REACTION: ONE CAN never recall Jamie Heaslip looking so crestfallen. In "Beam Me Up, Scotty" mode, he didn't want to be pitch-side for the presentation, he didn't want to be in the losing dressing-room and he certainly didn't want to be in the players' mixed zone afterwards. It felt intrusive to even ask him anything.

The soothing words of Ian McGeechan, who said the players had done themselves proud, were of no consolation. “Yeah, he said that in the changing-room but it’s tough to take. I think we played well in both Tests. Maybe in the first Test we were slow to start. But at the end of the day we lost the series and for me personally I think it’s very hard to take anything else off that.”

Nor could Heaslip muster any soothing words for a distraught Ronan O’Gara who, for all his self-deprecating wit to the players yesterday, will be punishing himself inside.

“No. I didn’t say anything to anyone really, to be honest,” admitted Heaslip. “I just wanted to get out of the changing-room and get out of here. I didn’t say anything to anyone, sorry.”

Coming after a Grand Slam and a Heineken Cup, this was as disappointing a loss as any Heaslip has suffered. “Yeah, probably. Especially with the season I’ve had; you’re feeling both ends of the spectrum. Yes, to come so close in both Tests and lose by such small margins, it’s not easy. You did get your upsets in your career, but there’s a lot put in to the Lions’ set-up and getting out there for a Test team.

“As well as feeling like you let yourself down and you let your squad members down, there’s a lot of guys who’ve worn that jersey ahead of you and a lot of guys that will follow. It’s just not very nice to lose in a Lions’ jersey.”

Heaslip believed the advent of uncontested scrums helped the Springboks. “I think they got a nice little break, their pack, at scrum time because I think we really did push them around the park, I think we really did test their ability to work through nine, 10 or 11 phases like we did in the first half. We just let them back in the game with silly mistakes, just being a bit loose maybe one or two times. But fair play to them, they came back, they took their chances and they got their tries.”

When asked if he had any objections to the Boks’ confrontational ways, a la Phillips, Heaslip smiled and said: “They’ve got their game plan, we’ve got ours. If they want to do s*** off the ball, that’s their prerogative. I didn’t pay any attention to it. Some guys, I don’t know. It didn’t faze me to be honest. I didn’t even notice.”

Soon the players will have to start getting their heads around the prospect of a third Test. “I’m sure we will, yeah, but right now I don’t give a s*** about that. Take this knock and try and get over it tonight. Two days off, get back in the paddock next week and focus on stopping them getting a whitewash.”

He would subsequently apologise for his mood and the cussin’.

At 35, Simon Shaw had a proverbial stormer on his belated Test debut in his 16th Lions’ appearance – and a dozen years after his Lions’ debut. “I was the most nervous I ever felt before a Test match. Two days before I couldn’t sleep. Usually I don’t get like that because I am a very laid-back person. Ultimately we came here to win the series and we’ve lost. I would rather have been taken off at half-time for feeling poorly and the team won than win man of the match and lose. I was proud to wear the Test shirt, but I wanted to win.

“The move to uncontested scrums was the turning point as we had the edge on them in that area. The feelings afterwards are the same feelings I had after (losing) the World Cup final – I’m just absolutely gutted. I can’t describe how bad it felt.”

His secondrow partner and captain, Paul O’Connell, managed a rare half-smile when expressing the hope he will still be playing as well at 35, but admitted: “Right now that feels like the hardest defeat I’ve ever had to take. We had a lot of injuries and that told.

“We lost Brian O’Driscoll who was the lynchpin of the team. That was tough but we just didn’t play enough in the second half. We were all over them when we did play in the first half. That was the way I knew we could play on this tour. But we needed to play like that for 80 minutes and we just didn’t get going in the second half. I thought we had done enough to at least get a draw and keep the series alive but that has gone now. But the commitment from the boys was incredible. The boys were so proud to play for the Lions and wanted to win for the Lions.”

Springbok captain John Smit expressed satisfaction with a job well done. “It was ironic that the last series 12 years ago was decided by a late kick after we missed so many penalties but this time we got the late kick,” said Smit, referring back to Jerry Guscott’s dramatic drop goal in Durban in ’97.

“It was a wonderful Test match. It was a real battle in every contest around the pitch. I’m sure it must be pretty hard to take for the Lions and they will feel unlucky to lose that game. But it feels great to be 2-0 up in the series. The job is done, now it’s time to enjoy the final Test.”

Bryan Habana looked almost schoolboy-ish when already proudly wearing a commemorative peaked cap in celebration of their series win along with his Springboks’ blazer. “Seeing Morne drop that 55-footer over was really special. I’ve become great mates with him and shared some special memories. It’s a special win. We have another 12 years to say we were Lions’ series winners and that was the goal we set out for.”