Lions ready to roar

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And England World Cup winner Phil Vickery, a member of the last Lions team to taste Test match success - eight years ago in Australia - knows the stakes could hardly be higher.

"In my opinion, there are two true Test matches - one is France, and the other is South Africa," said the Lions' tighthead prop. "I am probably more nervous now than I've ever been in my whole rugby career."

Vickery added: "Tomorrow (Saturday) will be incredible, far beyond probably anything I've experienced for a while. If you switch off for 10 minutes of a Test match against these guys, it could be all over.

"It's going to be a huge step, but I firmly believe the guys we have are more than capable of stepping up and performing."

Wave after wave of Lions fans have arrived in Durban, lapping up temperatures of more than 70 degrees alongside the Indian Ocean.

And so anxious are South African rugby chiefs to make the ABSA Stadium a level playing field off the pitch, that they issued a public appeal for Springbok fans to wear green.

"They (Lions fans) will be out in force," said South Africa Rugby acting managing director, the former Wales centre Andy Marinos.

"Every four years, stadia across the southern hemisphere are awash in red, and the Springboks are calling on all their fans to show their support."