Rugby: Welcome to the tour from hell

LEADING THE LINE: Captain Paul O'Connell will be aware of the hard task ahead for his Lions. Photo / Getty Images

Smash - the tackles will be like glass breaking in their faces. Bang - the hits will shake their whole bodies. Wallop - the blows will come thick and fast, high and low.

Welcome to the 2009 Lions tour of South Africa.

One thing is certain about the group of men from Britain and Ireland who begin their tour in Rustenburg against a Royal XV - also known by the more menacing name High Veld XV - this Sunday. They'll start in better shape than they'll finish.

There isn't a harder tour anywhere. As that legendarily tough Irishman Syd Millar, coach of the successful 1974 Lions to the Republic, once said "The whole setup is different in South Africa.

"The sun shines, the grounds are hard. The grass is different, it's more wiry. The air is thinner and drier. The ball travels farther and faster. It behaves differently. It bounces more, it does not sit still for the ruck. And just as the grounds are harder, the games are harder from the point of view of injuries and recovery time. A team tends to have more major injuries in South Africa and there are more skin abrasions. Tacklers hit you harder, while line kicking and place kicking is different. It's a different game out there."

Millar was 100 per cent right. Paul O'Connell and his 2009 Lions are going to find from day one that they're facing a six-week physical battering the likes of which they've never known before in their lives.

It is likely that several of the players who wear the Lions jersey for the first time on Sunday won't even be there when the test series starts in Durban on June 20. The casualties of mixing it with one of the giants of the Southern Hemisphere will be many.

In 1980, Cardiff flanker Stuart Lane lasted just 40 seconds of his Lions debut before wrecking a knee cartilage on the hard ground. He never played again on tour. On the same tour, first five-eighths Gareth Davies dislocated his shoulder. In 1968, Welsh first five-eighths Barry John broke his collarbone in a tackle and had to return home. South Africa is one hell of a dangerous place to play rugby.

In Syd Millar's view, the hits are harder than anywhere else because players can get a firm foothold on the dry grounds before hammering into an opponent. This will help strong tackling Lions like England's backrow man Joe Worsley but it may also be a danger.

There are major questions surrounding this Lions squad. Is Ian McGeechan the coach and motivator he was in 1997 when he led the Lions to victory in South Africa? Is there real quality in this squad? What happens if Brian O'Driscoll, by a mile the Lions' best three-quarter, gets injured? How will O'Connell stand up to the searing pressure of the Lions captaincy and still be the chief lineout operator?

Then there are the other aspects. Can Ireland's hard-tackling flanker Stephen Ferris force his way into the test side? I applaud Ferris' selection - he's just the sort of tough character the tourists will need.

But who else will make up the backrow? Could it be an all-Irish unit, Ferris, David Wallace and No 8 Jamie Heaslip?

Hand on heart, you would probably have to say that no more than six players already have their names pencilled into a Lions test team. I'd suggest they would be full-back Lee Byrne, left wing Shane Williams, outside centre O'Driscoll, loose-head prop Gethin Jenkins, lock O'Connell and flanker Wallace.

That's a strength and a weakness. It means players must bust a gut in the warm-up games to try and seize a test place, an ideal situation in one way. The disadvantage is, the Lions might not know their likely test team until a week before they meet the Springboks in Durban on June 20. There, at the ABSA stadium, they'll play a South African side with many players who have been together since 2004.

Disadvantage? You bet. Big time.

There's always hope and optimism at the start of any Lions tour. That's right and proper. Good luck to those who've made the party - they're in for the experience of their lives.

But it's also tough for the tourists. They're up against the world champions, and these Springboks can play.

Whatever the outcome, it's going to be one hell of a hard tour for the Lions.