Ian McGeechan has twice managed to haul the British and Irish Lions back from the precipice of a series defeat after losing a first Test, so he has had the benefit of hard-won experience over the past week as he has laboured to put the 2009 tourists� campaign back on track after their 26-21 loss last weekend.

Ian McGeechan has twice managed to haul the British and Irish Lions back from the precipice of a series defeat after losing a first Test, so he has had the benefit of hard-won experience over the past week as he has laboured to put the 2009 tourists' campaign back on track after their 26-21 loss last weekend.

Regardless of how the series turns out, it would be a noteworthy achievement in itself if McGeechan and his charges can square the series, as they did in Australia in 1989 and in New Zealand four years later. McGeechan is not without his critics, but they would have to concede the man has shown a certain talent for crisis management.

The Scot will require all of those gifts as the Lions head for Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld today for their make-or-break contest with the Springboks. If the Lions can win, they will set up a momentous showdown at Ellis Park, a match that will grip the entire world of rugby. If they lose, the last week of their tour will unfold as a particularly cruel and degrading form of punishment, trapped in a country where the local rugby fans are not exactly renowned for their magnanimity.

Or, for that matter, their fair-mindedness. Andy Irvine can recall the deathly silence that descended on Loftus when Phil Bennett scored a brilliant solo try in the second Test of the series - and the wild cheering that erupted for the most ordinary of touch kicks by a Springbok. Small wonder that Shaun Edwards, the Lions' defence coach, believes the compact stadium is the rugby's toughest.

Asked to elaborate, Edwards mentioned the Bulls' thunderous 61-17 victory over the Chiefs in the Super 14 final there, a match that took place five days after the Lions had arrived in South Africa. While the Lions toured the provinces, playing pat-a-cake rugby against powder-puff sides, the memory of that match was a nagging presence in the minds of the Lions' management team, not least because they knew they would have to face a number of the Bulls players once the Test series got underway.

So it proved last weekend, as the Springboks included five Bulls players in their starting lineup at the ABSA Stadium. And not just any five, for a strong case could be made for each and all of them - Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Pierre Spies and Fourie du Preez - to be included in a world XV at the moment.

Bulls captain Matfield will defer to Springboks skipper John Smit today, but in many senses he is just as much a leader of the side, a factor that is likely to be more obvious after his uncharacteristically quiet performance in Durban seven days ago. The mighty lock has won just about everything rugby has to offer - Super 14, Tri Nations, a World Cup - and a series win against the Lions is about the only omission of any note.

So how would beating the Lions sit alongside his other achievements? "I t would be right up there," he said yesterday. "I said after the 2007 World Cup that it was one of my big goals and we're now one game away from that. Hopefully we can now go out, be focused and achieve the goal."

Like Smit, Matfield curtailed a lucrative sojourn in France specifically to return to South Africa for the experience of playing against the Lions. He is not exactly in penury, but his decision to forego the opportunity to earn a few more euros would be fittingly rewarded by victory in the stadium where he is revered by local fans.

The fly in the ointment is that the Lions have a better record at Loftus than at any other South African international ground. The tourists inaugurated Loftus as a Test venue in 1955 with their 23-22 win, and they also won there in 1974 and 1980. Indeed, their only Test defeat in Pretoria was in 1968.

Understandably, the focus over the past few days has been on the scrum, where the Lions were dismantled in the first half in Durban. For Matfield, the more significant contest may the maul, revived as a tactic by recent law changes, where the Springboks found things all too easy last weekend. Matfield observed that the selection of Simon Shaw in the Lions' side was probably to counter that threat.

Much has been made of the Lions' all-Welsh front row and all-Welsh back three, and McGeechan has admitted that established partnerships count for much in selection debates. However, the greatest success was the Welsh-Irish pairing of Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll in the midfield.

Yet the Lions will first have to establish their forward platform - something that was only nailed together in the latter stages last week. We will know by this evening if McGeechan has one more trick up his sleeve.