Lions coach Ian McGeechan rued the number of penalties his side gave away, but said he was proud of his players after their 26-21 defeat by South Africa in the first Test at the ABSA Stadium in Durban.
The experienced Scottish coach saw his Lions dominated in the first half - particularly in the forwards - but they were always dangerous with the ball in hand and mounted a thrilling fightback in the second half after trailing by 26-7 at one point.
"We broke their line consistently in the first half. We've been pretty effective but the penalties killed us in the first half," McGeechan said.
"I thought we'd get one more opportunity to win the game, and I think they did as well. The penalties did take momentum away from us and South Africa didn't have to play much rugby to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
"But I was pleased about our attacking accuracy. The centres were both a handful and that was high quality rugby out there."
McGeechan has a fresh injury worry over full-back Lee Byrne, who suffered a recurrence of a heel injury and had to be replaced by Ireland's Rob Kearney shortly before half-time.
See ITV.com's exclusive first Test gallery here
And check out all the latest video, news and reaction
