Saturday afternoon saw one of the great comebacks in test rugby as the British and Irish Lions, heroically fought back against the Springbok juggernaut, but it was a match the Lions should have won and there are critical decisions to be made before next week’s test which is too be played at high altitude in the heart of Afrikaans land at the formidable rugby cauldron Loftus Versfeld.

There is a great and sometimes overstated fear of playing at high altitude for visiting sides to South Africa, the thinner air being a rarefied challenge and thus giving home advantage due to the South Africans being more used to it. However, the Lions were wise to this and did two weeks conditioning work at the start of the tour, which should hold them in good stead. Of the four previous internationals the Lions have played at the Versfeld, they have won three which bodes well and of course most of the South African team play on the cooler coast anyway, so the Lions coaching staff must distinguish all negative thoughts about altitude.

On the pitch, changes are needed though. The scrum and line out from a college game in Sri Lanka to an international in Durban remain the launching pad for any side and without control of the set piece games will almost always be lost. Alas the mighty but fading English prop Phil Vickery was demolished at the scrum by Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira and must stand down for the big haired Welshman Adam Jones, who lacks Vickery’s surging power in the loose, but gained a measure over the freakish South African. The English hooker Lee Mears also looked lightweight and the Welshman Rees caused the Boks more problems as well as throwing in more accurately to the line out.

The second row did not gel and if Paul O’Connell was not captain his place would be in jeopardy- although a great director of the line out, the combination with the willowy Alun Jones lacked the sheer hardness needed to take on the great Springbok second row of Botha and Makefield. Simon Shaw, a brute of a man, looks the most likely to get the nod.

Martin Williams the veteran Welsh open side flanker proved once again that there is no substitute for experience and his mastery at the break down, an equally as important aspect of play as the set pieces at international level, means he must play the next test even if the hard running Irishman David Wallace did nothing wrong.

The Lions back outclassed the opposition with Mike Philips at nine and Jamie Roberts at 12 having the games of their lives. Stephen Jones at fly half though was innocuous and shaky with his shots on goal. The safe option would be to pick the dependable if defensively fallible Irish fly half O’Gara, but in a match the Lions must win to keep the series alive, the more mercurial talents of Jamie Hook are needed. Picking Hook would mean a break from the structured game the Lions coaches wanted, but with the still intact genius of O’Driscoll and power of Roberts outside, the more creative mindset of Hook is needed to release the centers the one clear area of advantage for the Lions.