Lions centre Brian O’Driscoll insists the squad are confident of levelling the series in the second Test against South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.
Coach Ian McGeechan and his staff made five changes to the XV to meet the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld with Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Simon Shaw, Luke Fitzgerald, and Rob Kearney all drafted in.
And Irishman O’Driscoll, set to win his sixth Lions Test cap, believes they can make up for the 26-21 defeat in Durban last week.
“You're always confident when you're playing in a Lions team and some of the rugby we played last weekend showed we have the confidence to play the game we want to,” said O’Driscoll on Friday.
“We have to bring that out from the kick-off this weekend because we can't afford to give them a 19-point lead and chase it back. We probably didn't play early enough last weekend and that was to our detriment.
“We need to start playing earlier in the first half this time, cut off the Springboks and make them work for their scores a little bit more than we did last weekend. We were obviously hopeful of winning in Durban, but it's done now and we are out to win Tests two and three – it’s as simple as that.”
Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips echoes O'Driscoll, saying the side has nothing to fear.
“We are all very excited we have got the opportunity and are desperate to put things right,” he said.
“We had problems in some areas last week but in open field and with ball in hand, we were far better, we had great fitness and it was a great battle to the end.
"If we had lost by 40 points then we might be worried but we played all the rugby. We have to be confident and believe in ourselves and I think we can do it."
The second Lions Test against South Africa takes place on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria.
