have experienced in the game can equal this," said Cotton after he had seen his side fight a rearguard action and beat South Africa 18-15 in the second Test at King's Park.

"We came here and were given no chance of winning a Test not to mention the series," said Cotton. "We always believed we could win and all the players in our squad not just those who played in the Tests share in this success. British and Irish rugby can feel very proud of what our players have achieved," he said.

McGeechan was ready to let his hair down but does not, now, have much hair to speak of. As soon as the team got back to their hotel McGeechan honoured a promise he made at the start of the tour that if the Lions won the Test series he would have his hair cut off. Ireland's Keith Wood got out the scissors and did a very thorough job.

McGeechan is the only man in history to coach three Lions teams: Australia in 1989, New Zealand in 1993 and now in South Africa.

"We were on the back foot for a lot of that match," he said yesterday. "The Springboks played very well, especially their pack, but this Lions squad, and I emphasise squad, has an incredible inner strength and resolution. It was a triumph for character and a refusal to accept defeat. It is a great day for rugby in our islands."

Neil Jenkins, the man who kicked five penalty goals for the Lions and has now scored 99 points on this tour, said he was not put off by the booing of the crowd as he attempted the kicks. "All I can say is that it is a huge day for us all. I have been on the receiving end of a few big beatings from mouth Africa when I played for Wales. It is great to be part of this success. They kicked a few bombs at me and I did not gather two, but the lads were there to save the day."

Jeremy Guscott, the man who dropped the winning goal, was asking himself the question `what if I missed?'. "Matt Dawson threw the ball to me, I thought about it for a split second and decided to let fly. It went over and it was match won, series won and thank you very much. It was a marvellous feeling when I saw the ball go over."

Lions captain Martin Johnson, now assured of a very special place in the history of Lions rugby, was full of praise for all of the team. "They are a great bunch of players. It has been a great privilege to lead them. Let us not make too much of the captaincy. The management and the players deserve the credit for this."

The Springboks felt devastated. Their captain, Gary Teichmann and coach, Carel du Plessis were left to reflect on opportunity lost. "We played very much better than we did a week earlier and I felt when we led 15-9, we were going to win. But all credit to the Lions, we just could not put them away and they came back at us. It is the same old story, you must take your chances," said Teichmann.

He said he did not know why he was penalised, after which Jenkins kicked the penalty that brought the teams level at 15-all. "I came in from my own side and attempted to play the ball."

"We had much more of the hall and much more of the play, but you have to make that count with scores and we just did not do it," said du Plessis. "It is a huge disappointment to me personally and to the team.

Du Plessis refused to criticise referee Didier Mene directly, even though offered some encouragement by the nature of the questions to do so.

There were a few decisions that might have gone our way which did not. The place-kicking misses were very costly. It is an area that obviously we must look at. But you have to give the Lions great credit for staying in that match and then winning it."