The British and Irish Lions shrugged off a shoddy first half to overcome world champion South Africa 22-17 in their tense first test of three at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
The Lions responded to trailing 12-3 at halftime with a bolder, disciplined and tactically superior second half. What also came to fruition was their belief they had better fitness and a better bench.
The Lions out-scored the Springboks 19-5 in the second half, grabbed the lead for the first time in the 62nd minute and held on.
The teams scored a try each, both in the third quarter, and South Africa had two other tries ruled out.
The Lions were under the most pressure to take advantage of a South Africa side which was on ice for 19 months and playing only its second test since winning the Rugby World Cup in November 2019.