From Gatland's gambles to De Klerk's absence: talking points ahead of final Lions Test

Venomous series has led some to question whether this tour will be worth all the hassle in the future

British and Irish Lions series deciders are always titanic events. Given how febrile this tour of South Africa has been, perhaps more is riding on Saturday’s final Test than ever before.

Some have claimed it might be the death knell for Lions tours to the country, given the issues already weighing on the side, the overriding atmosphere of hate, as well as the fact the quality of rugby has largely been dire.

Will the final Test be able to redeem what has gone before? And do either side actually care, so long as they get the win?

Any chance of some rugby?

Ian Foster, the New Zealand coach, said the second Test put him to sleep.

In his role as a sideline pundit, South African great Bryan Habana was crying out for some rugby to be played. Just a few passes, at least. Please.

The bare facts support the complaints. Dan Biggar, the Lions fly-half, passed the ball just three times in the second game, and the Lions had the least gainline success of any tier one side since records began.

But would supporters of either side swap a game of fluent rugby for an attritional one, so long as it brought with it a series win? Probably.

Gatland’s gambles

Warren Gatland has never shirked big calls. Dropping Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll for the decider in 2013? He still gets abuse about that to this day.

But back then, O’Driscoll’s locum was Jonathan Davies, the Wales centre who is now a great himself and, in his pomp, a World XV player.

Among the raft of changes the Lions coach has made for this game, few have that sort of pedigree.

Of the seven backs in the Lions XV for the decider, only Liam Williams, restored to full back in place of Stuart Hogg, had started a Lions Test before this series.

OK, so it is Gatland making the call, and he has credit in the bank. But Lions supporters can be forgiven for feeling some trepidation.

No Faf

The major changes for the home side have been enforced. Faf de Klerk suffered a hip injury in the second Test, meaning the Springboks will be without their effervescent scrum half.

The other notable absentee? Just the reigning world player of the year. Pieter-Steph du Toit fell badly after a late tackle by Duhan van der Merwe at the weekend.

He has failed to recover, prompting a rejig which has seen Franco Mostert moved to the blindside flank, and Lood de Jager taking his place in the second row.

Land of the giants

Moving the regular second-row Mostert to back row might seem an odd move, but it was how the Boks finished the second Test – and they were outstanding in that period.

Most notably, the hosts savaged the Lions line out – which had been a source of plenty of joy for them until that point.

The switch means Bongi Mbonambi, the Springboks hooker, will have some giants to aim for at line-out time, in the former of Mostert, De Jager and Eben Etzebeth.

And for the Lions, the margin of error for Ken Owens, who has been brought in to start at hooker, the margin for error hitting his own jumpers will be miniscule.

The officials

Mercifully, the officials have had a relatively quiet week. At least by the standards of this tour.

A World Rugby disciplinary committee were pressed into action, and decided that Kyle Sinckler had no case to answer against biting allegations.

They will meet again at some point, to decide what action to take against Rassie Erasmus, the incendiary South Africa director of rugby.

But no one has been briefing against the TV official. No one has posted hour-long diatribes online.

The Lions have said they hope there will be less breaks in the game, but surely everyone can get on board with that, given the first half in the last match took 64 minutes to complete?

Maybe, just maybe, the officials for the decider will be able to go about their work stress free.