Lions kept coming out of the Springboks' mouths yesterday and while Ian McGeechan has been stalking the world champions, assessing form before the home nations team tour next summer, Dick Muir, the South Africa assistant coach, revealed that the hunter is also the hunted.

“When you play against sides, you gain respect for certain individuals and we have got a database of all the different players,” Muir said. “We try and go through all the strengths and weaknesses and identify where we can exploit those players. They [the Lions] will have seen us play as a unit. We'll probably be a little underdone because we won't have seen them play. We'll certainly come over and see some of the [Six Nations] games.”

But South Africa have other pressures to which combining four nations for a tour does not compare. They may not be calling themselves Springboks by the time the Lions arrive in May. The South African Rugby Union confirmed yesterday that, under pressure from the Government, the King Protea, the national emblem, will replace the Springbok. The protea will be worn on the left-hand side of the jersey, as is already the case with all other national sports federations.

However, various commercial deals mean that the change may not be immediate. Canterbury, the kit sponsor, which manufactures months in advance, would stand to lose millions from lost merchandising.

Whether a smaller springbok emblem can remain is being negotiated. The South African rugby symbol has been the leaping springbok since 1906 but was viewed by many as divisive because of its link with an apartheid past. The team preferred not to comment.

Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers emphasised the double significance of the confrontation with England at Twickenham on Saturday. “I think we all knew that this whole tour would be important for our preparation for next year,” De Villiers said. “It will be the last time we play together before the Lions game. You want to go into a Lions series having beaten the individuals first.”

After a tough year of rugby since winning the World Cup last October, the South Africans are limping to the finish line and delayed naming their team to play England because of injuries. The main concern remains Fourie du Preez, the scrum half. He faces further tests after missing the win over Scotland on Saturday because of a strained quadriceps muscle.