The Lions must produce the game of their lives if they are to level the series in Pretoria next weekend. That is the bad news. The good news is that they have the ability and, more importantly, the bravery to push the world champions all the way in rugby’s spiritual heartland of Loftus Versfeld.

Here’s the Lions perspective. The last 20 minutes proved the team have the mental courage, the skill and the tempo to win; that if they start as they finished in Durban, they will prevail in Pretoria. South Africa will have a different outlook. Pieter de Villiers will point out how many of his star players were taken off around the hour mark, and that his side dominated proceedings while the juggernauts were in control.

Both are, in their own ways, absolutely right, which makes the match so fascinating, so thrillingly unpredictable. The Springboks will see the surplus of substitutions as well as the shortage of match practice as the keys to improving their game and closing out the series; that and sorting out the defensive problems in midfield through which the mesmerising combination of Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll burst so often.

These factors apart, the Springboks will consider the first hour a more accurate reflection of the gulf between the two teams. This version of reality seems a closer approximation to the hard facts than the wild optimism of the almost unforgettable last quarter of the game. And yet, and yet, the Lions did lacerate the Springboks from first to last. Given more and better ball, there is plenty of reason to believe.

To do this, some brutal calls are essential from the front to the back of the team. Start with the set-piece, where scrum and lineout were scenes of devastation for much of the match. In the lineout there should be no panic. The Springboks are the best in the world and no other combinations would have made any serious improvement. But in the scrum the team must learn from history. Twelve years ago the Lions were expected to opt for the bulky English prop combination to counter Os Du Randt and company. Instead, Jim Telfer came up with a masterstrokes of Lions history and played the smaller, less considered duo of Tom Smith and Paul Wallace.

As one of the disregarded English props was Graham Rowntree, a Lions coach this time round, you would hope this lesson resonates come the selection meeting. The long-backed Phil Vickery struggled against real cohesive power and it was only when the squatter Adam Jones replaced him that the Springbok pack ceased its constant atomisation of the Lions scrum.

Lee Mears appeared to find the squeeze intolerable too as his usual jaunty game subsided into the ineffectual. He has been the best hooker on tour by a distance going into the Test match but the brute reality of the match leaves Matthew Rees a bigger and likelier starter next week.

However, this loss of weight in the scrum has negative implications elsewhere, especially the small matter of the driving mauls, which sapped the Lions physically and psychologically and led directly to one of the Springbok tries. Alun-Wyn Jones is an infinitely superior performer at the lineout than either Simon Shaw or Donncha O’Callaghan, but one of these heftier options should be chosen to add much-needed pounds in the pack.

Behind the scrum, more of the same is required. There was some dazzling rugby played throughout, and while Stephen Jones did not kick with the aplomb of which his rival Ronan O’Gara is capable, his technical ability to move the ball into the right spaces at the right time on the gain line makes his inclusion vital if the team are to utilise their greatest attacking strength in the midfield.

Where changes of personnel are required is wider out. Ugo Monye had a couple of opportunities to score tries at vital stages of the match. Neither was a soft chance but nobody ever said it would be easy to beat the world champions on their home patch. While Luke Fitzgerald has issues with the lax nature of his kicking, the Lions must take the same option in selection as the one they exercised on the field: the brave one. And the brave one is to say to hell with worries clearing the kicks of the Springbok half-backs. Let us set out to finish the chances we create.

Fitzgerald would surely have finished the second-half chance that the Harlequin should have taken, and maybe the first-half opportunity too. Be bold Lions and risk the odd defensive inadequacy for the better finisher.

If the management are too worried about Fitzgerald’s ability to clear his lines, they should pick Rob Kearney, who played with intelligence and composure when he came on to the pitch. He handled the tactical kicking game of South Africa better than a nervous Lee Byrne and should, one way or the other, make the starting line-up, giving the tourists either extra kicking options if he plays wing, or a composed presence with a siege-gun boot should he be a straight replacement for Byrne.

In the middle of them all, props and back three, is the unresolved question of the open-side flanker. If the Lions free their midfield once more, they need their most creative forward presence as a link between forwards and backs. That man is Martyn Williams. Although this would be harsh on David Wallace, who did little wrong, to win the match, the Lions have to choose the men who will do more right.

Fewer easy targets for the Beast, more of a link between the brilliant midfield and the forwards, and more bulk in the second row to counter the mighty South African driving forward game. Make these changes and the Lions can dare to dream.

Our experts’ starting XVs for the second Test

STEPHEN JONES
Lee Byrne (Wales)
Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland, capt)
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Ugo Monye (England)
Stephen Jones (Wales)
Mike Phillips (Wales)
Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Matthew Rees (Wales)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Simon Shaw (England)
Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales)
Tom Croft (England)
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
Martyn Williams (Wales)

STUART BARNES
Rob Kearney (Ireland)
Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Luke Fitzgerald (Ireland)
Stephen Jones (Wales)
Mike Phillips (Wales)
Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Matthew Rees (Wales)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Simon Shaw (England)
Paul O’Connell (Ireland, capt)
Tom Croft (England)
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
Martyn Williams (Wales)

DAVID WALSH
Rob Kearney (Ireland)
Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Luke Fitzgerald (Ireland)
Stephen Jones (Wales)
Mike Phillips (Wales)
Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Matthew Rees (Wales)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Simon Shaw (England)
Paul O’Connell (Ireland, capt)
Tom Croft (England)
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
Martyn Williams (Wales)

LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO
Lee Byrne (Wales)
Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Ugo Monye (England)
Stephen Jones (Wales)
Mike Phillips (Wales)
Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Matthew Rees (Wales)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Simon Shaw (England)
Paul O’Connell (Ireland, capt)
Tom Croft (England)
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
David Wallace (Ireland)