A PRECIOUS unbeaten record against provincial opposition in South Africa, which extended back to June 1968 when Transvaal defeated the Lions, was surrendered in the passionate atmosphere of Loftus Versfeld last Saturday.

Northern Transvaal, the province that had not beaten the Lions for 35 years but had gone so close had the distinction of being the first to conquer the 1997 tourists. It was the first win by Northern Transvaal over the Lions since 1962 and, understandably, it was celebrated accordingly.

From a beginning haunted by doubt, indecision and inefficiency, the Lions trailed by 18-7 at the interval and were extremely fortunate that the deficit was not considerably greater. The Lions display in that initial period was, quite frankly, awful.

In contrast, Northern Transvaal were sharp of wit, quick of foot and alert of mind. They went into this match minus five Springboks panellists, but those they brought in rose to the challenge superbly. a point stressed by their inspirational captain and number eight Adriaan Richter.

Now the Lions face two extremely difficult assignments over the coming week, against Transvaal on Wednesday night and Currie Cup holders Natal next Saturday, before the first test on Saturday week. What effect this defeat will have on confidence only time will reveal, but it will certainly concentrate the minds and leave not a shadow of doubt about the difficulties that lie ahead. Their character as well as their skill will be tested.

The Northern Transvaal coach, John Williams, and captain Richter believe the Lions can bounce back from this reverse. They have some quality players, but if they want to make a running game effective their scrummaging and their driving must improve to provide the necessary platform," said Williams.

"But it would be extremely unwise to write them off. They are building towards the first test and will be a very different team by that tinge." Richter endorsed those views. "We applied a lot of pressure on their scrum. closed them down quickly and did not allow them the platform to use their very good and quick backs. But I was not impressed with their front row on this performance." Lions coach Ian McGeechan made no secret of his disappointment at the performance, especially in the first half. "We made so many mistakes, did not exercise any control, we gave them a lot of possession for which they did not have to work. You cannot afford that against a side of their quality. We played very much better in the second half, but then again made mistakes at crucial periods after we were right back in the game.

Nothing was more costly than a try conceded in the 57th minute. The Lions had fought back from a 25-7 deficit to 25-20. For the first time in the match it looked as if they were going to take control. Then outside-half Gregor Townsend, who certainly mixed the bad with the good, had a pass intercepted near his own line by centre Danie Van Schalkwyk; that was converted by left wing Casper Steyn and the Lions trailed again by 12 points.

The Lions did fight back once more, and by the 76th minute trailed 35-30; a last-minute reprieve was possible but did not materialise. They can have no complaints, for they did not deserve to win this intensely exciting match.

One must wonder, too, at the reluctance of the Lions management to make tactical replacements. Northern Transvaal used all their replacements. From the outset the pack struggled to get any rhythm or control. They turned over ball and were lethargic in the loose, nor was the scrum entirely comfortable - at times it was substandard.

The back row of Lawrence Dallaglio, Scott Quinnell and Eric Miller looked unbalanced, even allowing for the deficiency of the all England tight five. Dallaglio was by some way the best of the back row. Miller looked miscast and uncomfortable on the open side flank, and conceded: "I was not happy with my display. It was not a match in which we had the platform we needed and made far too many mistakes." The Lions backs produced a few excellent scores, but made their quota of errors. Jeremy Guscott was by far the best of the unit. Tim Stimpson's defensive limitations were ruthlessly exposed, notably for the first try in the 19th minute when Steyn left him dead".

Steyn put Northern Transvaal 11 points up with two penalty goals and a try, before Guscott got a try for the Lions after a kick and chase, and Stimpson converted. Then Van Schalkwyk got the first of his two tries after a ruck and Steyn converted. The Lions were very fortunate not to have concede two more first-half tries.

The Lions looked doomed when Northern Transvaal got a soft try just after the interval; they attacked down the blind side through scrum-half Conrad Breytenback, and Gerhard Laufs handled before Richter got over. Steyn again converted and the Lions stood 25-7 in arrears.

To their great credit they did not die. Townsend made a great break to put Guscott in, Stimpson converted and scored two penalty goals and for the first time the home team looked vulnerable as they led 25-20. Then came the interception for Van Schalkwyk's second try.

That was crucial score for us," said Richter. "The Lions were looking really dangerous." McGeechan believed: "It possibly cost us the match as we were right back in the game at that time."