Vickery sent back into the Lions' den

IT MAY be too late to save the 2009 Test series, but Phil Vickery is determined to regain some pride for himself and the British and Irish Lions this afternoon by burying the memory of the scrummaging nightmare that paved the way for Springbok success.

The veteran England and Lions prop spoke yesterday about his desire to beat the Boks and play a part in avoiding a first-ever series whitewash for the Lions in South Africa. Unsurprisingly, he insisted this dead rubber, with the hosts having claimed the series 2-0, was bigger than any other game in his career.

Much of that stems from the fact he spent a lot of the first half of the first Test in the air, being well and truly beasted in the scrums by Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira, the formidable South African loosehead prop, as the Boks rattled up a lead that proved too much for Ian McGeechan's Lions to recover from. Embarrassment does not come more acute for a tighthead prop, and it was magnified on a Lions tour.

With injury ruling out Adam Jones, the Welsh prop who shored things up in the second half and the second Test, and Scot Euan Murray also injured, McGeechan, on what is also expected to be swansong, has been forced to turn back to Vickery and offer the prop a shot at redemption. It is unlikely that Vickery will be as exposed again, but the Boks will still target him as a weak link in Ellis Park and how he copes with the pressure will be significant to the Lions' bid for a first Test win since 2001.

Vickery, 33, is determined to sign off both his Lions career and this tour on a high note at Ellis Park. "I am looking forward to this match more than any other match I have ever played in," he said. "It is my last game in a Lions jersey and I want to make sure we go out on a high.

"It is good to get back out there. It is unfortunate for Adam. I am gutted for him but I have been given an opportunity tomorrow and it is up to me to go out and perform.

"I am thoroughly looking forward to the challenge. It will be a great occasion, there are two teams who have nothing to lose, and hopefully we can sign the tour off in style and with a great deal of credit.

"I am very proud to be part of this group of people."

Vickery lasted only 44 minutes of the first Test as the Lions' tight-five failed to deal with an unexpected onslaught from the South African pack. "You know you have had a bad game when your mum, your missus and your sister text you to say they still love you," Vickery joked.

Vickery watched from the bench as Jones succeeded in suring up the scrum during the second half in Durban before turning the tables on South Africa in the second Test.

The Lions were the dominant scrummaging unit in Pretoria before Jones suffered a dislocated shoulder and Gethin Jenkins fractured his cheekbone, which forced the introduction of uncontested scrums. Lions forwards coach Warren Gatland believes the manner in which Jones handled the Springboks has spiked Vickery's confidence heading into today's showdown.

"Adam didn't think much of the Beast at all and Phil has taken confidence from the way Adam scrummaged," said Gatland.

"Phil also has Matthew Rees and Simon Shaw is in behind him as well. Phil is very experienced and in the front row every day in the office is not a great day. But you get back in there."

Mtawarira has been warned by South Africa captain John Smit he will be facing a very different animal at Ellis Park tomorrow than he did at King's Park in Durban. "I have known Phil a long time," said Smit. "He is a far greater player than what came out in the first Test. I think he will be as relieved and as excited as anyone to have another crack at the Springboks.

"He has done damage to many front rows before and I have already said it to Tendai that there is going to be a completely different person in front of him.

"Tendai needs to be really up for it. Phil is the kind of guy who has been around for a long time so he will have learned a great deal from that first Test."

Scotland's only representative in the 22, hooker Ross Ford, sits on the bench and waits for a chance to become the first Scotland player to see any Test action on this tour.