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British and Irish Lions captain Phil Vickery insisted winning was his sole concern after a 26-23 victory over Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.
Wet, windy weather made for a scrappy game in which both sides employed plenty of territorial kicking and it took a 77th-minute penalty by replacement James Hook to ensure the Lions made it five wins from five tour outings.
The tourists take on the Springboks in the first Test in Durban next Saturday and Vickery felt any sort of win was crucial to build confidence ahead of that clash.
“The only thing that bothered me was winning the game. It was about making sure of that,” the prop reflected.
“We had to go out and win. We didn’t get it all our own way, and it says a huge amount.
“A week today is the reason why we are here — a Test match — and I just hope we go out and do ourselves justice.”
Hook’s winning kick was an impressive 50-metre strike into an unpredictable wind and Vickery paid tribute to the substitute.
“Credit to James,” said the captain.
“As soon as you saw the contact he made, you knew he had the distance.”
Hook had missed a similar kick earlier and admitted the swirling wind made life difficult.
“I was just concentrating on striking it well,” he said of his winning effort.
“I mishit the first one and didn’t kick it as well as I would have wanted, but the second one I got lucky and it went through the posts.
“For the second kick the wind was probably in my favour and for the first one it wasn’t.
“As I went to kick, it was still behind us and it went through.
“The ball didn’t really budge, it went straight through, but on the way down here there was no wind whatsoever, so we couldn’t have prepared for this.”
Head coach Ian McGeechan was pleased to maintain the winning run, but knows the real test is yet to come.
“We know next week is going to be a different level again,” he admitted.
“There are going to be some tough selection calls. We’ve got to where we are now and have got one game left before the first Test.
“Whatever warm-up games you have got, they are not Test matches.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.