Lions ready to hit the heights

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The players have been training in specialist altitude masks in preparation for Saturday's crucial second Test in Pretoria, which stands around 5,000 feet above sea level. Edwards rates Loftus Versfeld as the toughest place to play rugby in the world but is convinced the Lions can avenge last weekend's 26-21 defeat against the Springboks.

Edwards said: "We have continued to work with the altitude masks on, and I know we will be in better shape going back to altitude than when we first went there."

He added: "They set the masks at 7,500 feet - which is obviously higher than we will be playing. When you see the pain on the players' faces when they are cycling with the masks it is obviously hurting them a bit.

"Loftus Versfeld at the moment is probably the hardest place to play rugby in the world, because of the altitude - and if anyone saw the Super 14 final it would give you reason to think that.

"It all adds to the challenge facing us on Saturday. I am as determined as can be to make sure that last week in Johannesburg is a week of great excitement and great tension building up to what we hope is going to be the deciding Test."

Edwards would be "pretty gutted" if the Lions fail to force the Test series into a decider - but they are up against history.

No Lions side has ever come from 1-0 down to win a series in South Africa - but then Ian McGeechan has never lost a second Test in three previous tours as a head coach. Something has to give.

Scrum coach Graham Rowntree was a member of the 1997 squad that created such a Lions legacy with victory over the Springboks. It was Rowntree's domain - the scrum and forward play - where the first Test was lost, and he could not be more determined to preserve that spirit of 1997 by helping the Lions bounce back emphatically.

"What happened 12 years ago is driving me as a coach help the players," said Rowntree. "In my area we failed for a crucial point last week, and it drives me on to get that right. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb last week, with the scrum penalties and the driving line-out."