They call this column The Breakdown and it is precisely here that the Lions are finding life hard. Well, obviously not here, as in these words, because that would be silly - but at that zone of doubt that follows the tackle. Or which begins even before the tackle is made.

You could see the cogs turning in the Lions' minds as they took the ball up into contact. How far am I from support? How quickly do I go to ground and present the ball? How exactly do I present the ball and how is this defender going to tackle me?

There were signs in the Wednesday night game in Johannesburg against the Golden Lions that the slightly mechanical decision-making processes were giving way to something more instinctive. However undistinguished the challenge of the home side at Ellis Park, there was a fluency to the tourists that suggested they were getting to grips with the breakdown. It had been the curse of the tour in 2005 and it appeared that it was not going to be such a problem in South Africa.

Last Saturday, however, the breakdown reared up again, partly because of the work of the excellent Heinrich Brussow from set-piece. But the No7 could not always be first to the ball in phases after that and the Lions still struggled to clear out the ball efficiently. Flooding the tackle area has become a priority.

The simple fact is that southern hemisphere teams are very good at this aspect of rugby. Whereas European teams tend to play the ball with their hands, with the early support players hunched in that exposed stance over the ball, down here they clear out with aggression. It's not just the later counter-ruck that is done with ferocity, but the initial contact at the breakdown.

It has become a priority to improve in this area. So, it's the work-rate and that disciplined aggression of players off the ball that is going to count in selection. So, for example, I think Gethin Jenkins and Phil Vickery are out in front in the running for Test spots as props who do more than just the basics.

As far as I can gather, neither Graham Rowntree nor Warren Gatland is particularly worried about any of the front row forwards when it comes to the set piece. The scrummaging has held up fine, whoever has been selected. But the contribution to phase-play exercises all the coaches.

The turnovers conceded in Bloemfontein gave the tour another lurch and placed the result in peril after a very promising start. But the Cheetahs put that good start by the Lions down to their own sloppiness, the try by the estimable Stephen Ferris from a squirting ruck an example.

Once they tightened up, or once Ferris was in the bin, the Cheetahs pinched ball and began to play a dynamic off-loading game that taxed the tourists no end.

If it had not been for the remarkable result from the Golden Lions game – and senior South African observers did take serious note of the improvement – game three would have taken its place in a logical chain of painful progression. The Lions would be getting there, but slowly.

Game two gave a glimpse of a remarkable acceleration: a midfield that put the team on the front foot, leading to sweetly delivered ball all the way to the line, either by pass or clear-out.

Game three saw a return to a more stuttering performance, with anxiety more in evidence towards the end than any continuation of the good work of midweek. In that awkward period of hanging on in there, a few Test places may have been put in jeopardy. I'd pay to watch Shane Williams just about anywhere in the world, but it seems he is again slightly off his sparkling best form. Ugo Monye gave a powerful display in Johannesburg; Shane gave a pass to Corne Uys.

Having spent an affable hour or two supping with the Lions on Thursday night, it was almost inevitable that the referee, Wayne Barnes, was quite harsh on them on Saturday. Is there a subconscious insistence on blowing harder against your "own" team, precisely because you are expected - by the Free State crowd at least - to go the other way? Whatever, the Lions were very happy with the performances of Craig Joubert and Marius Jonker in the first two games, perhaps because it was the other way round.

• This is an extract from The Breakdown email, Eddie Butler's round up of the latest action from the Lions Tour, powered by Toshiba. To subscribe to the email, and to be in with a chance of winning one of 10 Toshiba laptops, click here.