Two elements have dictated the shape of the Lions team that will start the final match of the tour at Ellis Park on Saturday: injuries to two influential pairs, at prop and centre, and the draining effect, phsyically and emotionally, of last week's last-gasp loss to South Africa in Pretoria.

Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones had to be replaced in the front row, as did Brian O'Driscoll and, as always seemed likely, Jamie Roberts in midfield. Add to those such young players as Luke Fitzgerald and Tom Croft, who went through the kind of ringer at Loftus Versfeld that neither had experienced before in their brief international careers.

Croft played himself into the ground five days ago and, with Joe Worsley able and willing to grasp, towards the end of his career, a Lions test shirt, Ian McGeechan has tried to make optimum use of his remaining resources. It is a commentary on the midfield talent available that he has moved Tommy Bowe off the wing to centre rather than promote Gordon D'Arcy, who has not been able to produce his best form here, but it has allowed the Lions to give Shane Williams a start and restore Ugo Monye after the wing's mishaps in the first international in Durban.

Similarly Phil Vickery receives the chance to make amends for Durban. It was always on the cards that he would return to the front row despite his difficulties against Tendai Mtawarira in Durban; he has too much experience, too much passion for the game, too much competitive spirit not to seek a return match with the 'Beast'.

To have him in the team, alongside so experienced an individual as Martyn Williams, can only strengthen the Lions. But it also casts an element of the unknown over the final match of the series. How will the Lions, with eight changes, play with the series gone? How, indeed, will the Springboks, with ten changes, play now that the shackles are off?

South Africa's selection makes a mockery of their stated intention two days ago to field their strongest XV in an effort to clinch the series 3-0. Two suspensions have forced change, otherwise the Springboks are giving a run-out to their next tier of players with the Tri-Nations - which begins on July 25 - in mind.

Even so it features players eager to show they are as good as last week's starting XV. Ryan Kankowski is almost as much of a threat from No 8 as Pierre Spies. Johann Muller demonstrated his quality for the Sharks against the Lions midway through the tour and arguments were made for the Bulls trio of Morne Steyn, Wynand Olivier and the uncapped Zane Kirchner to be included among the backs at the start of the series.

When you remember how many problems the Emerging Springboks, with no capped players among them, gave the Lions in the 13-13 draw in Cape Town, this team could yet complete a whitewash at Ellis Park. But there will be no lack of motivation for the Lions to grasp something at the last and show to the world that, though the series has been lost, the ambition and the ability remain.