Lions Tour:Motivation will not be a problem for the Lions in the third Test against South Africa on Saturday, according to team manager Gerald Davies, who has insisted victory at Johannesburg's Ellis Park is the least the players deserve.
The Lions have only pride to play for in the final Test after South Africa wrapped up the series with a dramatic last-gasp 28-25 victory at Loftus Versfeld, but Davies, who played for the Lions in 1968 and 1971, believes pride in the jersey will be enough to drive the tourists into one final battle.
"I don't think this team - with the people we have got here and the way we have played - deserves to go back having lost three Test matches. If we need a motivation that is it," said Davies.
Head coach Ian McGeechan believes the credibility of the Lions, damaged so badly in 2005, has been restored after such a dramatic Test series.
Davies insists McGeechan has managed to re-create the spirit of old and dismissed any notion that the future of the Lions is in doubt.
"There has been a terrific camaraderie and team spirit. The players have gelled quickly and we have had that sense of a Lions tour. We have not won but it could have been," said Davies.
"I don't know of anyone within the corridors of power who has raised questions about the validity and the need and the spirit which the Lions engenders.
"It is not just us who have been following the fortunes of the Lions. There is a worldwide interest."
But the cruel statistics are that the Lions have lost a record seven consecutive Tests in the southern hemisphere, dating back to the victory over Australia in Brisbane in 2001.
For players like Stephen Jones, who have yet to taste victory, Saturday looms as one last opportunity to achieve what Jim Telfer once described as a player's Everest - winning a Test for the Lions in South Africa.
"When you give everything and you come second-best it hurts," said Jones. "We've got to do our homework and make sure we pick ourselves up because we've got a huge opportunity to restore some pride in the Lions jersey next week."
The majority of the squad were enjoying a day on safari and away from rugby before knuckling down to prepare for Saturday's clash at Ellis Park.
The Lions will definitely be without props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins, who required surgery on Saturday night for a dislocated shoulder and fractured cheekbone respectively.
The Lions had a total of five players in hospital and doctor James Robson is monitoring the fitness of Brian O'Driscoll (concussion), Tommy Bowe (elbow), Jamie Roberts (wrist) and Ronan O'Gara (eye).
