Desperate Lions need to pull win out of thin air

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Everything seems against the British and Irish Lions for Saturday's second and potentially deciding test against South Africa in Pretoria (2:00 p.m. British time).

The Lions are playing at altitude at a ground the Springboks love, their forwards were embarrassed by their display in the first test loss in Durban and they know they have only once come back from a first test defeat to win a series. Odds of 6-1 to take the next two tests are hardly generous.

Defeat on Saturday would be the Lions' seventh consecutive test defeat in their worst-ever run and nobody involved, particularly coach Ian McGeechan who has made five changes for the game, will want that on their CV.

The Lions have talked all week of the positives they took from the 26-21 defeat in Durban, where they outscored the world champions by three tries to two and could, and should have, scored more.

Their fitness was impressive as they finished strongly and the final whistle could not come quickly enough for the home side.

However, the game should have been long out of reach for the tourists, who trailed 26-7 early in the second half having been completely dominated up front. Only the much-criticised personnel changes by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers allowed the Lions a foothold in the game, particularly in the scrum where he removed the all-powerful Tendai Mtawarira and captain John Smit.

Having escaped by the skin of his teeth and been roundly condemned by local media for prematurely thinking the job was done, he will not make that mistake again against a Lions pack showing three changes and considerably beefed up by the inclusion of lock Simon Shaw.

BURGER RETURNS

The return of openside flanker Schalk Burger, their only starting change from Durban, should make it even tougher for the Lions at the breakdown, with centre Jamie Roberts a doubly marked man after his barnstorming display last week.

"Defending inside the flyhalf is part of my job description and it looked pretty tough last weekend, the Lions played really well," said Burger, who has recovered from a thigh injury.

The Springboks are likely to be sharper for playing their first game together since November and they will be buoyed by playing at Loftus Versfeld, where they are unbeaten since 2006 and which is also the home ground of the Super 14 champions Bulls team who provide the heart of the national side.

The Lions opted to remain at sea level in Cape Town all week and will arrive for the test on Friday.

They have been training in special altitude masks and, having struggled with the thin air in their opening fixture against the Royal XV in Rustenburg, they know what to expect.

"Loftus Versfeld at the moment is probably the hardest place to play rugby in the world," said defence coach Shaun Edwards.

"But we have continued to work with the altitude masks on and I know we will be in better shape going back to altitude than when we first went there."

Springbok wing Bryan Habana also warned that test victories can not be easily plucked out of thin air.

"If we just arrive there and think that altitude's going to win it for us, we're definitely going to be in the wrong space," he said.

"That just doesn't win you a game. We've sort of made Loftus a very tough place to come and play but it's still totally up to the players on the day. You've got to still arrive and play a test match against the best players in the northern hemisphere."

(Editing by John Mehaffey)