WITH THE Test series secure after the 18-15 victory over the Springboks in King's Park, Durban, on Saturday, the Lions turned into the final week of their tour and flew yesterday to Johannesburg. There were a few sore limbs and a few sore heads but for South Africa it is their hearts that are sore.
The Lions have two matches to play, against Northern Free State in Welkom tomorrow and then the final Test at Ellis Park on Saturday. Two of the men who played last Saturday, hooker Keith Wood and left wing Alan Tait, may not be available for Test selection because of groin injuries picked up on Saturday.
"We will be clearer during the week on their availability," said Lions coach Ian McGeechan who has played on two and coached three Lions teams. Yesterday he described the current tour "as the most enjoyable of my whole career because of the personnel on this tour". Meanwhile, with Ieuan Evans returning home this week and doubts about Tait, the Lions have called in Tony Stanger, who is currently touring with the Scotland Development team in South Africa. He will be available to play or sit on the bench tomorrow and will then return to the Scotland squad.
Wood, who after the win last Saturday was overcome with emotion, described the experience as "almost weird, but wonderful. I have never had a feeling like it".
His Irish front row colleague Paul Wallace said: "I just cannot take it all in. As the days go by I think the full realisation of what has been achieved will dawn on me.
Second row Jeremy Davidson, whose father and mother were present to see him yet again give a telling performance, said: "To win the first Test was the greatest moment of my rugby life, but to win the second and clinch the series is even better. I savoured every minute."
The fourth Irishman in the squad, Eric Miller, who came on as a replacement late in the game, is the youngest member of the Lions squad at 21. "To be part of that kind of history is just unforgettable. I was delighted to be called in even for the few minutes."
Lions forward coach Jim Telfer, a man not easily given to showing his emotions, let the mask slip yesterday. "This has been without a doubt the highlight of my whole rugby career.
Almost a quarter of a century ago the Lions won a famous Test series in South Africa and wrote their deeds into legend. On Saturday, no fewer than 10 of the 1974 team were present in King's Park to see the current generation emulate their achievement.
Gareth Edwards, the greatest scrum half of his generation and a profoundly influential figure in the 1974 success, described the Lions performance on Saturday as "the best and most courageous defensive display I have ever seen from any team".
The newspapers here yesterday made stark reading for the Springboks and their coach Carel du Plessis. Under headings such as "Boks booted out" and "Lions put the boot in," the boot was firmly put into du Plessis and the South African management team.
One writer in the South African Sunday Tribune stated: "We are not the least bit surprised to discover South African rugby writhing in the middle of another major crisis during a tour by the Lions. The mind numbing antics which have taken place in Springboks ranks these past few weeks have reawakened longheld suspicions that there must be many South African villages currently deprived of their resident idiots.
"The Lions arrived in South Africa grossly underrated by their inward looking hosts, a nation unwilling to learn from past mistakes and one still blinded by and basking in the dubious afterglow of the 1995 World Cup."
Springbok flanker Rueben Kruger will miss the third Test due to a groin injury, and there is some doubt about second row Mark Andrews. The Springboks are due to announce their side tomorrow.
