Royal XV 25 British and Irish Lions 37

PHIL Vickery believes the British and Irish Lions have been handed a reality check by an unheralded Royal XV.

The Lions’ laboured 37-25 victory over a team drawn from South African rugby’s second tier will hardly set alarm bells ringing in the Springboks camp.

And confirmation of what awaits the Lions in next month’s Test series came before the tourists had even left Rustenburg.

While they reflected on a performance that only ignited during the final quarter following mass substitutions, South African World Cup heroes like Victor Matfield Bakkies Botha and Fourie du Preez were powering the Blue Bulls to Super 14 glory.

The Bulls’ 60-point stroll past Waikato Chiefs provided proof – if any was required – that South Africa are red-hot favourites to make it three successive Lions tours without Test series success.

There was not a Springboks superstar in sight at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace – just a meagre 12,000 crowd and opponents who refused to lie down.

The Lions had probably never heard of try-scorers Rayno Barnes, Bees Roux and Willhelm Koch, or man-of-thematch Jonathan Mokuena – but they have now.

A colossal upset was on the cards with 14 minutes remaining as the Lions trailed 25-13 and in dire need of inspiration.

It came from Wales fullback Lee Byrne, whose superb solo try capped an impressive individual display and hauled an ailing Lions outfit off the canvas.

Once Lions head coach Ian McGeechan had summoned reinforcements – including Vickery, Mike Phillips, Alun- Wyn Jones and the dangerous Riki Flutey – his team scored 24 unanswered points.

And in doing so they staved off the prospect of a first opening tour game defeat since 1971, when Queensland beat the Lions 15-11 en route to New Zealand.

‘‘We are disappointed with the performance,’’ said former England captain Vickery.

‘‘But we could have easily lost that game. The guys showed a lot of guts and courage to stick in there.

‘‘I think it is a good kick up the backside, which you need. The reality of what faces us on this tour is staring at us.

‘‘The most important thing about the last two weeks is the guys have got together, we’ve met each other and it is a great group of people and coaches.

‘‘Ultimately, that side of it is all finished now. It’s about rugby, and that is why we are here.’’ Super 14 side the Golden Lions are next up in front of an anticipated 60,000 capacity crowd at Ellis Park on Wednesday.

The tourists will make wholesale changes as part of McGeechan’s aim to hand every player an outing during the first three fixtures, but defeat beckons unless they deliver a vastly-improved performance.

‘‘It was a very disjointed affair,’’ conceded Lions assistant coach Rob Howley, who also cited the high temperature, altitude and several players having not played for a month as contributing factors.

‘‘When you think of the opening game in 2001 (the Lions beat Western Australia 110-16), we will be much better having been put through the mill like than playing a side we could have beaten quite comfortably.

‘‘The number of turnovers we conceded was disappointing.

The ball in play time was only 32 minutes, so we didn’t stretch the opposition as much as we wanted to.

‘‘Some of the players were very despondent, but I remember on the 1997 Lions tour after losing to Northern Transvaal, the next performance against Gauteng lifted the tour to another level.”

Immaculate goalkicking by Ronan O’Gara – he finished with 22 points, including a try – plus touchdowns from Byrne, Tommy Bowe and Jones, saw the Lions home, but it was perilously too close for comfort.

Howley added: ‘‘It was when they scored their third try and went 25-13 ahead that we got slightly nervous. But to turn it around under pressure during those 12 minutes or so, we couldn’t have asked for any more.’’ Lions captain Paul O’Connell, meanwhile, admitted the tourists’ performance had been scarred by errors.

The giant Ireland lock provided a towering second-half presence, suggesting that McGeechan got it spot-on by selecting him as tour skipper.

‘‘We were sluggish in the first-half – the errors were the big thing,’’ said O’Connell.

‘‘Everyone was very eager.

We had a very good week’s training, and the enthusiasm for this game was there.

Maybe that enthusiasm got a little bit of the better of us.’’