The Lions must correct the deficiencies from last week when they announce today the team for the second international against South Africa, in Pretoria on Saturday.

However, they also have decisions of the utmost delicacy, on the left wing and at fly half, if they are to claw their way back to parity and take the three-match series all the way to Johannesburg on July 4.

No one typifies this more than Shane Williams, the Wales wing who has handled disappointment on this tour with so much dignity. A year ago, on the same sun-baked Loftus Versveld pitch where the Lions will play at the weekend, he sprinkled his stardust with a try that perhaps only he could have scored. But this year, try as he may, he has not been able to rediscover the magic.

The decision that Ian McGeechan and his coaches must make is whether Williams or Luke Fitzgerald takes over from Ugo Monye, who failed to grasp his opportunities in Durban last Saturday. Both left Newlands on Tuesday night believing that they had given their all in the 13-13 draw against the Emerging Springboks, but conscious that it had been impossible to play as they would have wished.

“I didn't get my hands on the ball, it wasn't that kind of night, but I didn't worry too much about that,” Williams said. “I worked as hard as I could and came off happy. I don't think I could have done more.”

Not only has he been closely marked on tour, but the ball has not run for him. However, that Williams has appeared in six of the eight matches, four times in the starting XV, suggests that the Lions believe they need him.

James Hook has also appeared in six games, a decent achievement for a player not chosen in the original squad. At fly half, the coaches have to decide which of Ronan O'Gara or Stephen Jones, the incumbent, is playing more efficiently, or they must gamble and choose Hook because he does things differently. If they get it wrong, the series will be gone.

One player out of contention is Nathan Hines, the Scotland lock, who was suspended yesterday for one week. Hines became the first player to be cited on the tour, for a dangerous tackle on Wilhelm Steenkamp, his opposite number on Tuesday, and though there were grounds to suggest that it was an unfortunate change of momentum in a double hit involving Donncha O'Callaghan, there will be no appeal and Hines must place his hopes of an international appearance on Johannesburg.

David Hands's Lions team to face South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday: R Kearney; T Bowe, B O'Driscoll, J Roberts, S Williams; J Hook, M Phillips; G Jenkins, M Rees, A Jones, S Shaw, P O'Connell, T Croft, D Wallace, J Heaslip. Replacements: A Sheridan, A W Jones, L Mears, M Williams, H Ellis, R O'Gara, L Fitzgerald.