The Lions have insisted that they will not be blighted by even a trace of complacency when they face the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday, three days after their 74–10 demolition of the Golden Lions at Ellis Park.
This evening, the tourists fly from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein. On Saturday they will face the side that finished bottom of the Super 14, below even the Golden Lions, after winning two matches. The Cheetahs, however, will only have two players away with South Africa.
"There will be no complacency in the camp because we will not allow it," said the Lions' scrum coach, Graham Rowntree. "We savoured a big win against a good side, but we know the challenges are going to get greater and greater. We put more pressure on ourselves than anyone else does and there is absolutely no danger of anyone taking anything for granted on Saturday because it will be a new team and all the guys starting have something to live up to.
"The thing about a Lions tour is that you have to take your chance because you do not want to find yourself at the back of the queue."
The England centre Riki Flutey will not play on Saturday. He is still receiving treatment for a leg injury sustained in last weekend's victory against the Royal XV in Bafokeng. This week's arrivals, Leigh Halfpenny and Gordon D'Arcy, will be considered for selection.
Rowntree said that the England prop Andrew Sheridan, who sustained badly blistered feet in the opening game, would be fit.
"He is not going to miss a game because of blisters: I will not let that happen. He is raring to go and Riki is the only player who has been ruled out so far, with no one involved on Wednesday picking up anything worse than bumps and bruises."
The Wales fly-half Stephen Jones said the Lions would reflect as much on their mistakes against the Golden Lions as on the eye-catching passages of play which earned them their biggest victory in South Africa since the unbeaten tour of 1974.
"It was the first time a number of us had played together and it was a satisfying 80 minutes," said Jones, happy to have tasted victory in a Lions jersey after being on the losing side in four of his five matches in New Zealand in 2005. "But we will be keeping our feet firmly on the floor.
"You have to earn your stripes out here. We did that against the Golden Lions and we have to follow it up against the Cheetahs. We will improve, and we have to, as we build up to the first Test and we will certainly not get ahead of ourselves.
"What was pleasing on Wednesday night was some of the tries we scored. The lines of running were excellent, as was our accuracy, especially in the first half, and Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll quickly developed an understanding in the midfield that proved too much for the opposition.
"We were sound in defence generally, but there are areas to work on and I know Shaun Edwards will be pitching into us in training. We have to be happy with the performance and the result, but we also have to be realistic about where we are.
"I don't know if it will change the perception South Africans have of us: I have heard quite a few comments since I have been here that we will be second best in the Test series and it will be interesting to see the reaction."
Jones's half-back partner for Wales and the Lions, Mike Phillips, said the tourists were aware that they would face far more physical challenges than that presented by the Golden Lions, who missed one first-up tackle after another.
"We know it is going to get much harder, but it was important to lay down a marker," he said. "The reaction in the changing room afterwards was amazing, with all the guys who did not play clapping us in. It showed how we bonded and we will need that togetherness as the games get harder.
"There were some excellent individual displays, but what counted most was that it was a huge team effort. I thoroughly enjoyed playing behind such a rampant pack, but we have to put this behind us and concentrate on raising the bar to another level."
