I have always believed heavily in our side. We have got a group of players who are ambitious. They could have decided the World Cup win two years ago was the pinnacle of their careers and gone their own way, but they stayed because of how important this Lions tour is. And that is why everyone is keen to finish off the job in today's second Test and win the series. We still have work to do and we will learn from last week's first Test win, especially with the substitutions.
We realise our scrum-half Fourie du Preez will have to stay on for the full game and Bakkies Botha is going to have to play for a longer period. We controlled the first 40 minutes and had a 19-point lead which is something we normally relish, but we let them back into it. There's no doubt the Lions could have won if had we not woken up for the last five minutes. We know we have to keep control for the full 80 minutes this time.
There has to be more intensity and, having seen the guys this week in training, it will be twice as much as it was in Durban. I think there is more pressure on us in this one. We know they will be playing for their lives and the intensity will be key to being successful. Passion will play a part, but I don't think it's about how much you can spit, swear, scream and butt each other in the changing room.
We have come a long way since those days and this is going to come down to who can be active, driving and attacking, and who can cleverly play the right kind of game. We did that with our start in the first Test and we need to maintain that for the whole game. It was unbelievable to score a try, but that was the last thing on my mind; the only thing I was bothered about was the result. I've got five now and the last one I scored was in the World Cup against Fiji. I like to save them for the big occasions.
This was one of those and we saw some massive performances from the guys. The Beast (Tendai Mtawarira) was one. The Lions made a meal out of the fact they wanted to give us a lesson in the scrum time, so we were pretty motivated to make sure that area was dominant and Beast and Bismarck du Plessis closed the deal for us there. Beast has had a lot of attention, but he's the most humble and shy guy you will ever meet. He's always getting stick from the other guys because he's so easy to embarrass. He likes gospel music, but I've been trying to get him to sing a bit of Barry White because he's got the deepest voice I've ever heard in my life.
On the field, he's totally different. We have had these phenomenal array of animals playing loosehead for South Africa now for the last 15 years. We had Os du Randt and now Beast. It's amazing. We have worked hard to become a formidable pack and we want to make sure we are regarded as the best. We have Schalk Burger back at flanker today and he makes us an even better team. Heinrich Brussow has had an amazing season, but Schalk commands huge respect in international rugby.
He might not have had a great year with the Stormers, but every game he has played for us, he has been, or close to being, man-of-the-match. I would be scared if I saw his name on the opposition list. Hopefully the Lions will be too. @Email:sports@thenational.ae"There was a bit of banter out there last Saturday, but I enjoy the confrontation and the chat. "It just gets me even more up for it, more focused and switched-on."
