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Johannesburg, Monday afternoon

Eye-gouging, along with biting, and kicking an opponent's head, has long been seen as one of rugby's three greatest sins.

So the that has greeted the actions of Springboks flanker Schalk Burger against British and Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald in Saturday's second Test comes as no surprise.

Nor does the general impression that Burger, who after a lengthy disciplinary hearing, has got off rather lightly.

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Pretoria, Saturday evening

Sickening. Galling. Heart-breaking. Take your pick, if you are a Lions fan.

Whichever word you use to sum up the feeling after an against the Springboks in Pretoria, it was a horrible way to lose the series.

The ifs, buts and maybes will be debated for many a year, but the harsh facts remain.

This was a seventh straight Test defeat for the British and Irish Lions since that , and now a third consecutive series defeat.

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Cape Town, Thursday evening

So despite saying he "didn't want to make too many changes", Lions head coach Ian McGeechan has for the second Test against the Springboks in Pretoria.

One of them was enforced with full-back , but the four others were all done for specific "technical and tactical" reasons with the aim of squaring the series at Loftus Versfeld.

It doesn't compare with the way Sir Clive Woodward ripped up his original plan and made 11 changes, four positional, after the disastrous first Test in New Zealand four years ago.

But McGeechan has been here before. In 1989 in Australia, the only time the Lions have come behind to win a series, he also shook things up with five changes after losing the first Test in Sydney.

Jeremy Guscott (JG) was one of those brought in for the second Test in Brisbane, and responded with a superb match-clinching try in the decisive minutes.

I spoke to the England and Lions legend this afternoon to discuss how the Lions' team changes might affect the outcome this Saturday.

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Cape Town, Wednesday

The Lions have embraced most of the challenges they have encountered on this South Africa tour head on.

The on-field ones might have escalated this week, but away from the rugby there remains one that no squad member fancies, despite encouragement from the coaches.

Forwards coach Warren Gatland and defence guru Shaun Edwards have both offered tempting bets to any player who can 'bring down' the squad's physical conditioner Paul Stridgeon, a former freestyle wrestler who competed for England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

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Cape Town, late Tuesday evening

So the 100% record in non-Test matches has now gone, but the 2009 Lions can still say they remain unbeaten against all opposition apart from the Springboks.

While there was disappointment at against the Emerging variety in the last play of the game, in the context of the tour it was merely a statistical footnote.

As Ian McGeechan noted afterwards, a "kicking game in a monsoon" in Cape Town is a millions miles away from what they want, and expect, in the dry heat of Pretoria on Saturday.

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Cape Town, Monday afternoon

The mantra stays the same, even if the odds have shortened even further in the Springboks' favour.

Ian McGeechan conceded today that coaching-wise, South Africa have a distinct advantage this week in not having to concern themselves with a Tuesday match in between the critical first and second Tests.

But despite anticipating a full-on fixture with the feel of a 'fourth Test' against the at Newlands, the Lions head coach has not let Saturday's events disturb his perennially sunny disposition.

have descended on Cape Town since the tourists' return, but the outlook according to 'Geech' remains bright.

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Durban, Saturday evening

"You take whatever you can get in this game," said a beaming Springboks coach Peter de Villiers as he contemplated a victory over the Lions in Saturday's first Test.

He had the look of a man who knew his side had survived an almighty scare, but was content in the knowledge they were unlikely to be as careless next time.

Make no mistake, this was an opportunity missed by the Lions, and the concern must be that there is no guarantee it will come knocking again next week.

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Durban, Thursday evening

So after all the conjecture and deliberation over the identity of the 2009 Lions, what have we ended up with?

By and large, the side that most pundits predicted before the outset of the tour, and the one which has naturally taken shape since their arrival in South Africa.

There were no real surprises, no tactical innovations or left-field selections to bamboozle the Boks.

With the exception of pre-tour injury victim , who would have been favourite for the hooking berth, and wing Shane Williams, whose form has not been good enough to justify his inclusion, there are no real absentees of note.

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Durban, Tuesday evening

The bruised and battered faces on the Lions' flight to Durban on Tuesday night told its own story.

Every rugby match is physical, especially in South Africa, but the one they had just played stretched the boundaries of the term to its outer limits.

But on reflection their final warm-up match before Saturday's first Test was perhaps the ideal way to prepare to face the Springboks.

After all, if the dozen players already in Durban watching on television were in any doubt about the "massive physical confrontation" - in the words of Kings coach Alan Solomons - awaiting them, events in Port Elizabeth provided a timely reminder.

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Port Elizabeth, Monday evening

The guessing game of Lions Test selection is nearly over, but not quite.

In naming in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, head coach Ian McGeechan gave the Springboks advance warning of most of his chosen 15 for Saturday's looming set-to in Durban.

Although in theory one or two players could - in the words of Tuesday's captain Donncha O'Callaghan - "force the coach's hand with a huge performance", this was always a match for which no serious Test contender wanted to be selected.

The big winners appear to be the Welsh trio of loose-head prop Gethin Jenkins, lock Alun-Wyn Jones and, possibly, flanker .

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Cape Town, Saturday evening

Well at least the coaches won't have to linger long over who plays right wing.

If Saturday's narrow win over confirmed anything, it is that Tommy Bowe will certainly be in the Lions number 14 shirt for next week's first Test in Durban.

Not that there was much doubt. The Ireland wing was already pencilled in to face the Springboks after his superlative display in the second match of the trip, the 74-point mauling of

But in the space of six first-half minutes at Newlands, the pencil became ink as the 25-year-old displayed the skills that have transported him into the realms of world-class.

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Cape Town, Friday afternoon:

In a hotel room in Durban late next Tuesday evening, Ian McGeechan and the rest of the brains trust on this Lions tour will sit down and pick a team to face South Africa.

McGeechan likens himself to a 'benevolent dictator' who will have the final say on selection after some 'straight-talking' discussions with his assistant coaches Shaun Edwards, Warren Gatland and Rob Howley.

In theory that process won't start until the conclusion of , after which the squad fly to Durban that evening to prepare to face the Springboks four days later.

But although McGeechan is adamant there will still be opportunities for those turning out on Tuesday to be part of the Test equation, reality dictates that the best they can hope for by then is a place on the bench.

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Cape Town, Thurs 11 June:

Nine days before the first Test in Durban, the influx of appears to have begun in earnest.

In excess of 30,000 official tour packages have already been sold, and thousands more are expected to make their own way to South Africa to swell the red hordes.

And how the country needs it, judging by the relative lack of interest so far.
While the tourists can be happy with how the first four matches have proceeded on the field, the atmosphere in the stands has hardly justified manager description of the tour as "amongst the most popular events in world sport".

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First the good news. The Lions didn't lose. Their South African tour is still on track.

James Hook kicked all his goals, they scrummaged well, and will not be playing at altitude again until the second Test in Pretoria in three weeks.

But after the euphoria of Wednesday's dismantling of the Golden Lions, was a major reality check.

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After the rustiness of Rustenburg, jubilation in Johannesburg.

The Lions needed a big statement to kick-start their tour and at Ellis Park, the spiritual home of South African rugby, they certainly delivered one.

It was barely a third full on Wednesday, but will be bursting at the seams in a little over a month when the tourists return there for what could be a series-deciding third Test.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

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