It's payback time for Phil Vickery, the "Raging Bull" who was neutered by Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira so completely in Durban a fortnight ago that it looked as if not just his Lions days, but his international days as whole, were over for good. And if it is stand tall time for Vickery, the same is true for Joe Worsley, Riki Flutey, and Simon Shaw, the other Wasps veterans selected for the third and final international of this fascinating, ferocious, and increasingly bitter series between the 2009 Lions and South Africa.

The four Wasps must not only lead the way in battering South Africa, but also seeing off a vociferous minority of Celtic commentators who have contended ever since the head coach Ian McGeechan announced his squad that the contingent from the English club at which he was also, until recently, director of rugby, is overblown and past it.

Not that anyone could have stood taller than the giant Shaw did in his man-of-the-match performance in Pretoria, with the Wasps lock emphasising just why Roger Uttley, the former England coach and 1974 Lions test flanker - a companion on game drives in a successful search over the last 24 hours for the "Big Five" (leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo) at the Lion Sands reserve on the southern edge of the Kruger National Park - says, "He is one of the two best second row forwards that Britain and Ireland has produced in the last decade, definitely the best since Martin Johnson retired, and, as last Saturday proved, he has been under-utilised and unrewarded by England".

Ironically, Shaw's selection was criticised by the Celts in the build-up to the second test, with Alun-Wyn Jones getting the Welsh vote and Donncha O'Callaghan the Irish, and there will be similar misgivings that the tight-head jersey at Ellis Park has gone to Vickery, another Wasps man, ahead of Munster's John Hayes (who is on the bench), in the light of his earlier pasting by The Beast.

Now Vickery, 33, must emulate the prodigious efforts of Shaw, who is two years his senior, and no-one understands better than the Cornishman what is expected of him, because he has been too good for too long to go out in such ignominious fashion. Those, like McGeechan, who know how deeply the competitive fires burn in Vickery, have backed him to put things right in his personal scrum battle, and live up to the English bulldog and "I will fight you to the death" Chinese tattoos on his upper arms, when he meets the Zimbabwean loose-head in the rematch.

McGeechan said of the recall of the former England captain: "I am very confident, Phil is a world-class prop. He is an outstanding tourist and after the first Test he put all of his efforts into supporting Adam Jones when he got the position. You could not have asked for anymore".

Jones revealed last week that Vickery had told him to "go out there and stuff him (Mtawarira)". Jones certainly turned the tables, and now it is Vickery's turn he will have the big plus of having the shunting-power and technique of Shaw behind him this time in the scrum, and that is likely to make it far more difficult for The Beast to get under him.

Having been an avid Vickery watcher since he announced his formidable presence playing for an Emerging England outfit against New Zealand at Ashton Gate in 1997, I have never seen him as embarrassed in his 73 caps and three previous Lions internationals as he was in Durban.

It was light years away from a titanic battle I once witnessed between Vickery and Gary Pagel, a Springbok scrummager of greater reknown than Mtawarira, in a Gloucester v Northampton game a few years later, and his club-mate, Worsley, is convinced that his pride - and his desire to repay McGeechan's faith in him - will see him bounce back.

"When a game goes against you its a matter of pride and you wait for the opportunity to put it right", Worsley says. "I bet Vicks will be over the moon that he's got that chance now rather than stewing over the summer. He is a really strong character and I'm sure he'll take the chance".

Worsley, who wins his first Lions international cap at Ellis Park at the age of 32, is another Wasps veteran who will want to leave an indelible mark, having been left seething with frustration after being overlooked for the 2001 and 2005 Lions tours. Given the opportunity to put those rights to wrongs, McGeechan and forwards coach Warren Gatland will be counting on Worsley to produce the credentials which helped Wasps to two Heineken Cups and three Guinness Premiership titles during their tenures at the club.

Flutey, at 29, is the youngster of the quartet - and, while the others are staying at Adams Park, he is moving to Brive - but his motivation to write his name into Lions legend, and avoid a first Lions whitewash by South Africa in 118 years - will be equally strong. In winning his first cap the Maori centre will be one of a rare breed who have played for and against the Lions, having lost 23-6 to the 2005 tourists while playing for Wellington.

It would be out of character if he and the three Wasps forwards wasted this opportunity to prove their big game credentials in the Lions jerseys they have coveted for so long.

Nick Cain is travelling with Thomas Cook Sport, an official licensed operator of the British & Irish Lions tour. For more details go to www.thomascooksport.com